One situation where someone I know was motivated by compensation was when one of my family members left their job as a manager at a major bank in order to accept another position at a health care company. She chose to leave her job and accept this new position regardless of the fact that the health care company was offering her a slightly lower salary than she was currently making. At first she was skeptical about accepting a job that paid less but after considering all the benefits they were offering, she came to the conclusion that the total compensation at the new job was notably better. Although she would lose $5,000 a year to a pay cut, she would more than make up for these losses in increased paid time off, significantly better health care coverage and a more lucrative retirement plan. I believe that compensation motivated her behavior because after conducting a financial analysis, she realized that the improved PTO, healthcare and higher retirement contributions were valued at more than $5,000. This meant that even though her salary was decreasing, her overall total compensation was increasing. An increase in total compensation (primarily due to better benefits) was what ultimately motivated her to accept the new job offer.
