By Hunter Krupka
A few summers ago, I got a job working in a lumber yard at a local hardware store called Jerry’s Home Improvement. The pay was ok, but in the lumber yard specifically, the work was extremely hard and demanding when compared to other departments, as it was our job to organize everything from lumber to bricks and stepping stones. The job also required that the employees work outside. This didn’t bother me too much, but some days it got extremely hot on the pavement in the direct sun (it was summer after all). The wages for a lumber yard employee were actually the same as those of many of the other departments within the store itself, and those positions were significantly less demanding. All of my fellow employees often said that they enjoyed their position in the yard, however, over the course of the summer, many of the employees either left the company or transferred inside into other departments.
One of my favorite coworkers, Zach, was always talking about how fun the lumber yard was, and how much enjoyment he got out of it. However, even he chose to transfer inside because he didn’t feel like it was fair that he had to work outside in the hot sun while other employees made the same hourly wages to work in the air conditioned building that the other departments were in. I myself never chose to transfer inside because I was only planning to be with the company for a limited time as it was just a summer job and I had to leave when school started. That being said, there were many times that I considered it!
Management eventually realized that if they wanted to retain employees within the lumber yard, they would have to compensate them for the more taxing work and exposure to the elements. They decided to give lumber yard employees a small raise. While it wasn’t a ton, even the smallest raise in wages can add up over time. This decision caused many of the former lumber yard employees to return to the yard, including Zach. He felt that the higher compensation made it worthwhile for him to be subjected to the higher level of physical labor that came with the lumber yard.
Many people are not willing to work in a more difficult environment than other opportunities that they may have if they are not receiving some form of additional compensation. This compensation can come in many forms, such as benefits or wage increases, but regardless, it can make a huge difference in motivating employees to do more. In the case of Jerry’s, all they had to do to make people choose to work in the more taxing environment was to compensate them at a higher level than similar, less demanding jobs. This is a prime example of equity theory, which is the theory that motivation is driven by a sense of fairness. Essentially, an employee looks at the ratio of work to compensation and compares it to other employees’ work to compensation. If they are putting in more work for the same amount of compensation than that of another employee, they will be significantly less motivated in completing their work or staying in that position. However, if they are being compensated more for harder work, they will be more motivated to maintain their position. In simple terms, if you want people to be willing to do more or engage in harder work, compensation is a great way to motivate them to do just that.
Sources:
https://www.gartner.com/en/human-resources/glossary/equity-theory
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