by Laurel Michna
Pay is just one aspect of employment, and many people do not give it much thought on a daily basis unless they place a lot of value on that aspect of their job. There have been a few times in my life where the pay given to me and others has influenced my behavior in the workplace.
The first of these situations was while working retail. When I was 18 I worked two different retail jobs and the first was very enjoyable for me and the second was not. Job #2 paid slightly more than the first job due to the fact that I already had experience in the field but it was not much more than minimum wage. When working the first job I was very happy, good co-workers, satisfied with the work itself, the hours fit great in my schedule, and I liked my management. The second job had less than ideal hours, incompetent management, I did not enjoy my co-workers, and I really did not like the work itself. Since both jobs were paid pretty similar, and it was minimum wage or slightly higher, it was not enough money for my needs at the time. When I found myself not enjoying my time at work at the second job it became much more difficult to justify being there when the pay was also not making me satisfied. With the first job I stayed until I had to leave for college because I genuinely enjoyed working there and that positive experience made up for the lack of income. With job #2 I am grateful for the skills it taught me, I was able to transfer those new skills to another job that was a better fit for me and also higher pay.
The second example I have was for a job where there were paid staffers and volunteers working the same role. The paid staffers had more expectations, such as setting a good example for others, increased training, and occasionally had to take more of a lead in certain tasks, a lot of the day to day responsibilities remained the same. I would like to mention that for this job I have both volunteered for and been a paid staffer. When there are difficulties when I am volunteering I am more likely to pass off responsibilities to the paid staffers, and when I am being paid for the work, I often find myself complaining less about the hard duties due to the financial compensation. This job offers a good comparison since I have been on both ends of the spectrum, and found that pay really only crossed my mind when the daily tasks were unsatisfactory.
Some individuals value pay more than others, so it is important to know where people’s interests lie especially when providing rewards to employees in an organization. I hope my examples shed some light into an employee’s behavior.