“I don’t pay good wages because I have a lot of money; I have a
lot of money because I pay good wages. – Robert
Bosch
I was struck by
this quote and started thinking about how the small business owners we work
with can be guilty of trying to pay wages that are too low. Small business owners sometimes think too
much of the bottom line when thinking about salary for employees. It takes a couple of low paid employees for
the owner to realize that they are getting exactly what they are paying
for.
I have worked with
a business owner like that. She wants her company to succeed and needs the
employees to help her achieve the goals set, but hasn’t been willing to pay the
salary it will take to find qualified, trustworthy staff. After several employees who just did not have
the critical thinking skills she needed, she has come to the conclusion that
bumping up the pay will help her hire the right employees.
Now, it’s easy to
say that money isn’t everything. Of
course a job isn’t all about money, but paying the right salary for the job
requirement is important. When you pay less than you know the industry is
asking then sometime you end up with people who
don’t have the talent or skill set you need, or who move on to a higher
paying job the first chance they get.
So when you are
ready to hire, look around you and see what the going rate is for the type of
employee you need to hire. Pay them a
decent salary – if there are any benefits you can offer, sick days, vacation
days, holiday off that helps with job satisfaction too.
It may not be easy but the cost of rehiring
employees can be high plus the time you go without the employee in that
position.
