You work hard, you do all the right things and you exceed the expectations of your boss and your customers. Praise comes rolling in. In fact, you’ve done such a great job that the promotion you were hoping for comes your way. What could be better? Well, a raise to go along with that extra work would be nice. Usually it works that way, right?
Well, not always. Nothing can be more deflating than working hard for a promotion and being told you get more work at no additional pay. That’s what happened recently to a gentleman I was speaking with. He was so excited to get the promotion after accomplishing all of the pre-requisites that had been set out by his supervisor. He had a terrific performance review to boot. His reward was a company average merit increase for the year and no promotional increase. In other words, he achieved more and did more than people with average performance and was rewarded with the same pay and more work. And when queried, his supervisor and HR pointed at the other indicating the decision was made elsewhere.
So, how is the company doing at retaining high performing people? It wasn’t surprising to hear that the company has lost most of its highest performing people in the last year and a half. People are smart – they get the message they are sent, even if the message is not intentional. So, what message are you sending your people? Is it the message that you want them to receive?