Is it good employer strategy to pay my employees just enough so that they can’t save money, so that they can never walk away from the job?
Like, there is a threshold where if they are able to save X per month, they will eventually use that against you and quit at an inopportune time?
And if that threshold falls below state mandated minimum wage, what steps can be taken to mitigate this?
No. The best strat is to pay as much as you can and treat them as well as you can so that your best workers stay happy and stay longer. Don’t let your most cavebrained competitors beat you on talent and leave you with the underperformers nobody else wants. If you can’t afford to invest in quality then you’re already losing.
Honestly the top 75% as an average is a good target. You want some all stars and you want some regular players. What’s really important is to have respect from top to bottom that everyone is important. An all-star is never a prima dona… the opposite in fact, because they’re paid more to lead and to improve and guide others.
Focus less on trying to stop them leaving and more on giving them good reasons to stay.
This isn’t actually a serious question, right?
I think it’s frustrated role playing.
Look at me! I’m a fancy businessman! Hur dur dur! Pay cuts for half of you and pink slips for the rest!
Gotta be flamebait.
It’s insane to think it’s genuine
It is a terrible employer strategy that all but guarantees you will have a high turnover rate as people use their off hours to find better paying work.
It also ensures any public you have to face will consistently be interacting with a work force that could not give any less of a fuck, because you are literally not paying them enough to.
The only conceivable way this is a good business strategy is if you are either a short term seeking nepo baby, get all your business advice from one, or are yourself a complete and utter drooling moron who has never once taken even a beginner’s course in proper employee retention.
Do. Not. Do. This.
Doing this is the kind of advice Boston Consulting Group would give shortly before Citadel cellar boxes your company.
It’s a seriously bad idea. pay shit, get shit employees. It will see OP’s company providing shit service, cost more in both turnover and having to fix the shit that their shit employees shat all over, as well as driving customers away.
It’s also immoral.
And yet it seems to work for Walmart. Or am I missing something?
Is Walmart typically known for having highly skilled, dedicated workers?
Or desperate folks that would leave for another opportunity without a second thought?
I guess, “it works” but I wouldn’t say it’s REALLY working.
Your best employees will be snatched away by other companies, offering them an onboarding package that takes care of the cost of moving. Your worst employees will be forced to stay with you.
Thank you. This is the right answer.
Every emplooyer’s dream is to provide less pay. Not because of some evil thinking but every penny they dont spend on an empoyee is a profit.
During covid I was desperate for a job and when asked how much salary I expect I gave low figure and was hired. One year later another company offered me 3x my salary. When I told my company am quitting they nade counter offer of 4xc I still said no and left.
There really is a risk, as an employer, that your employee makes so much money they want to work less. Which I solve by complimenting their work/life balance and this gets me hard workers that don’t burn out.
Sorry, I meant to say “no one wants yo work any more.” Apologies.
You’re paying for labor. If you’re the cheapest option retention will be poor, knowledge and experience will leave and your business will (and should) suffer.
Penny wise, pound foolish.
Pay peanuts get monkeys
Good strategy is to pay me just enough so that I get too lazy to look for another job. If I can’t save, I’m out ASAP.
Yo it’s no stupid questions, not no evil questions.
Rule 1: No stupid questions.
Every question in the group is a stupid question. That’s the point of the group.
We just aren’t allowed to belittle people for it. We can’t treat them as if it’s a dumb question. We have to answer their question if responding.
It sounds like you’re looking for slaves. There’s a reason slavery is illegal.
If this isn’t deliberately rage bait, there is something very wrong with you.
No, maslows hierarchy of needs mandates a lack of savings equating with a lack of stability at lower tiers and hence your employees will fail to function at higher levels. So you need to pay more than minimum rates in every role, everywhere, if you want to actually have people and not worried as fuck drones.
Now, how much more depends on local factors - but here’s a quick rule: if they add value to your business pass on about 25% of that profit from that individual. Finding a profit for a person can be challening, this is why you get a HR person and accountants.
Wait so are employees lucky if they get 25% of the money they earn their employer beyond their cost to the employer?
That is, if I cost 100k including benefits and support staff costs and my work directly generates 200k profit over all costs, does that mean that the business should pass 50k to me and take the remaining 150k in order to follow the quick rule?
The money they earn is income, not pure profit. The business usually has other expenses that have to be covered. In that case 25% is usually not a bad deal.
Yup, welcome to capitalism!
If your strategy as an employer is how to keep your people in indentured servitude, that makes you a cunt. Be a good boss - help your employees achieve their goals and get to the next step in their career. That will help you attract newer talent when you need it.
Is it good employer strategy to pay my employees just enough so that they can’t save money, so that they can never walk away from the job?
Yes! That’s how an average slave labour company works, you hire someone, you make them work long hours so they couldn’t have 2nd job or hobby, you pay them at the minimum wage, you lower their self worth and self esteem, and you put up all the barrier of quitting that’s actually illegal but they don’t dare to even test it. It’s the best strategy to keep yourself afloat and them underwater.
Like, there is a threshold where if they are able to save X per month, they will eventually use that against you and quit at an inopportune time?
Yep, there’s two way of employee retention, one is pay them good and treat them good they can’t even go through the bothersome process of searching job, another one is pay them just barely enough and trap them physically and mentally, drilling the learned helplessness into their mind so it’s impossible for them to even take the first step. Of course you’ll want to take the latter option because it’s the best slave labour strategy and maximise your own return!
And if that threshold falls below state mandated minimum wage, what steps can be taken to mitigate this?
You move to another state with lax law and force your employees to move, of course! And if that’s not an option, there’s always gonna be a pizza party on friday night.
Remember, the less money you pay for your employees, the more money you pocket yourself. Get yourself a Titanic tour ticket, you earn it!
I don’t appreciate the sarcasm. Things have become tight. And after some knuckleheads couldn’t handle basic tasks in a basic industry, I have found we are able to operate with just half of the staff I used to pay. The ones who stick around know their worth.
What I’m worried about is that the remainder will also try an leave, knowing that I rely on them more than ever before. So my angle is to obfuscate the fact that I actually need them. How do I make sure they can’t read me on that?
You’re making double, dole that money out, at least part of it. I recommend off the cuff giving COL raises and improving health care a bit - improving family benefits seems to go over well. Tell everyone you know they’re working harder, and you want to recognize this. People will propose new machinery that care about the job… build a case for it and show them where you see the numbers in the long term.
Maybe it’s time to admit that you are bad at this and you should do something else besides trying to run a business. It’s clearly not your forte.
I don’t appreciate the sarcasm.
Good. That’s the point.
It’s a shaming tactic that you aren’t supposed to enjoy.
Let’s look at Walmart and see if this strategy works. Yup seems to work.
I read it from the masterpiece book, How To Be A Slave Owner by Jeff Bezos
