Raises

[PDenbigh]

I have only read RJ's post, not the other 3 pages yet.

The Harrisonburg market is different for one. We don't have the employee jumping problem nearly as much as Nova. Also, our company has 7 employees, not 70 or 700, so the game changes a little. Overall we have to have and maintain a higher quality employee than our larger counterpart.

That being said, I don't believe in giving our employees raises just for the hell of it. We are a for-profit venture. If an employee has not substantially contributed to our bottom line, then they are merely coasting along collecting a paycheck. Having a job is not a god-given right, it's an earned one. If you mess around on my dime, you are certainly not going to grow financially on my dime.

On the flip side, if an employee walks in one day and says "Hey, I was talking to ___ and I think they could use a support agreement." I send a sales guy to discuss this further, and if the deal is closed, the employee gets a bonus and a note on their file to consider for the next review. To get a raise above and beyond the cost of living at my company, you have to set yourself apart from the rest. You have to be pleasant to work with, stick to your promises, and keep customers happy. By doing this or by bringing in new business you are contributing to the bottom line, and that's the name of the game.

If you are NOT doing these things, I don't really want you working here anyhow and I'm not really doing you a favor in the big picture of keeping you around when there is obviously something else you could be doing that you would excel at better. And I'm certainly not going to spend more of oru hard earned profit to give you a raise. That hurts everyone else in the company that is working so hard because it directly limits the remaining funds available for their bonuses, raises, etc.

RJ I imagine you deserved a raise. If you went above and beyond to keep customer happy, manage more projects than expected, etc, then you were doing more than your job description implied and thus you deserve to earn more.

How does anyone justify a 0% raise? Either employer or employee?

Maybe Pete can chime in here, since he knows how to run a business

But, from my end it would seem that giving your employees regular raises (say, annually) for more $$ than the usual 3% would do a lot more for retaining your employees. I consider a 3% raise a cost of living adjustment, not a raise - its maintaining your salary rather than raising it.

If the employee has met all their goals for the year and received good review(s) why shouldnt they get a significant raise of 5-10%? I hate to be superficial, but the paycheck is why you're at the job and more money is the easiest way to retain employees.

I think this is especially true given the DC area job market - right now its pretty good and there's a lot of turnover - I know I've had a few jobs in the past few years, same with Evan and Mikey so its common to find something else every 2 years or so from what I've seen, and employee turnover costs the company a lot of $$ - a lot more than a few raises. Its kind of like the housing market being in favor of buyers right now - the job market is in favor of the employees as there's more jobs than people to fill them.