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| Corporate Cultures |
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| Can't Buy You Love |
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We all want to make more money than we do; it’s
part of human nature to desire more of the wherewithal
that lets us enjoy security and the things we like. Yet
it takes more than money and benefits to hold on to good
employees. Those are important motivators, but not necessarily
the sole or even primary reason employees stay or leave.
A strong corporate culture is by far the most powerful
magnet that holds employees firmly in place.
There will always be those who are willing to jump ship
for a few dollars more (benefits, by themselves, are seldom
a strong enough lure for people to change jobs). The less
attractive your cultural environment, the higher the proportion
of your employees who are vulnerable.
“Low pay” is an issue that surfaces fairly
frequently in our studies of gaming cultures. Yet comparative
analysis of pay scales in a given market most often shows
that the employees are making about the same or sometimes
even better than their counterparts down the street. Concerns
about pay often mask hidden underlying emotions and attitudes.
To understand the real meaning of employee preoccupations
with compensation, it’s necessary to peel off the
surface layers and look underneath. When employees complain
about low pay or defect to another company for more pay,
what they’re most likely saying is, “The pay
I get for this job isn’t worth what I have to put
up with.” A variant on this theme is, “The
pay I get is not worth the effort I put into the job.”
Assuming that compensation is in fact generally competitive,
each of these perspectives are most likely to be commentaries
on the cultural environment and job satisfaction. The
first one expresses frustration with working conditions
and how employees are treated. The latter reveals disappointment
at the lack of reward and recognition for doing a good
job. For many people, these subjective, emotional responses
to the stimulus of the workplace environment are difficult
to articulate. So, instead, employees say the pay is lousy.
Similarly, they may say they’re moving to a new
company because the pay is great and the benefits are
terrific. What they’re more likely saying is, “It’s
a chance to get away from this crummy place and start
fresh” – hope springs eternal, the grass is
greener, starting with a clean slate, etc.
These sentiments are typically expressed with stronger
conviction at the lower stratas of the organization, among
line-level employees, than in the upper echelons. This
layer of the organization gets the least respect and,
usually, the least personal attention. That they are also
the lowest paid is only relative within the company; in
another gaming organization they would also be the lowest
paid.
The Disney organization has shown clearly how a strong
culture that delivers powerful job satisfaction puts pay
in a less commanding position as an employee motivator.
Disney World doesn’t pay exorbitant salaries to
its ride operators and ticket-takers and popcorn sellers.
Yet few would be willing to defect to other area theme
parks for a matter of a few shekels. There are even people
who beg to work at Disney World for free! The long term
investment Disney has made in building and maintaining
its unique culture pays continual dividends in withstanding
new enticements for its employees to get wanderlust.
Gaming operations are directing a lot of attention to
courting their top executives, hoping to keep them from
getting happy feet as the rush of new openings in Las
Vegas threatens to vacuum them away. That’s certainly
understandable; good talent at the top is essential. A
trickle-down impact is likely to be felt in markets outside
Las Vegas, too. However, casino executives represent only
a minuscule fraction of the 30,000 new jobs that must
be filled. Customers don’t have that much contact
with executives in casinos.
It’s the line-level employees that represent the
company to customers. At least as much attention, preferably
a lot more, should be directed to keeping good rank-and-file
employees. Not with money alone. Not with benefits alone.
That’s not to say these aren’t important.
However, offering more money is only a temporary salve;
the positive effect of a pay increase lasts only as long
as it takes for employee spending to match and inevitably
exceed it. Better benefits are soon enough taken for granted
and considered by employees as a right, not a privilege.
Even in the highly-charged gaming world, there is a roughly
inverse relationship between job satisfaction and compensation
expectations. When people enjoy what they’re doing
and who they’re doing it with, feel wanted and needed
in the group, and believe firmly in what the company stands
for, they’re more willing to be content with their
compensation and far less likely to bolt out the door
chasing the first passing temptation.
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