Let’s be honest, sometimes we employees don’t make it easy on our employers. With increasing employee demands, employers are frantic to find a solution that will keep the company profitable and the employees happy. So, we ask, how far are you willing to go to make your employees happy? Regardless of what is “right” or “wrong”, the divide between employee and employer needs to be addressed. What requests being made by employees are feasible, and which ones are completely out of the park? This decision needs to be addressed per company, considering company values and structure.

Virtually no employer will be able to cough up an extra $10k per employee no matter how “worth it” you may be. Ultimately their #1 goal is to remain profitable and ensure company growth. Though the very next goal should be to keep their employees happy and fulfilled as this will either greatly benefit or destroy goal #1. Know your worth but also be realistic. I apologize if this is offensive but regardless of If you have your Master’s Degree, if you are just graduating you, are an ENTRY-LEVEL candidate. You have virtually no work experience under your belt relating to your desired career with the exception of an internship or two. You are likely not going to score a $75,000 salary in your first role. Your goal should rather be to gain as much industry experience as humanly possible to achieve that figure in a shorter timeframe. If you have been in a role for 3+ years and you feel as though you are growing ad may deserve a promotion, present your boss with a plan rather than a demand. Let them know your target salary and collaborate on a plan to get there.

Employers on the other hand need to recognize that some employees may, in fact, be underpaid and you cannot put it past them to seek employment elsewhere if you are not able to at least compromise with them. If you won’t pay them, chances are, someone else will depend on their drive. Your employees want to be heard, so listen. There is a list of other things you can to do make employees happy besides raising their pay. To some people, it’s not even about the money. It’s up to you to listen and provide accordingly.

One thing you could provide more flexibility on is vacation time. Actually, 50% of employees would prefer more vacation time to a higher salary. Though, increasing vacation time and a higher salary come highly requested there are small things you can be doing that will make a large difference. Have you thought about offering a monthly employee lunch? Providing lunch for your staff once a month is something that would go appreciated and you don’t have to break the bank doing it. Is your office pet friendly? Since the pandemic, more than 50% of employees are offering flexibilities regarding their employee’s pets such as allowing them in the office. Some related the flexibilities to employee requests while some admitted it was meant to entice employees back into the office. Some employees would appreciate as little as a Keurig where they could make a hot cup of coffee when they hit that mid-day slump. If that is in your realm, bring in the Keurig. It seems like a small price to pay for an abundantly happy employee.

The first step in determining what your employees need is to listen to them. Be creative and find ways to satisfy the requests that will be beneficial to them and the company. If you require further assistance to satisfy your staffing needs, give us a call at (518) 275-4816 where we are prepared to assist in finding a great candidate!

 

 

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