Discrepancies between What People Say and What They Do Regarding Employee Pay - Article Example

ARTICLE CRITIQUE By Name: Course: Name of Institution: Name of Instructor: City: Date of submission: The thesis statement in the article is that there are discrepancies between what people say and what is done regarding employee pay. Several individuals, Sara Rynes and Kathleen Minette Barry Gerhart, authored the article. According to the authors, many human resource experts believe that employees are likely to over report the relevance of pay when conducting employee surveys. However, according to them they suggest that the reverse is true. The researcher has reviewed evidence, which shows the discrepancies between what many people say as well as what is done with regard to pay. The authors seem to have conducted a thorough research, for instance, in the first paragraph they state that they note that pay is not equally relevant in all scenarios or to all and sundry, they go ahead to identify circumstances under which pay is more or of less relevance to employees. It is true that there are discrepancies between what people say and what they do regarding employee pay. The authors begin by giving a citation that has been misleading; they say that, survey that directly asks employees how relevant pay is to them they are more likely to overestimate the true importance of pay. However, according to the authors, this is not true and their research shows that previous study results are not consistent. The authors of the article could be right largely since their study focused on well-documented findings that employees have a tendency of saying that pay not very important to them yet it is very important. I do agree with the article authors that this is an essential element if employees reports are taken at face value many Human Resource experts underestimate the motivational potential of pay. The authors of the article used a table to show the discrepancies between self-reports of pay importance and behavioural responses to changes in pay. The authors could have drawn a table with several columns and rows; this could help the reader to identify easily the table from the article. However, there are two rudimentary columns in table I. On the other hand, the table is well labelled since once can identify it from the rest of the information on the article. Additionally, a line has been used to differentiate the table from the rest of the information. The information contained in the table II is well documented since each point is backed by a citation. I do agree with the authors that socially desirable responding emanates from two things, not being frank or lack of self-insight. The authors emphasize that when it comes to pay the researchers are more likely to underestimate the significance of pay since they misapprehend how the employees react to when they are offered a better paying job or as a result of social norms which money as not being important an important factor when motivating employees or any work which contributes to the society. To some extent I beg to differ with the fact that pay is not important when it comes to motivation of employees, since when one is paid more money he is likely to be motivated to work hard and perform better compared to when he is paid peanuts. This is the logic behind many employers offer to their staff when they perform better hence making others perform better (Baker and Putzier, 2010, p. 162). I do concur with the researchers that when any research study that touches directly on held social values there is a highly likely that self-reports are likely to be invalid. The authors suggest that both researchers and managers ought to find more ways of searching out valid information. In the article according to Jurgensen job applicants believed that pay is not to them but to everyone else. This is not true since when one has a higher pay it benefits him more than someone with a low pay therefore it is not true that a lower pay or pay in general is not an important attribute infact if is not an important attribute to the respondent but it is to everyone else then the same applies to the “everyone else” therefore it is evident that pay is an important attribute to everyone else. I do agree with the authors that questions regarding pay ought not to be asked directly since the respondent will not be sincere in his response. It is true that when the question regarding pay is inferred then it will be discovered that the pay is very important. Actually, if payment were not important then why would people go to work? Why would they be uncomfortable when their pay is slashed? Why would they not ask for a lower pay? Or even offer to work for free? I do agree with the researchers that pay is a powerful motivational factor of performance since many individuals are motivated when they are paid more. For instance, when one is offered two jobs with similar conditions but the pay varies it is understood that one will go for the job that pays more. I differ with Rynes et al. (2002) that managers do not believe that salary is not important when it comes to employee motivation. The authors reveal how a number of studies have been conducted on the topic, for instance, the authors talk about the Harvard Business Review, and this journal is read by high-level executives in charge of corporate strategy. There have been a number of topics related to pay, for instance, “six dangerous myths about pay,” “One more time: How do you motivate employees?” claims regarding pay are not consistent with much evidence that is based on numerous studies. The author states that according to Maslow money can pave way social status, good education for one's children as well as retire early (McGuire, 2011, p. 5). The author is right when he says that payment is not the only motivator since according to Herzberg and Maslow taking part in decision-making, interesting work is pertinent to many people (Endter, 2011, p.3). Consequently, the authors are right when they recommend multiple motivators. I do agree with the author when he states that pay is not the only motivator. It is true that for payment to be an important motivator there ought to be variability in payment option. The authors also used a table to show examples of contingency elements, which affect pay importance. This table shows two distinct sides, individual difference contingencies as well as situational contingencies, for instance, in the individual difference contingencies, pay is less important to introverts than to extroverts and on the other hand, the pay is more relevant when choosing a job that pays varies across employers than when pay is relatively more uniform. According to table II, pay appears to be more important to men than women. To some extent, this is not true since both have the same needs. However, one could argue that men are providing family needs, but what about women who are single? Who provides for them? Therefore, both men and women need money in equal measure. It is also true that high-performing employees are sensitive to higher performance while low performers have low-contingency pay systems. It is also true that anytime an employer adjusts pay the employees are very alert on changes that might signal variations that signal differences in how they are perceived by the employer. When the pay is hiked, the employees will feel better and feel highly regarded by the employer (Savage, Khatri & Fottler, 2010, p. 60). In case the salary has been reduced there ought to be good and convincing communication between the employer and employee explaining the reason for the pay-cut or else this can have far-reaching ramifications that might end-up affecting the moral (Messmer 2011, p. 78). The most common reason for pay cut include; the employer getting losses, reduced profits, and high running costs. To some extent after a pay cut, some employees may abandon the jobs or even seek better employment terms. To some extent, it is true that even though pay has a high motivational potential upon the employee its effectiveness as a motivator highly depends upon a variety of situational and individual factors (Robbins, 2009, p. 177). The authors are right when they state that managers ought to take complaints regarding pay very serious since there is a common norm against revealing that someone is motivated by pay, when an employee is dissatisfied about his pay it ought to be taken seriously by the employer. Employers should ensure that he does not pay his employees less than what the market rates require. It is prudent for an employer to track employee behaviour as well as his attitudes. I do agree with the author that employers ought to use highly similar surveys from time to time in order to determine how much should be paid. Concisely, as stated above it is clear that there are discrepancies between what people say and what is done regarding employee pay. Most Human Resource experts believe that pay is not very important in employee motivation however, the article has explained how pay is important in employee motivation. Additionally pay is not the only thing that is very important in employee motivation there are also a number of factors that are important in employee motivation, for instance, communication. This shows that even if you pay your employees well but you do consider other factors such as communication the employees will not be motivated. References Baker D and Putzier, J. 2010. Everything HR Kit: A complete Guide to Attracting, Retaining and Motivating High-performing employees. AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn. Endter, Claudia. 2011. Managing people in International Hospitality and Tourism Industries. Nordersdet: GRIN Verlag. McGuire, Kevin. 2011. Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs. Nordersdet: GRIN Verlag. Messmer, Max, 2011. Motivating Employees for Dummies. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Robbins, SP. 2009. Organizational Behavior in Southern Africa. Cape Town, Pearson South Africa. Savage, T, Kharti, N and Fottler, M. 2010. Strategic Human Resource Management in Health Care. Bingley, Emarald Group Publishing. Read More