Conversation on Salary, Job Satisfaction, and Company Culture
My uncle Daniel, in his early sixties, came back from a job interview with an MNC for a senior position. (He has just retired 6 months back from a government job, where he had worked for 34 years).
Me: “Hi Uncle! Good evening! How was the interview?”
Uncle- “It was ok. Everything about the role appeared fine, just the salary seemed a bit contentious.”
Me: “What is the issue?”
Uncle: “Something doesn’t seem right. Tell me how do you guys determine, if you are getting a fair package?”
Me: “Fair package? It’s an interesting question uncle!”
And putting my MBA to use I said, “As per economic principles one should be getting paid for the value one adds in a specific role”.
Uncle- “What you said is theoretical but I am interested in a practical aspect of it. I need to arrive at a salary range.”
Me: “To get to a range, we can do two things:
1. Benchmarking: Find out the amount that your peers are being paid for a similar role in the sector I.e. Salary band for the education and experience mix (Industry norm).
2. Somehow find out how much you are adding to the bottom line for the company.
The first can give an approximate range regarding the package you might get for the role. The third option is very difficult to obtain unless you are in a very small organization or at a very senior position in the organization.”
Uncle- “Yea, I got it. I was also thinking along the same lines.”
After taking a brief pause, he said,
“What all did you consider during your last job switch?”
Me: “When I was switching, I had two offers. And obviously, I took the one which was offering a higher package.”
Uncle: “Are you happy now? Are you enjoying what you are doing?”
Me: “I am kind of looking out for a new job.”
Uncle: “Already, it has been just a year, and you seemed very excited when you joined this job. What happened?”
Before I could say anything more, he murmured — “this generation, just can’t stick to anything for long.”
Me (in a complaining tone): “Uncle, how could anyone stick to just one job? These damn jobs don’t offer any satisfaction.”
Uncle: “Now, you are talking of job satisfaction, but did you consider this point when you joined?”
Me: “No, I did not think of this aspect.”
Then, I asked him,
“How does one get to know the real work culture, work-life balance, etc. about the company?”
Rather than answering the question, he asked me a question,
“Why do you think you are unhappy in your current role?”
Me: “I don’ know. There are a lot of Problems – unnecessary bureaucracy, lack of transparency, people are forced to work late, work is mundane and boring, the appraisal doesn’t seem fair.”
Uncle:”Right now, You are just cribbing and complaining. The way you are explaining, everything seems to be dysfunctional, which can’t be the case. Let’s take a pause. Meanwhile, you need to read an article, which I came across on this subject.”
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There are three elements to a culture: behaviors, systems, and practices, all guided by an overarching set of values. A great culture is what you get when all three of these are aligned, and line up with the organization’s espoused values. When gaps start to appear, that’s when you start to see problems — and see great employees leave.
Mellisa Daimler
I was able to relate to the article. Next day, I was waiting for uncle to resume our conversation.
Me: “I got the point. Yesterday, I was just cribbing.”
Uncle: “Before I ask what’s wrong with your company, tell me what do you think Job satisfaction is?”
Me: “A role should also offer job satisfaction, I mean, I should be happy doing it.”
Uncle: “So what will make you happy?”
Me: “Uncle, that is a very philosophical question and discussion would go all around. It would be better if you tell me directly where you are leading me to.”
Uncle- “Ok. Satisfaction from work is very important, as work forms a major part of your life. And if you are not satisfied with the role/work, then sooner or later it is going to affect the other parts of your life.”
I was nodding in agreement, and he continued,
“Further, satisfaction is not just limited to the work you do but also depends upon the people you work with. There is a saying “employees don’t leave companies, they leave managers.”
I hurriedly replied,
“If satisfaction is a prime concern, then why bother about money at all.”
Uncle: “First, I am not saying money is not important. The question is should one only look for the money the role offers or the satisfaction the role offers or a mix of the two in certain proportion?”
Before, he could say anything else I again interjected,
“Satisfaction and money aren’t mutually exclusive entities. Money appears to be one of the factors contributing to satisfaction.”
Uncle: “Bang on!! You have accurately articulated it. One can’t take the money part out of the satisfaction equation.”
I leaned back in the chair and was thinking about what we had just discussed. Uncle ignored my movements and continued,
“But lets for a moment keep the money aspect aside, and then tell me what do you think is the problem with your company culture?”
Coming out of my reverie and after taking a long pause, I said,
“I think they just don’t walk the talk.”
Uncle: “You use a lot of jargons. Explain in simple language.”
Me: “Simply they are not doing what they are saying or endorsing among the employees.”
Uncle: “hmm… I am listening.”
I continued,
“They do a lot of activities for engaging employees such as fun Fridays, family day, outstation excursion, some activities for team building, etc. However, when we are back to our desk the stress of work remains.”
Uncle: “How are the above points linked?”
Me: “I mean to say that, it is not the case that they aren’t doing anything, but whatever they are doing is not solving the root cause of the issue.”
Uncle: “Care to elaborate?”
Me: “Let me explain with an example, our company propagates that they want to ensure work-life balance for employees, but anyone who goes home on time is looked down upon. Further, leave approval system is cumbersome and people don’t easily get approval from seniors. Now, in this situation, you tell me who cares if you have Fun Friday or No-Fun Friday.
Further, my company always communicates that they promote meritocracy and transparency. It is even considered as one of the company’s value. However, employees are clueless on what basis promotions and grades are allotted and at times they seem anything but fair.
So, when I said they don’t walk the talk, I meant that they aren’t doing what they are telling or promising us.”
Uncle: “Nice!! It seems that you have figured out everything.”
Me: “No, I am far from any conclusion.” I took a minute to structure my thoughts and then continued,
“There are two questions in my mind based on our entire discussion.
“First, how do we balance, if we can balance, the economic and emotional part related to the role at all? Reasons for doubt- People are frequently jumping companies. The average tenure of an employee in the organization is going down. People are not able to find a balance.
Second, what should a company do to ensure its employees feel engaged, have job satisfaction and stay longer with the company?”
Uncle: “Firstly, I don’t agree with you, on your ‘job switching’ theory- People switching just because of the so-called ‘imbalance’. I think it’s also related to the growing number of opportunities, people are looking to experiment and work in different domains/departments before settling in for one.”
Me: “Fair point.”
Uncle: “Now, I don’t have a ready answer to your question, but let’s think together”
He continued,
“On finding a balance, till now we have discussed how to roughly estimate the economical part of the role. And understood that the emotional part is really tricky, as it is subjective in nature and is specific to a person. “
I nodded in agreement, and he again continued,
“Though it seems difficult, if one puts some efforts to understand the company culture, they can do so by having a discussion with the present & ex-employees. This way you get a first-hand idea of the culture.”
Me: Yup, people can also read reviews about the company on websites like ‘Glassdoor’, ‘Comparably’, ‘Jobcrowd’, ‘Jobiness’ etc.”
Uncle: “Great Idea! I didn’t know about these websites. By taking feedbacks, one can surely understand if the company is a right fit or not.”
Me: “This makes sense.”
Uncle: “Now, let’s come back to the question of what should a company do to ensure that its employees are satisfied.”
To restart the discussion on this point, I reiterated my earlier point,
Me: “It is absolutely necessary to ‘walk the talk’, else people would leave. A lot of companies make this mistake. Uncle, what else they should do?”
Uncle: “Ownership of building a nurturing environment rests upon the senior management. The core business issues, which are causing the problems between two departments/teams can’t be resolved by outstation excursion.”
He stopped. But after seeing my struggle to follow him, he clarified,
“Chronic issues exist due to unresolved conflict/conflicts and until management resolves these conflicts, the relationship among its employees remains strained.”
Me: “Very valid point uncle. I face such spiteful situations every day.”
Uncle: “Further, companies need to actively work to ensure that each of its employees is just competing with oneself and not with other employees.”
Me: “why do you say so?”
Uncle: “Office competition is one the biggest hindrance to active collaboration among employees. And active collaboration is an absolute must for delivering results.
Recently, many companies have realized this and have started scrapping ‘bell curve’ type appraisal systems, which would force a manager to somehow fit his/her team on a bell curve etc. Essentially putting them in competition with each other. “
Me: “Great point uncle. Also, what about office politics? It creates a lot of unwarranted concerns for the employees. What should a company do to avoid office politics?”
Uncle: “Very valid point. ‘Mutual trust’ is the antidote of office politics. Senior management needs to nurture mutual trust in the company. And trust can only be established in a transparent & a non-competitive environment.”
Me: “Please explain.”
Uncle: “I mean, trust gets established when people empathize and relate to each other rather than compete; just as we are able to trust our friends & family when there is a little or no competition.”
Me: “Nice example.”
Uncle: “With trust and transparency in place, companies can create an open culture- where employees are able to live an unpretentious life, where one can share his/her opinion and feedback without the fear of being judged or getting cornered.”
He took a brief pause, and continued,
“Trust, transparency and open culture are absolutely necessary for a ‘learning’ organization.”
Me: “If a company is able to ensure all these points, then people would love to work for such a company.”
Uncle: “Absolutely!”
Me: “Thank you so much for this meaningful discussion.”
Uncle: “Thank you too. I thoroughly enjoyed it.”
