by Susan Martin
One of the great quandaries of the HR world just may be: “Should the employee’s performance evaluation be separate from a discussion of salary?” Read on to see how local employers are handling this issue.
The Survey Says
According to a 2013 survey of 193 metro St. Louis and central Illinois businesses conducted by AAIM Employers’ Association, 59% of the survey respondents discuss salary increases during the performance appraisal meeting. The remaining companies (41%) discuss salary separately from the performance meeting.
In addition, 55% of the companies conduct annual employee performance reviews that are scheduled at the same time of year for all employees, while 26% perform the review around each employee’s anniversary date. The remaining businesses either conduct performance reviews more than once a year (9%) or typically conduct no performance appraisals (10%).
Issues to Consider
Keep in mind that intertwining salary issues with performance discussions may divert attention from the effectiveness of the performance discussion, allowing employees to perhaps argue about pay rather than taking responsibility for their work. In addition, when the salary appraisal and performance appraisal are linked together, the appraiser’s feelings about whether the employee deserves a raise can affect the objectivity of the performance appraisal.
If raises aren’t tied to performance reviews, appraisals may be more valuable and constructive and also may prevent the “entitlement” mentality (evaluation = raise).
Pay raise or not, the employee should leave the meeting with a clear idea of how to exceed the organization’s expectations
Susan Martin (susan.martin@aaimea.org) is member answer center coordinator for AAIM Employers’ Association, which helps Missouri and Illinois companies manage their people and processes.
Submitted 10 years 117 days ago