DECADES spent as a Human Resources Management practitioner have provided me countless opportunities locally and abroad to experience many ironic parallels and combinations of pleasure & pain, elation & deflation, soaring (even if ephemeral!) motivation & dampening (if not damaging!) de-motivation among employees as they feel the effects of pay progression , stagnation or, alas, deterioration. I believe there is a strong case for employers and employers’ organisations, trade unions and employees’ organisations, the Ministry of Labour as well as educational institutions to discuss objectively, dispassionately and away from the typical ‘negotiations arena’ the underlying principles of compensation management, with particular reference to pay determination.
This belief has been fortified by recent media reports. Few of these have been as poignant as the reported two-year wage freeze agreed to by the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions representing public sector workers of Jamaica (see SN of 2/6/12) on the grounds of ‘affordability’. This came on the heels of widespread reports regarding pressing demands by the union representing the majority of workers of the state-owned, faltering GUYSUCO, fighting unrelentingly for one or other financial benefit in the face of pleas from the management for some respite in view of the corporation’s cash-flow difficulties.
Without wishing in any way to state, suggest or imply any pros or cons, merits or demerits, support for or against any of the foregoing (although I do have my own researched/well considered views on such matters), let me emphasise that my only interest at this stage is to recommend that strenuous efforts be made by all the stakeholders identified above to openly, objectively and collaboratively discuss/debate the principles, objectives, strengths and limitations of the many factors that individually and collectively influence the compensation package including the contextual variables. I have reasons to believe that even our ‘managerial cadre’ includes many who are befuddled about these issues.
Hopefully, widespread educational/informational sessions aimed at demystifying the principles and practices of compensation management including Job Evaluation; Performance Evaluation; Performance-related Pay; Incentive Payments & Bonuses; Negotiations; Market Surveys and Ability to Pay paradigms, etc., which separately and together influence the compensation package will result in less of the controversies which currently overshadow our inescapable world of work.
And, as we are all so critically ‘involved’ in that world, it behoves us to do all we can to reduce the recriminations and lighten the atmosphere with knowledge and information even if we are unable to expand or sweeten the package.