Thursday, April 10, 2008

What Price Change?

How much of a raise would it take to lure you to the competition?

If you're like many employees, you'd expect at least 16 percent more money to jump ship.

More than one-third of workers would move for a 16 to 30 percent raise, according to a Salary.com survey. Another third would walk for 8 to 15 percent more in the pay envelope. And one in six said it would take a raise of 31 to 50 percent.

Oddly, most employers think it would take less -- 15 percent or less -- to lure away talent.

And employers offer, on average, only 7 percent to persuade a valued employee to stay. Half of employers said they sometimes make counteroffers, but more than a third said they never do.

The same e-mail Salary.com survey of 7,101 workers found that the top three reasons workers say they move on have to do with pay and advancement: insufficient pay, lack of career advancement and too little recognition. Low pay has been the leading reason to leave for three consecutive years -- with men and women agreeing that pay is the prime motivator.

Money talks, and it makes us walk.

-- Vickie Elmer