Staff not happy with 7.5% increases

7.5% more than I received and I too am involved in the struggling printing industry.

They should be grateful that they still have jobs, let alone received an increase as the industry is not in a healthy state. Even paper houses are struggling as a result of what is happening within the industry.
 
thestaggy said:
7.5% more than I received and I too am involved in the struggling printing industry.

They should be grateful that they still have jobs, let alone received an increase as the industry is not in a healthy state. Even paper houses are struggling as a result of what is happening within the industry.
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And this is going to get worse, not better - due to the Internet.

All of the best, guys, you really will need it!
 
Whereas some companies such as Uniprint have diversified their portfolio over time and are experiencing strong growth.
 
werfie said:
We are not talking about the millions of employees here, we are talking about the couple that work for the OP. Large corporations are also usually unionised which is in charge of those negotiations... which may or may not be the reason that so much is burnt down every now and then.
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Comprehension not one of your strong points, is it?
 
Explain in simple terms. Tell them that they can get 10% increase but then two of them will have to be let go and the rest will have to work harder to pick up the slack.
 
creeper said:
Explain in simple terms. Tell them that they can get 10% increase but then two of them will have to be let go and the rest will have to work harder to pick up the slack.
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This should make things interesting
 
Gaz{M} said:
Percentages don't really mean anything to low wage earners. Their rate of inflation is way more than CPI.

7.5% increase on R2000 a month is only R150. 7.5% on R30 000 a month is R2250.

Electricity is going up 9.4% which on a household using R500 a month is an extra R50 a month. Bam, that's 33% of their increase gone. Milk up R4 a litre. Another R50 a month. That's just milk and electricity! And they have R50 left.

I know it's tough to try make people understand, so good luck. Next time, offer them 4%, then when they complain, make it 5.6%, then when they complain, go, "ok ok, we will have to cut our own salaries so you can get 6.3%." Then again they will complain until eventually you make some token gesture and say "Because I have sold my second property, you can all have 7.5%!"even if not true.

It's called price anchoring..
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Very well said, up to the point where you suggest being dishonest and lying.
 
Gaz{M} said:
Percentages don't really mean anything to low wage earners. Their rate of inflation is way more than CPI.

7.5% increase on R2000 a month is only R150. 7.5% on R30 000 a month is R2250.

Electricity is going up 9.4% which on a household using R500 a month is an extra R50 a month. Bam, that's 33% of their increase gone. Milk up R4 a litre. Another R50 a month. That's just milk and electricity! And they have R50 left.

I know it's tough to try make people understand, so good luck. Next time, offer them 4%, then when they complain, make it 5.6%, then when they complain, go, "ok ok, we will have to cut our own salaries so you can get 6.3%." Then again they will complain until eventually you make some token gesture and say "Because I have sold my second property, you can all have 7.5%!"even if not true.

It's called price anchoring..
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Well said.

The fact that elec & food prices are hitting the low earners hard isn't really the employers problem though.

And I definitely wouldn't lie about selling a 2nd prop.
 
werfie said:
Well this decision will depend on the type of audience and skill levels of the workers I would say?

There is probably nothing worse than throwing around figures of hundreds of thousands/millions on a white board in front of people that can't comprehend the significance of a 7.5% increase in this economy. Probably sounds bad, but I say this out of experience. My dad did this once with his small business and when the employees calculated the amount of money generated vs. their perception of the expenses then all hell broke loose and they demanded more because they couldn't understand everything money is spent on in a business. You also certainly can't explain to unhappy workers why it is necessary for a business to make any sort of profit to stay healthy and in business.

Use it don't use it, but I wouldn't go down this road.
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Yup - agreed. Maybe rather talk in percentage terms when comparing sales down down and expenses up. Quoting millions in sales when their salary is in thousands per month will probably not go down well.

Keep in mind, when taking in electricity/ transport and food, the poorer are going to be poorer this year even with a 7,5% increase.
 
DrJohnZoidberg said:
7.5% is a good increase. At my old job I didn't get a single increase in 2 years.
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Cool,I've had one increase on my basic in 13 years,work on commission and times are really hard so battling to survive :mad:
 
LazyLion said:
OK thanks guys... maybe my heart is bleeding a bit too much.

What I really want to do is to tell them to vote for someone else, but I know that's probably not a good idea to go there.
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+1 for just playing open cards, if you want to change the bit about them basically just doing the bare minimum you can consider implementing a lightweight and transparent performance management system to make it clear if you want more than the blanket increase you need to put in more (also if you put in less you will get less)

I'd probably be tempted to still throw in something around the vote :D e.g. if the exchange rate has damaged your business point it out and remind them of nene-gate ;)
 
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