Page 94 - How America's Best Places to Work Inspire Extra Effort in Extraordinary Times

Steering the Ship and Inspiring the Crew C81

: Promote the idea that the generational filter is only one way to
look at the world, and that understanding and accommo-
dating gender, racial, ethnic, and cultural differences is
just as important.

In each of the next five chapters on the other engage-
ment drivers, we will present additional practices for
promoting engagement and teamwork among the four
generations.

Theme E: Perceptions of Executive Greed and Pay Inequity
Events of the first decade of the century have convinced many em-
ployees that CEOs and other senior executives cannot be trusted to
keep the best interests of the organization foremost in mind—a per-
ception that is essentially incompatible with employee engagement.

Negative Comments
Many employees were not reluctant to express their perception of
unfairness and outrage about what they see as the disproportionate
gap in pay levels between senior leaders and the average worker:

: “There’s a fair amount of dissension within the engineering ranks.
Most of it revolves around compensation. Executives at this com-
pany continue to be awarded large bonuses, pay raises, and cheaply-
priced stock options. Meanwhile, raises are rare among engineers.”
: “The leader of our organization was given $687,000 in raises.
Not a bad income when the average employee is bringing home
less than $30,000 per year. Also, they increase annual goals and
demand more, and yet our annual income stays the same year after
year, except for our CEO.”
: “I feel the company does not share the wealth. . . . The bonus struc-
ture should include all levels, not just management. You get the
feeling, ‘Why should I bust my butt for my boss to get his incentive
bonus?’”