Imagine it's the end of the year, you've been busting your butt, you've been
working real hard, you have delivered for the company, you're working for.
You're about to have that year end review, you're expecting a bonus,
you're expecting a raise.
But your boss tells you you know what,
I read this article written by an HR person in Inc Magazine.
And she suggested that in lieu of a bonus I pay for management classes for you.
How about that, how good does that sound?
Merry Christmas.
That's literally something suggested,
literally something that was suggested in an article written in Inc.
Okay, Inc is the name of the publication.
So let me give you a few excerpts cuz I love it.
This is literally the worst advice anyone can give to an employer.
And yes, this is a passive aggressive way of me letting my employer know
that you better not try to pull this, I'm not gonna stand for it.
So let me give you the details.
Your end, writes Suzanne Lucas can come with holiday presents, parties and
you're in bonuses.
It's also quite normal to do annual pay increases effective at the first
of the new year.
These things are all good but
it may impact what the great resignation looks like your office.
Okay, what does that even mean?
How about pay your workers so they want to stay at your company,
but that is not the take here.
All right, Suzanne continues to write if you're in bonuses and
raises are the norms in your company.
Your employees may hold off accepting that new job until the money is in their
pockets.
Who wants to quit three weeks before bonuses hit the bank account?
But what about all the work the employers or
employees did throughout the year, which earns them that bonus.
Like that's the point of the bonus, right, that's what the bonus is.
So her point is make it, make sure your employees have no money to
kind of carry them through looking for a better job.
Like make them so desperate that they don't have the means to go search for
a better job.
And so yeah, I don't give a bonus, don't give a pay raise,
instead why don't you pay for some management classes?
Can you imagine management?
I would rather shoot myself.
>> No, I was thinking of giving you the gift of hosting classes.
>> I need to give you hosting classes boy, please.
>> [LAUGH] Could you imagine how that review would go over?
[LAUGH] I don't know that I'd walk out alive.
Okay, now seriously guys, I thought the OPED or whatever it was and
by the way, Inc magazines, INC hasn't incorporated, right?
This is advice to theoretically CEOs et cetera and
I'm the CEO here not a big deal.
Actually really not a big deal.
So anyways, I didn't even understand really what she was saying.
Someone's bonuses do at a certain time,
you have to pay it t's not negotiable like what you promised the bonus.
And and obviously everybody's got different performance and it's and
different ways of calculating the bonuses.
But you can't say,
well now I'm gonna delay it because I'm worried you're gonna resign.
No, that's not the deal and
you don't get to play around with people's lives that way.
So I thought the whole thing was ridiculous.
>> Thank you I mean, no you know what?
No, I'll be okay with you not giving me a bonus and
instead taking me to trainings to be part of the PMC.
Like it's insane.
>> But I do want to say one thing and it like,
some people don't mind management classes.
>> But that's work, you get that right, that that's work.
>> I know, but they're paying for the management classes.
If you're saying, I'm not gonna give you your bonus and
I'm not gonna give you a choice, I'm gonna make you take classes instead.
Yeah then I'm share your frustration.
But if you say, hey, if you want instead, I'll give you a management class and
they actually do want that.
You know what, I would love to see what percentage of employees would say,
yeah, keep the bonus, keep the bonus.
I want to be part of a management.
Like it's essentially management meeting really right,
teaching you how to be, >> Some people really do want management
classes >> I get it but that's like,
that's work that's not a treat you get what I'm saying.
>> Yeah, I don't know that they want management classes in lieu of their bonus.
>> Yeah.
>> That's a different question.
>> Let me give you more of what she writes and
we'll eventually finally get to the management excerpt.
So she says inflation,
it's a huge problem, it's affecting everything including salaries.
Yes, it's more work to have your human resources department look at what it would
cost to replace someone than it is just too a lot a small percentage to everyone.
Still if you don't do it, you'll not only lose more employees,
you'll also end up paying the higher rate for their replacements.
She thinks that if you pay employees more money and
if you give them bonuses, they're gonna leave.
So her thinking is if you treat your employees well they might leave you so
treat them poorly and maybe they'll stay.
I don't know if this woman is married but I want to have a talk with her husband,
I want to know how he's feeling in the household.
>> Okay, wow you went there.
>> Is she is she punishing him so he stays like is that her thinking like-
>> [LAUGH] Well maybe he's into it,
I don't know.
>> True some people are into that.
Okay no, seriously I had trouble understanding her point
because that sentence was so confusing.
I read it twice before we got on air I'm like, so wait, it's worth it to go
through the extra effort of looking for new people so don't pay the bonuses.
And she never quite explain how do you not pay the bonuses?
You said you'd give them bonuses, what do you go ha ha surprise there is nothing
because I'm worried you're gonna quit.
Which by the way would lead them probably to quitting.
>> 100% >> But but I think the larger point
here is yes it's true most corporations are obsessed with how do I pay you less?
And so look if they were obsessed with keeping employees which is half of
this article, right, well that's good you want to be.
But I would think maybe I'm naive to you, but
I would think that if you want to keep employees just treat them well.
>> I think that that works, yeah, I mean I like to be treated well.
I don't know about you guys, Edwin, you like to be treated well?
Edwin likes to be treated well.
Bart you like to be treated well?
>> Of course I want to be treated well.
>> Everyone wants to be treated well.
>> Well we have agreement.
>> And by the way treated well means give me the money.
Okay, that's what treated well means let me give you more.
Make sure you have compensation that takes time to vest this little I see this
little trick.
Okay, so stocks or 41 K matches for instance,
if you make that valuable enough, you can increase your employee loyalty.
And help keep people around longer term.
Listen, the benefits and perks that take time to vest,
that's fine, in addition to the pay raises and bonuses.
Okay, let's just be straight.
And then finally, take your holiday bonus and enroll yourself in a management class.
Heck take your whole management team, it'll be worth the money.
Put real effort into increasing your management skills and
you may find your turnover dropping instead of increasing.
>> No, but that's crazy.
>> Like the craziest thing anyone has ever written and
this magazine that gives advice to like corporate executives is like,
hey, do this and everyone will quit.
Like, I mean it's like the worst advice ever.
I can't believe she was published.
>> Yeah, so look guys, if you said to anyone, hey,
good news I'm not going to give you your bonus instead,
I've taken that money and enrolled you in a management class.
[LAUGH] Even the people who want to go to management class would be like,
you did what?
[LAUGH] >> It's like a husband is buying his wife
a vacuum, right, it's for her, but it's really for him.
>> Yeah, and I get your frustration because I would argue it's actually worse
because how about the people who didn't want to go to management class?
Good news, I took your bonus and I signed you up for school instead.
And that was good news, how?
And then her justification was, no,
it's okay because it's gonna make you more valuable in the long run.
So then when you get more valuable, we'll take that bigger bonus and
enroll you in another class [LAUGH].
Yeah but when do I actually get payed?
>> It's amazing, it's amazing.
So, Suzanne apologies we did you dirty, but you deserved it.
>> [LAUGH]