DISCUSSION OF CHAPTER 9 INCIDENTS

HRM Incident 1: The Pay Gap at Barker Enterprise

Roger Babbit is an administrative assistant at Barker Enterprise. For the past 12 years, he has been working for Maria Mendoza, Director of Human Resources, and they have developed a good working rapport. Roger’s current annual salary of $75,000 places him slightly higher than the midpoint of his salary range. His work has been consistently exemplary, earning the highest performance appraisal score every year. In addition, Roger regularly receives recognition rewards (a plaque and an Amazon.com gift certificate) for his willingness to go the extra mile. In fact, Roger is known for his trustworthiness, leading many coworkers to ask for career advice. 

On a recent Monday morning, Maria introduced Roger to Bianca McCann, a newly hired administrative assistant in the marketing department. Roger offered to meet Bianca for lunch to share his positive experiences at Barker. During their conversation, Roger learned that Bianca earned her associate degree in administrative science from his alma mater where he earned the same degree 13 years ago. She graduated 2 years ago, and held a job as an administrative assistant at Madigan Manufacturing prior to joining Barker Enterprise. Bianca said that she enjoyed her work at Madigan, but was dissatisfied with the pay because of substantial student loan debt. Barker’s pay scale is substantially higher than Madigan’s, making it difficult to refuse a $70,000 salary offer. 

Roger thought a lot about his conversation with Bianca, particularly, the relatively small pay difference of $5,000, considering his outstanding track record. He started to resent Bianca. Rather than letting his resentment get out of control, Roger made an appointment with Maria to discuss his concerns. 

Maria listened carefully to Roger’s concerns. He stated the salary difference and went on to explain that he is a proven quantity given his consistent track record of top notch performance and many more years of work experience than Bianca possesses. Maria assured Roger that he is a highly valued employee and that the department would suffer if he were ever to leave the company. She also understood and openly acknowledged Roger’s perspective. Roger then asked Maria for a salary increase. Maria denied Roger’s request, telling him that there are many other similar pay gaps within the company and the salary budget could not accommodate making pay adjustments for everyone else in this situation. Surprised by Maria’s answer, Roger left her office pondering what his next steps should be.

QUESTIONS

• 9-26. Name and explain the issue underlying the pay gap between Roger and Bianca.

• 9-27. What might be problems associated with withholding a pay adjustment for Roger under these circumstances?