Resolution #6 – Forget last year, general increases and the “what have you done for me lately merit increase” approach and refocus individual compensation adjustments on what people should be paid now based on the job and their performance.

Back in the old days, there was something called the “free market.”  People were paid for the things they did – whether it was providing a service or a product – and if they didn’t like what they were offered, they took their business elsewhere and found another customer.  Then came the industrial revolution, and instead of everybody working for themselves, people started working for employers.  All concerns about robber barons and oppressors of the workers aside, something else happened – instead of being a negotiated fair exchange of labor for pay, employers offered a “take it or leave it” system of compensation.  For a long time, this actually worked, usually…