A belief on the part of the employees that their pay is fair and equitable is two-fold which fall into the local (relating entirely to their job/ role in their place of work) and the global (which takes in factors relating to pay across the industry of the employee as a whole).
Firstly, is their pay 'fair'? This would require an employee to make an objective assessment of their role, and have a go at determining if they believe the remuneration they receive (not just basic pay but any bonuses, holiday, share options etc) is fitting for the job they perform. They might not think that the figure is very much, but is that because the role is very simple/ easy to perform, and as such, their pay is fair?
Secondly, is it 'equitable'? This means looking at the industry as a whole (in the same country - there are pay discrepancies in most roles between countries) and establishing if people in similar roles are paid similar amounts. If other people doing the same role are paid significantly different amounts, which can't be accounted for with other factors, the pay is probably not equitable.
So, having evaluated the fairness and equitability of pay, is it a factor for motivation? Both Maslow and Herzberg state that pay alone is not a motivating factor but acknowledge that the absence of fair pay will act to de-motivate, thus pay itself can only ever support a motivational structure, not entirely constitute one. An interesting tangent however comes not from an assessment of pay, but of the equitability factor: An employee could feel highly motivated within an organization, only to find that somebody doing the same job down the street gets paid twice as much for the same job and regardless of all their motivational factors, feel de-motivated as a result.
In summary, both pay, and equitability are highly important factors intrinsic to motivation but only when considered within the whole guise of a motivational structure.
Firstly, is their pay 'fair'? This would require an employee to make an objective assessment of their role, and have a go at determining if they believe the remuneration they receive (not just basic pay but any bonuses, holiday, share options etc) is fitting for the job they perform. They might not think that the figure is very much, but is that because the role is very simple/ easy to perform, and as such, their pay is fair?
Secondly, is it 'equitable'? This means looking at the industry as a whole (in the same country - there are pay discrepancies in most roles between countries) and establishing if people in similar roles are paid similar amounts. If other people doing the same role are paid significantly different amounts, which can't be accounted for with other factors, the pay is probably not equitable.
So, having evaluated the fairness and equitability of pay, is it a factor for motivation? Both Maslow and Herzberg state that pay alone is not a motivating factor but acknowledge that the absence of fair pay will act to de-motivate, thus pay itself can only ever support a motivational structure, not entirely constitute one. An interesting tangent however comes not from an assessment of pay, but of the equitability factor: An employee could feel highly motivated within an organization, only to find that somebody doing the same job down the street gets paid twice as much for the same job and regardless of all their motivational factors, feel de-motivated as a result.
In summary, both pay, and equitability are highly important factors intrinsic to motivation but only when considered within the whole guise of a motivational structure.
