What is the Role of a Salary?

We typically think of labor and the labor market on the model of a market exchange. One of the core insights contained in the Schuitema Thematic is the idea that fulfillment in one’s work will only be attained when one engages that work with the intent to make a contribution. Fulfillment is found in being here to give rather than being here to get and it is for this reason that one should cultivate this intent in oneself in all that one does, not least in the workplace.

As Etsko Schuitema, lead partner at Schuitema Associates, has put the point: “More importantly, my day to day work life is no longer something I have to suffer through, it becomes the point of me doing things. I shift my attention from outcome into process. When I make what I am doing the purpose of what I am doing then I no longer experience it as the price I have to pay to get a reward. It is its own reward. I am fulfilled by doing it. May day to day life is no longer something I have to suffer through, it is the point. It is the purpose.”

A question that naturally arises to this idea is a question related to the role of a salary. People very often raise the question of where precisely a salary fits into the equation. If we should be here to give should we not be paid or should our salaries be cut? If fulfillment is contribution what is the point of a salary?

I am going to allow some of the leading Schuitema consultants speak for the thematic. We are fortunate enough to have some of their answers to precisely this question. Here are the answers to this question given by three human excellence consultants which Schuitema is proud to be associated with.

Pam Pretorius (Human Excellence Consultant): 

“This is one that we deal with fairly often when we talk in Care & Growth about “being here to give”. It is not a case of giving up our salaries for the greater purpose, but it is a case of knowing what I need to pay attention to in order to feel fulfilled and in harmony with the people around me.

If I am only at work to get my salary, over time people will experience me as a person who is here to get what I want and that I am prepared to go to any lengths to do this. They will see me using people as the means that end, whether it is my salary, a promotion or a big bonus. What happens over time, is that I become surrounded by people who are the same, also here to get what they can for themselves, driven by their needs just like me.

If I focus on what I am here to give i.e. my contribution to the team, my sub-ordinates, the company and the job I am employed to do, I am focusing on what I have control over. When I focus on what I want to get, I am focusing on things I have no control over, someone else makes the decision about what I earn, what size my bonus is etc.

By coming to work to make a contribution, in whatever way that is, I will experience harmony with my colleagues, sub-ordinates and managers, I will fill feel fulfilled by knowing I am doing the best I can to make a difference to people around me. I will feel secure in the knowledge that I am giving of my best and unless I work for an unstable organisation, I will also get paid my salary at the end of the month!”

Robert Tucker (Human Excellence Consultant):

“During our training sessions we ask people to construct a list of attributes that describe the person they would willingly work for, someone for whom they would go the extra mile. The deeper understanding of this question is ‘who do you give permission to exercise power over you?’ Amazingly, over several years of conducting this process, I have never seen someone include the word “SALARY”. What motivates us to go the extra mile for someone is very seldom money. This doesn’t mean that money is not in the list. Explicitly it is missing, but implicit in words like “RECOGNITION” and “REWARD” is the idea of remuneration. Money is also implicit in the word “FAIR”, because I want to be remunerated fairly in line with the value I add.

When we ask people why they come to work, their reasons can be grouped into one of four different categories: SECURITY, FULFILLMENT, POWER/SIGNIFICANCE & HARMONY. The issue of salary, or money, falls into the category of SECURITY. The irony is that our security is never a function of what we get, it is always a function of what we give. Since we have very little control of what we get, if we base our security on that, we will always be insecure. Since we always have control over what we give, we will always be secure when we focus on the quality of our contribution.

We truly do live in a benevolent universe that wants to support us and take care of us. When we focus on what we get, we are essentially living in denial of that benevolence and in a state of distrust. Quite often the thing we fear comes to pass, perhaps loss of salary. I have my own personal experience of how I focused on my salary so much that I ultimately lost it.

On the contrary, when we focus on what we give, we find that our needs will be met, and that our contributions will be fairly recognised and rewarded. When we trust in a benevolent universe, we often find that the Universe’s idea of fair reward is immensely greater than our own.”

Fakhir Shah (Partner):

“Giving is a function of our intent. It is what sits behind the eyes that is more important than what sits in the hands. In any commercial transaction it is possible for me to focus on serving the other. This does not mean that I don’t get paid. The issue is where my focus is; what drives me.”