Making the Case for Unequal Pay and Perks
A cabal of HR renegades is taking advantage of the economic downturn to push an unorthodox notion: that the current vogue of slashing perks and pay is managerial insanity. Officeland may be burning, but Richard W. Beatty, who teaches human resources strategy at Rutgers University, says the tendency to treat everyone the same is "misguided and absolutely the wrong approach. It's strategic suicide."
Beatty and like-minded thinkers argue that the prevailing attitude is equivalent to an airline sticking its platinum passengers in coach with scratchy blankets and shrink-wrapped food. Once the good times reappear, or so the argument goes, disenchanted top players will bolt for better treatment and more pay. Companies that hew to the status quo will "pay dearly," says Beatty, who, with Brian Becker and Mark Huselid, co-authored the upcoming The Differentiated Workforce and consults for Sony, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Lockheed Martin, and others.
