How much is a 10% salary increase really worth?

My company, TransitTalent.com, is doing a salary survey of the U.S. and Canadian transit industry. I've received more than 600 responses so far, from a wide array of departments and job titles. I'm not done collecting, however, so I can't share final results.

But I wanted to talk about some preliminary results that were, to my mind, fascinating. The question is: If you were offered a job by a local employer, public or private, that had the same basic duties and responsibilities as your current job -- but paid 10% more -- would you take it?

For example, if you're now making $60,000 per year, would you switch employers for an immediate raise to $66,000?

Here's what the respondents said:
No: 23.3%
Yes: 33.0%
Not sure: 43.7%

There are different ways to interpret these results (and remember that they could change as more responses come in).

The glass-half-empty interpretation would be: Less than one quarter (23.3%) of transit employees would definitely stay with their current employer in the face of a job offer that paid 10% more.

The glass-half-full interpretation: Only one third (33.0%) of transit employees would definitely leave their employer for a job that paid 10% more.

The middle-of-the-road interpretation: A job offer that would include a 10% pay increase would cause many transit employees to take stock of their current situation and look at their future prospects with their current employer.

Bottom line, transit employers who can't afford to pay their employees an additional 10% (and that's most all of them in this economy) need to provide other reasons for them to stay: engaging leadership, training and development, opportunities to advance and, especially, encouragement and positive feedback for a job well done.

I've heard too many managers rationalize their unwillingness to praise their staff with the following: "Well, they're only doing their jobs. That's what they get paid for." Too often, these talented, hard-working employees eventually end up getting paid by another employer.

By the way, if you work for a transit system and would like to fill out the survey, send a note to me at steve.hirano@TransitTalent.com and I'll send you a survey link.

Until next time.

Steve