The City Manager proposed 2021-2022 budget that will be presented at the City Council meeting on May 18 begins the process of changing the employee compensation plan for the City of Greensboro.
The proposed budget includes the initial phase of moving city employees from a merit based system of raises to a step plan.
Under the current system, employees annual raises are determined by their employee evaluations. Under the step plan, all employees on the same step will receive the same salary regardless of their evaluation.
This step system removes the monetary incentive for an employee to do a good job or go over and above the minimum expected. Under the current system employees who do go over and above the minimum requirements for their job can expect to receive higher compensation. Under the step system employees who do a great job and employees who do the minimum will be paid exactly the same.
It is major alteration in the city’s philosophy on how employees should be compensated for their work. However, the City Council has had almost no public discussion of abandoning the merit system and going to the step plan.
City Councilmember Sharon Hightower has been pushing for the step plan every year, but it did not appear that she had the support of the majority of the City Council.
Councilmember Marikay Abuzuaiter said that she didn’t remember the City Council actually taking a vote on completely changing the compensation system for city employees but said, “There has been discussion and a consensus was reached to direct the city manager to move forward with it.”
Human Resources Direction Jamiah Waterman explained at the May 11 work session that only a limited number of employees were being put on a step plan this year. He said it was a complicated process because all employees at a certain level had to have their salaries increased to the pay rate for that step, whereas currently because of the merit system employee salaries varied based on the merit raises they had received.
Waterman said that an additional $100,000 was their “best guess” at the additional cost of putting some employees on the step plan in the proposed budget.
Socialism at its finest!
Yes indeed Elizabeth. Hopefully the right side of GSO will realize they have to take the City back at the voting booth during the next elections.
Uncle Joe Stalin knew it best. So how do you get rid of mediocre employees?
You fire them if they are not acceptable doing the job they were hired for. You document their insufficiencies and how you’ve supported their improvement that hasn’t turned into actual improvement.
You also accept that most people are actually quite close to average, so most of the time, you aren’t going to see big differences from the best of the middle 50% to the worst of the middle 50%.
Also, keep in mind that we are likely talking about something like $250. In practice, merit raises usually only account for a difference of less than 0.5% (the difference of the high average vs. low average employee). We are arguing about a person getting or not getting an extra $250 next year. Inflation is typically about 2% per year – people making at or below the median income should probably receive a minimum pay raise equal to inflation. The terrible employees get fired. The exceptional employees get promotions. We’re talking about the typical American that thinks clocking in from 9-5 is putting in your hard work and entitles you to everything – success and riches. Sadly, their laziness lead to financial prosperity because they lived during the most consistent growth phase of our businesses and markets and benefited from being just good enough to not fall off their escalator.
The step plan is so wrong on many different levels. It is the federal government plan. Do no work and get compensated. It’s the same as unemployment except you have to actually show up for work. How hard is it to have someone fired in the Greensboro govt? Strip is as stupid does. Hope my company goes to the step plan. Just like retiring early.
Why would anyone want to put out the extra effort when incentive is removed? Just the discussion proposed by the city manager and staff is a reflection of liberal wok ness. If you move ahead with this plan, the council should be on the 1st step as representing those with doing the minimum.
If this plan is approved, there will be a host of GSO City Employees looking for jobs. This is just like the liberals. There are no incentives to do your best when you will not be rewarded. Same program as giving trophies for “participation”.
And our city takes another step towards total laughingstock status. Mandate Mayor gives slack employees raises so they can start to receive raises at the same amount and rate as stellar emloyees? No vote, no discussion, no problem for Mandate Mayor! “Best guesses” and best of intentions matter not this is what we get from our leaders here in Greensboro. A race to the bottom.
Oh goody, participation trophies!
Now there’s NO incentive to work hard.
Just scrape by and you’ll still get the customary pay raise in the step plan. What a crock of BS! Those of us who busted our rumps through almost a decade of NO raises don’t even get matching salaries to compete with the fresh lazy Gen Z “talent” they’re bringing in these days. This is just asinine. Either you work hard, or get out!
Why don’t they just give them all a participation trophy, that will go a long way at the gas pumps. No reason to reward outstanding performance. All of the barely “standard”employees will certainly benefit.
Of all people that would push for step plan ,is Hightower.Her only goal on the board is to worry about Minority hiring ,so far I can’t figure her out she’s for minority but not for people in the city that come up with ideas and bust their buns to do a great job!!!She is such a weird person and as the wind blows that is Hightower.
This is typical of the Democrat leadership going on in America,even the President.Democrats want all federal,state and communities to have nothing and be dependent on our parent The Government.I can’t wait till 2022,so I can vote out some of these sorry Democrats.
Excellent demonstration of awful reporting, John. Compliments on demonstrating the height of white mail mediocrity being platformed to the featured story of a local newspaper. Well done!
So says our resident Doctor of Libtardology. So predictable.
Whitey, I fully agree. Name star sound like a bratty kid having a temper tantrum.
This decision about employee pay is a surefire way to assure the citizens of GSO that are going to get screwed by some very entitlement-minded workers. Sounds like socialism to me.
I’m glad I live in High Point. If the folks in GSO keep reelecting the geniuses in the city and county, like Vaughan and Alston, Costco might be the furthest I venture into that city.
Yes, even the dedicated employees get screwed in the process so congratulations Greensboro, you can expect several will be leaving to yo someplace they are appreciated.
I’ve already stopped spending money in the God-forsaken city of Greensboro. I stopped back when Nancy started the whole lockdown over-reaction last year. I have to drive into Greensboro for work, but I’ll never spend any more of my money there until the citizens wake up and stop electing morons like what’s there now.
This is almost unbelievable. So all you will have to do is just to show up for work, and don’t make anyone look bad by doing your job well.
Ah, it’s old Joe (Stalin).
It is called Critical Race Theory BS.
From an AMA article, quote ““The commonly held narrative of meritocracy is the idea that people are successful purely because of their individual effort,” it states. “Medical education has largely been based on such flawed meritocratic ideals, and it will take intentional focus and effort to recognize, review and revise this deeply flawed interpretation.”
One and the same……
Can not blame the CM for leaving, who would want to be a part of that. Going to be a lot of John Galts in the days to come….
Sorry to break it to everyone, but the Greensboro Police Department has been on the step plan for almost a decade. Everything said here is correct though. The step program demotivates employees because the go-getters and high performers get the exact same raise as the slugs who are just getting by. They see the slugs getting the same, meager 1.9% raise that they get for busting their hump all day, which is an insult in itself, and you can almost see the frustration building on their faces. It’s another of many reasons GPD morale is in the tank. It does not help that promotions also fail to take performance into account. Sure, the big brass will say it matters, but then they promote someone who everyone knows could not police their way out of a wet paper bag.
Keep it up GPD and soon the brass will be the ones having to answer the calls because there won’t be anyone left.
“If I work my a– off and Initech ships a few extra units, I don’t see another dime. So where’s the motivation? And here’s something else, Bob. I have 8 different bosses right now.” – Peter Gibbons in “Office Space”
WOW, this new pay program sounds like it will make people work just hard enough not to get hassled or fired, and will encourage mediocrity.
But Ms. Giovanni, We’re putting the new cover sheets on ALL the TPS reports from now on, so if you could go ahead and do that, that’d be great. And I’ll go ahead and make sure you get another copy of that memo. -Bill
Dumb, Dumb, Dumb! Greensboro is falling apart. This idea files in the face of good Human Resources policy.
Check out the County. We get a new HR Director every few months. Each one “progressively” more communist than the last. Skip won’t rest until we have a one legged transgendered they of color whose poop turns purple and tastes like rainbow sherbet.
Just give them tenure
Wait until they do a “national search” for a new city manager and then “find” the perfect fit in one of our current assistant city managers. My guess is one they brought in from the police department.
This is stupid! There will be no talented folks working for the City of Greensboro. I used to work there but left to make more money in the private sector. This type of system will increase the number of talented folks that will do the same thing. Just plain stupid!!!