March 29, 2024

Richardson Column in The Free Lance-Star

UMW College of Business Dean Lynne Richardson

UMW College of Business Dean Lynne Richardson

College of Business Dean Lynne Richardson’s latest column in The Free Lance-Star is titled “The Best Way to Handle Salary Increases.”

During my first eight years in the workplace, I received an annual salary increase. While that was terrific, my raise percentage was the same as every other person in the business school. A new dean arrived and changed the model. In the following five years at that same business school, raises were given each year, but the percentages varied based on performance.

Some organizations today follow the ‘across-the-board’ increase model. For example, there are large firms that hire many college graduates every summer at the same salary (and the only variances across the country are due to cost of living considerations). So perhaps they hire everyone in the Atlanta office at a salary of $50,000. All new hires are trained and do, more or less, the same job. After a year, everyone gets the same pay increase. Performance has nothing to do with how the raises are determined. Some firms have used this model for years. Read more.