There was a lot of news today on how Samsung workers in South Korea are threatening to go on strike as they feel they should be paid more for the work they do considering the company has been experiencing record profits. While that is pretty common, what was a little surprising was that the articles I read talked about how Samsung had a competitor that was doing very well because of the global demand on memory and people were saying they compensate their employees better. That could have been the straw that broke the camel’s back.
That got me to think as for most businesses they always focus on how they can be better than the competition ranging from offering a superior product or having prices that are hard to say no to. They spend millions in market research as an example for this. But how about making sure your company is a lot better than the competition for your employees too? I’m sure most places look at basic data such as compensation rates and benefits. But sometimes it can be other things such as have clear promotion paths or extra benefits such as discounts that can make people want to come and stay at accompany.
It’s just funny how most companies don’t treat workers with equal importance when it comes to comparing how they are with other companies. You can probably learn a lot.