Narratives from the HR Field: Salaries Not Measured by Age of Work

One day a question came in...

"Candidates for marketing managers have five years of experience, currently earn a salary of $80,000, but call $100,000, while the midpoint of the company salary structure is $60,000. Should this be given?"

So I went back and asked...

"Does your company really have a salary structure?"

The answer was, "Yes, the old HR did it."

But deep down, it turns out that the structure mentioned is just the minimum-maximum pay schedule of each position.

❌ did not pass the Job Evaluation, and ❌ did not clearly divide the Job Grade.

📚 Lesson Learned.

This is a very common misunderstanding. Many organizations understand that "there is a salary table" is "there is a salary structure," and in fact, the correct salary structure must be based on.

• Job Evaluation to prioritize and value positions (Hay Group, 2017)

• Market Benchmarking to be competitive (Mercer, 2022)

• Arrangement is the Min - Midpoint - Max framework of each clear Job Grade.

👉 without these things, even if there is a Midpoint figure of 60,000, it cannot be used as a decision.

🤔 * * Why not decide just "Position + Employment Age" * *

Some people think that "the same position, the same age of employment should be paid equally."

But in fact, salaries must reflect a person's "value" and "contribution," 💡 not just their position or number of years (Milkovich & Newman, 2020).

A simple example:

If the applicant calls 100,000 baht but comes in, it cannot work as well as the old one who resigned. ❌ Finally, the company loses money and time with a new burden to fix.

So before making a decision, HR must first look at these important data:

• JD (Job Description) - Functions and Actual Responsibilities of Position

• The qualifications required by the company - academic qualifications, specific skills, charisma.

• Match between the candidate and the JD - not just watch the resume, but interview and assess the actual potential.

⚠️ * * Danger Spot: "Mental Touch" Interview * *

Another trap that is always found is an ❌ Unstructured Interview that is judged by "feelings" such as like-dislike. It sounds like it can be done, but it is not based on evidence.

📊 Schmidt & Hunter's (1998) research confirms that Structured Interview is more accurate in predicting performance, and reduces personal bias.

🚨 If a company still uses a psychoactive interview method, the risk of paying an exaggerated salary to an abusive person is very high.

💡 Thoughts for HR and management

• Create a real salary structure - through job valuation + market comparison.

• Use evidence instead of feelings - Consider JD, Competency, Market Data, not because "how much did he ask?"

• Develop a Systematic Interview Method - Structured Interview Reduces Bias and Standardizes

• Competitive Structure Update - Job Grade's Midpoint should be no less than the market average.

• Don't rush to say yes to the number called by the applicant.

• Don't just believe that "salary structure" can be used as an excuse, and don't use "heart" rather than "principle" salary setting time.

Because if missed... paid too expensive, but got someone who wasn't

Finally, the most expensive thing is not salary numbers, but the cost of decision-making.

💬 "Salary must be the result of the system, not the feeling."

🖊️ Master Gosin Akh flourished.

Psychologists and develop human potential.

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# hr must know # Company # Go clear# Move the line # koclearhai