Do you feel employees should be paid based on performance, or should they be rewarded for years of experience?
"As an HR Consultant, I feel that both performance and experience should be weighed when deciding compensation, pay increases, and promotions. I am a firm believer in set pay ranges for positions and bringing new staff into the pay range based solely on their years of experience. From there, I believe that merit increases should be based on meeting performance expectations for the role. You want to ensure that you compensate your highest performers appropriately but that their growth is stable and manageable in the long-term."
The interviewer would like to know your thoughts on paying employees based on work performance versus compensating them based on years of experience and loyalty. As millennial employees continue to dominate the work scene, more and more employees are requesting compensation based on delivered results. The interviewer wants to know if you feel that employees should be paid based on tenure or results. Before you get too far into your own personal philosophies as an HR professional, you must research the organization you are interviewing with and their industry to get a feel for the standard compensation for them. You don't want to make it sound like you would come in hoping to reinvent the wheel when it comes to compensation.
"I feel that employees should be paid, and rewarded, based on their performance. A new employee will find motivation in being rewarded for performance, and it encourages healthy competition with tenured employees. I have seen this to be true on many occasions in my HR career."
Community answers are written by other candidates practicing this set. Reading how others frame the same question is one of the fastest ways to sharpen your own.
Anonymous Answer
I believe they should be paid for their performance. I think this drives the right behaviors to move the business forward. I don't think seniority translates to performance. I do believe seniority should be taken into a factor for some things, like job bidding.
Rachelle's Feedback
Perfect response, and you make a great case for where seniority should be considered and how it should not trump a high-performing employee.
