Ethics: My Worst Performer Got the Biggest Raise. What Do I Do?

Meanwhile, the hardest workers got half as much. Our Ethics columnist weighs in.

EXPERT OPINION BY MINDA ZETLIN, AUTHOR OF 'CAREER SELF-CARE: FIND YOUR HAPPINESS, SUCCESS, AND FULFILLMENT AT WORK' @MINDAZETLIN

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A Reddit member writes: I have one report who has been a struggle all year. He finally started showing signs of life in Q4, but he barely hit the “Met Expectations” cutoff. In his review, I was honest—I documented where he failed and where he finally improved.

The result? HR’s system gave him a 10 percent raise because he was “underpaid” according to their market data. I think his bump had more to do with his title. I was told he got a title promotion but not much in terms of salary. I suppose the company finally got around and wanted his salary to fall within the band of what his title is. 

Meanwhile, my absolute rockstars—the people carrying the department on their backs—were capped at 4 percent to 4.5 percent.

Lowest performer gets highest pay.

I tried to manually override it to move some of that 10 percent to my top performers, and the system blocked me. So now, one of lowest performer is my highest-paid employee. I have to look my best people in the eye and tell them there’s “no budget” while the guy who does the bare minimum just got a windfall.

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I’m at the point where I want to quiet quit, but it’s not in my DNA to suck at my job. But honestly? The “competence penalty” is real, and it’s exhausting. The system doesn’t reward excellence; it rewards being a “market adjustment” statistic.

How do you stay motivated when the math literally tells your best people they aren’t worth as much as the guy who almost got fired? This is a condensed version of a longer post and comments.

Minda Zetlin responds:

How frustrating! I don’t blame you for wanting to quiet quit.

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