Video Case: The Chief Executive Officer Of Gravity Payments

Gravity Compensation
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Gravity Compensation
Dan Price, the Chief Executive Officer of Gravity Payments, increased the minimum wage of his staff mainly to improve their financial status. This action had taken the current stance on the economy into account before making the change. The living standards in Seattle had become expensive. The majority of the staff were unable to afford houses that were close enough to their place of employment, some employees had student loans they could not pay and others found the commute to work expensive. Furthermore, before the appraisal, only a few staff members were able to support their families with the minimum wage salary. Another reason behind his salary hiking was that he intended to bridge the gap that existed between the top 1% families that made approximately $1.6 million annually and the bottom 99% that make just over $ 48,000 per year (PBS Newshour, 2016). Likewise, the Seattle local council agreed that the minimum wages should be increased by approximately $15 per hour of work. Working under this assumption and new regulations, Dan Price opted to gradually raise their salary from the initial minimum wage of $50,000 in 2015, to the controversial amount of $70,000 in 2017 (PBS Newshour, 2016). A record that created talks in newsrooms and social media, his intention of making other companies join suit was achieved. However, none of the other companies raised their minimum wages to similar amounts. He stated the point that every business owner should know the purpose of their business; if its objective is to make money, then the company loses its true purpose (PBS Newshour, 2016). Business is supposed to have a purpose to achieve true success. With external forces such as capitalism, companies are unable to comply with the change in needs that their employees experience. Dan Price understood the changes his employees were undergoing and the outcome was an increased minimum wage.
Factors to Consider Before Making the Changes
Before making the decision of raising the minimum wages of all employees, several considerations in human resources have to be considered. First, the efficiency of the human resources system has to be improved for efficiency and diligence (Jacques & Grant, 2017). This is because with increased salaries, employees are expected to perform better, the system will, therefore, weed out the weak performers. For such a high wage, performance is supposed to be of higher quality. Secondly, the number of employees will have to be capped even as the company grows from its current 120 employees (Jacques, & Grant, 2017). Mr. Price will be capable of bankrolling a good portion of the staffs’ raises from his salary. However, if the company is expected to grow, with the additional employees would mean that the management have their salaries capped as well and this may lead to turnover. This, therefore, means that the company will have hiring challenges that will need to be resolved. Thirdly, a reformed method of recognition and remuneration for performance (Jacques, & Grant, 2017). Some of the questions that will need to be answered include, will the employee salaries continue to increase with gained exper...