Performance matters

EMPLOYEE performance is the greatest factor influencing pay rises in Australian offices, according to the 2003 Drake Salary survey.

Of the businesses surveyed, 64 per cent indicated that employee performance was the greatest determinant.

Other key factors for lifting remuneration were CPI increase, increased company profitability, and the number of years an employee had been in the job.

Drake national spokesperson Wendy Parker said Australian companies had come of age in terms of rewarding their staff.

“Companies are no longer focusing on the non-essentials but rather on people who can contribute to lifting organisational productivity and profitability,” she said.

“Non-essentials are having the right skills to do the job and do the job competently.

“Having the right skill level is no longer enough – they need the right attitude, they need to be motivated and to be personally interested in the organisation.

“They need to be prepared to go that extra mile.”

While Sydney continues to set the pace so far as office personnel wages are concerned, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane are playing catch-up on several fronts, according to the survey.

Data entry operators and junior staff in Melbourne now enjoy bigger pay packets than their Sydney counterparts, while in Brisbane senior accounts and data entry operator salaries are only marginally worse off than their peers in the south.