CEO on why giving all employees minimum salary of $70,000 still "works" six years later: "Our turnover rate was cut in half"

Before Ford changed the whole labor economy of the United States with one announcement, labor turnover at the Ford Motor Company had been so high that, in 1912, sixty thousand men had to be hired to retain ten thousand workers. With the new wage, turnover almost disappeared. The resulting savings were so great that despite sharply rising costs for

Despite the diverse backgrounds and regions, I heard the same story over and over: “Before my price increase, I was worried that no one would hire me again. After the price increase, I realized how easy it was, and I wish I had done it sooner.” In most cases, the change was anticlimactic. Clients said, “OK, sure,” and moved on.

In 2008, attorney Kenneth Feinberg was appointed to a position in which he set the salaries of bank executives involved in the global financial crisis. He had to inform executives who made $5 million the previous year that they would only be making $1 million in the upcoming year. He expected them to be frustrated but understand, given the broader

over $75,000 a year—big raises and annual bonuses won’t actually improve their productivity or performance. After that basic-needs line is crossed, employees want intrinsic rewards. They want to be in control of their own time (autonomy), they want to work on projects that interest them (curiosity/passion), and they want to work on projects that ma

Time and again I am asked why no one has successfully replicated Trader Joe’s. The answer is that no one has been willing to pay the wages and benefits, and thereby attract—and keep—the quality of people who work at Trader Joe’s. My standard was simple: the average full-time employee in the stores would make the median family income for California.