RESPONDING TO TEACHER PAY OBJECTIONS

Opening comments

First of all, thank them for letting you know, and let them know you’d like to share some info from your perspective, and that you’re open to discussing it more now, or when they’ve had time to think.

You could try something like this: 

‘Thanks for letting me know your thoughts because not everyone does. 

I’ll give you a quick run-down on how I normally think about this subject, and then I’m more than happy to discuss it further now or you can go away and think about it and come back to me with your follow up thoughts. 

I want to make sure you have the time to really understand this, and that you think it’s fair, too. 

Is that OK?’

This is important because it gives them the chance to take the time to process what you’re about to tell them, and respects their time and feelings.  To set the scene for your staff member, I suggest you lead with this next point first.

POINT 1 : The goal is for everyone's pay to increase

‘One of my long term goals is to raise everyones pay.

This is something I’m passionate about, and although I wish we were further along in this journey, I’m proud of how far we’ve come since starting the business

[You could insert some anecdotal info here about what it used to be like back then.]
It’s not a magical overnight change, but our track record shows we’re moving in the right direction and group lessons will help continue that growth.’ 

Next, it’s good to address any unsaid concerns that you’re being greedy as a boss.

POINT 2 : Being a good steward is not greedy

‘Often people think I’m greedy because we charge this much for a lesson, and they don’t get paid the same amount.  

As the boss, my job is to keep the business secure and moving forward so everyone can flourish in their jobs.

Part of that means being a good steward of handling the finances, because if I stuff that up then it has the potential for everyone to lose their job, including me.

Protecting jobs involves not spending money we hope will turn up before it actually does; I would never encourage people to spend money they don’t have in their personal life, and that’s not something we should peer pressure the business to do either.’

If you’re teaching group classes, you may need to insert this point next.

POINT 3 : It's not just the teacher that deserves more for groups

‘Often people assume that it’s just the teacher that deserves more pay because of increased class numbers, but actually, one could argue that the teacher still just works the exact same amount of minutes per class no matter how many students are in the class.

One could also argue that it’s the administrator who has to work 5 times harder because they have to be emailing and working logistics for 5 families instead of one, so they should have to get more pay.

You could also argue that the business needs more money because they had to do 5 times more marketing to get 5 students into that class, or spend 5 times more on equipment, planning, training, equipment repairs and even right down to buying 5 times more toilet paper for the studio each week.

We are all a team playing our individual roles that all depend on each other, and no role is more essential than any other when it comes to group lessons.

So as mentioned before, as the business grows every role will receive an increase for their contribution.’

It’s important you let your staff member know what they can do to ‘move the needle faster’ towards a rise in pay if you have done the research and know you genuinely aren’t in a position to pay them more.

POINT 4 : The needle can be moved faster

‘Right now we’re paying to the limit of what we can afford and we aren’t in a position to increase your pay.

I anticipate that the next pay increase will be in around __ months.

The way we could speed that up is if the business generates more income, and/or saves more money.

Some strategies we’re currently focus on are:

[List a couple things you’re working on e.g. sign up a friend, FB ads, cutting down admin with new technology etc… if you have a growth goal e.g 300 students, share that]

Something you could do to really help would be:

[List a couple things they can do to help practically (without working more, or volunteering). E.g remind students about sign up a friend competition every class, take a great photo every class for social media etc.]’

Finally, finish with an expression of appreciation and make it personal.
Share something personal, encouraging, and true about the person like …

POINT 5 : I really appreciate you

‘You’ve been doing an awesome job with ______, I can really see you helping in a leadership role in the future, and I’m working my butt off to try get the business to a place where more of these opportunities can be opened up to people like you.

Closing thoughts

Despite saying all of this, there may still be times when you just have to pay that staff member a bit more because the cost of losing them outweighs the strain of retaining them on more pay than you can comfortably afford.

You certainly don’t want to be bullied into lowering your pay to raise theirs, and this is something you will always have to weigh up very carefully because every situation is unique.

If you have any questions about this topic, feel free to send us a message here. 

Or if you're thinking I want more plug play resources that actually help, then reading the rest of this page could be the best decision you can make for your future.