My children often have incredible flights of fancy, where they imagine a world completely different from reality. Once, after taking them horseback riding, they imagined all of us living on a farm where they could ride every day. They got so carried away that I knew it wouldn't be long before one of them added in that we’d own a unicorn as well on this fictional horse farm.
I love their boundless imagination — truly, it’s a special (and unfortunately fleeting) trait of childhood, and it makes them unbelievably entertaining — but there are the moments when Mommy has to be Debbie Downer and say, “Okay, listen: You’re not getting a unicorn.”
As I read new survey results from Glassdoor that show employees are more confident about future pay raises than anytime in the last four years, I thought you might have to tell employees that they aren’t getting a unicorn, so to speak.
According to Glassdoor, for the first time in the four years it has been conducting the employment confidence survey, more employees expect a pay raise than those who do not — 43% of employees expect a raise in the next 12 months while 38% and 19% say they don’t know (but likely harbor secret hope).
It seems the optimism about raises is borne from an overall sunny outlook of your company’s future. Forty-six percent of employees believe their company outlook will be better in the next six months, up six points from the prior quarter, reaching the highest level ever, Glassdoor reports.
I’m no MBA, but I do know that a good six months doesn’t a full recovery make. If your company is coming out the other side of the recession at last, of course I’m happy for you. And it never hurts to have optimistic employees.
But it’s also important to temper employees’ hopes and expectations with reality. So, if they aren’t getting a raise this year, make sure they’re aware and that they know why. I’m sure there will be disappointments, but at least adults don’t believe in unicorns, so that means you’re one up on me.
Are your employees getting raises this year? Or will you be giving them the hard financial truth? Share your thoughts in the comments.
