|
You are probably used to job
offers stating a simple formula for an hourly
wage or salary. How sensible. How boring! You
are now entering the grooming compensation
zone, and nothing is simple and little is as
it seems. Pay close attention
to the basics of compensation we describe
here. We will give you the basic ingredients,
but a lot of strange cakes are baked out there
using these ingredients. Employed groomers are commonly
compensated in one or more of four established
methods. They are:
-
Hourly wages (with or without
a minimum guarantee of hours in any one pay
period).
-
Salary wages (guaranteed).
-
Commission wages.
-
Combinations of the above.
Every business owner has the
right to develop a legal compensation plan of
their own making. As a result you will find
many systems that reflect #4 above. Most of
these apply to full-charge groomers, and to a
lesser degree pet bathers and assistant pet
groomers.
 Many
employers are very passionate about their
formulas and quickly lose sight of the value
of simple compensation systems for both
employers and employees. Only pet grooming is
this way. When you inquire about the wages you
can earn be prepared for diverse opinions and
null answers. What do we mean by “null
answers?” Job candidates want to know wages,
in currency. Instead some employers provide
information about their compensation formula,
and no dollars and cents. Some employers emphasize tips
overtly. Does that mean they have a problem
with their wages? How do these employers
expect job candidates to have the confidence
and peace-of-mind to know they will earn
enough to meet their household budgets? It
doesn’t make much sense and it goes on every
day in thousands of grooming businesses. Abstract formulas are accepted as normal, have
we made that clear? Most of them are derived
from commission wages in whole or part. Many
defend these elusive systems too. Don’t be
surprised if you hear, “You will lose money if
you don’t pay employees this way” or “You
cannot get employees if you don’t use this
compensation system.” Our
open-minded response is, “Interesting. I do
believe it is true in your experience. Now can
you show us the numbers that back your point
of view?” After nearly two decades as
consultants we are still waiting for a
financial analysis in writing that backs the
benefits of overly complex systems involving
mixed methods of compensation.
We’re not going to spend a lot of time on them
here because at the heart of them are the
basics of hourly, salary and commission wages.
The latter you need to understand now.
Next we are going to take a detailed look at
the four abovementioned compensation systems
for pet groomers.
|
