|
It seems that you do value this employee, however you the owner reminding him that he is replaceable and that he should "try it on his own" is in my opinion is not a good approach. You may wake up one day and he does go out on his own and take some of your customers and trade secrets with him. Employees need to feel valued as well as be told that they are valuable. If an employer told me that he valued my service and then reminded me that I was replaceable, I would not feel as if I were part of the team.
As far as pay, I don't know where you are from, but depending on his skill level I would say that $40,000 is not at the top of the pay scale for what he does. However, he may be at the top of his pay scale with your company.
Maybe a better approach would be to tell him that the company can't afford to pay him more at this time. If you are interested in growing your company, tell him that if takes on additional responsibility to relieve some of your field work and allows you to grow the company, there will be growth potential.
No one wants to be in a job where they are at a dead end and the boss politely tells them that when they are in for there annual review. Especially a guy in his thirties, possibly with a family to feed.
When I hired my first supervisor and I wanted him to take on more responsibility, I actually paid him more "take home" then I was getting. Once the company started to grow, I brought my wage more in line but I never just gave him a cost of living raise.
JMO
__________________
Matt
|