Five years of work is not five years of experience 

You have an employee. 

A solid employee, not stellar.  Let’s call him Sam.  Sam’s been with you for five years.  And you’ve made sure his pay keeps up with the cost of living.   Including the recent inflation craziness. 

But here’s the thing.   Now Sam wants more money.  Considerably more money.   Because he has all those years of experience. 

But you look at what Sam does.  And you consider Jen who started in the same position six months ago. And has learned more in six months than Sam has in five years. 

Sam’s problem is that he thinks he has five years of experience.  But really, he has the same one year of experience five times.  And he’s solid, not great. 

Do you say no and lose him?  Do you say yes and mess up your cost structure?   Depends on the situation. 

Key thing though is to learn. And to think about your employees even when things seem to be OK.  Not everyone is going to keep growing on your job.  But if you can’t have lots of folks like that.  Because many folks think they’re worth more just for hanging around.  And then you’re faced with a tough choice. 

Just like with Sam.