Of late, there has been a stark polarisation between two lobbies of human resource management experts regarding whether a highly-paid job or a better workplace ambience should be prioritised at the time of taking employment. This essay will consider a possible debate on this issue before arriving at an apt conclusion.
On the one hand, those who support the significance of pleasant working conditions often claim that with better amenities and work culture comes a state of mind conducive for improved levels of work efficiency. This means that when a company offers the state-of-the-art infrastructure and provides healthy environment for its employees, the workforce gets a stronger motivation to accomplish the goals set by the management, which is construed as a driving force by many professionals when it comes to deciding about career progression. Another significant argument they put forward is that the staff members can possibly have a relaxing experience due to a reduced level of work-related stress. Take, for example, the Googolplex, the headquarter of Google which caters to its team with high-tech modern facilities, owing to which its employee retention ratio is staggeringly higher.
Conversely, the proponents of a higher pay scale advocate that merely giving preference to work environment can be a superficial proposition as it negates the importance of monetary aspects. On the contrary, a white collar professional earning a handsome salary would be more motivated to enhance their productivity, mainly because with a considerably huge remuneration a person can fulfil his/her demands without having to compromise on better standards of living. Furthermore, it can also be said that a higher salary can ensure both a better career progression and a secured retirement life. In other words, a well-paid annual package is regarded as a barometer of a successful candidature, that can assist personnel have a sound job profile and subsequently endow benefits during their tenure and afterwards while retiring also. Thus, a high-salaried employee appears to be more stress-free to perform efficiently and therefore worthy of better wellbeing during and post their services as compared to those who show preference for only good work atmosphere.
To conclude, it seems to me that, despite the claims made favouring the selection of ‘a good atmosphere at workplace’ as a decisive factor for joining any workplace, the fact remains that because of better financial portfolio and a sense of security even after retirement, ‘a higher salary’ can be thought of as a prime contributor to selecting an enterprise.