Seniority (years of service) should not be the basis of employee compensation. Employees should be promoted and given raises solely on the basis of their work performance and merit. That is a better way to encourage high productivity.

Rather than seniority, employees work performance needs to be the deciding factor in an employees monetary compensation.

Experience does not always mean more proficient-- Many occupations base an employee’s salary and movement within the job ranks on the seniority, or how long that employee has been part of the company. Though this might seem like a good idea on the surface, many employees with longevity do not always perform at the higher levels of the new hungry and proficiently educated employees. What I feel determines this is the work ethic of each individual. A graduate of public relations from Harvard who is hired by a public relations firm might perform significantly stronger at work than an employee (who only graduated from high school) with seniority. Furthermore, these archaic employees might not understand the new implementations that our newer society demands for success in the workplace.

Work ethic is essential for optimum results---For companies to maximize profits and excel financially, the most qualified employees need to be viable. If an esthetician working at a spa is the most talked about and is the best representation of the positive aspects of that spa, why should someone who has been there longer receive more commission based hours? These employees with "seniority" might have the experience, but how can that justify a better facial or better outcome. It is the presumptuous nature of some of these older individuals in expecting more that throws off the productivity levels. Moreover, an employee with seniority isn’t forced to try as hard at their occupation due to the fact that they continue to receive the highest compensation and potentially the most hours. How does this justify the quality of work that these employees output? It doesn’t. Consequently, these highly qualified new employees are pushed to the backburner, while these "senior" employees reap the benefits.

In opposition to this argument, one can see that highly experienced employees can be beneficial to a company due to there experience within the company walls. However, this experience needs to be additionally commensurate with a strong work ethic.

Therefore, work performance should be the sole basis upon whether an employee deserves higher financial compensation. This will result in higher productivity and the highest possible levels of employee functioning within the workplace.