Section Fourwith professional employees who are paid according to maturity
curves. In maturity curve approaches, with increasing
experience and development following the completion of formal
education, professionals receive increased compensation.^24
Aside from the flexibility advantages already noted, skill-
based pay also has some other desirable effects although
average wage rates tend to be higher. An important advantage
is that the costs of higher wages are offset by higher
productivity and increased quality. Other advantages include
employees’ heightened motivation for training, greater task
variety, employee-induced pressures on companies to provide
training, and increases in employees’ self-esteem, which
accompany the acquisition of skills. With skill-based pay, it also
is easy to fill in for absences because of the availability of
cross-trained employees. Skill-based pay also tends to give
employees a broader understanding of production processes.
Further, because employees gain compensation increases by
expanding their skill sets, seniority is not the determinant of
progression to higher-paying jobs. Another advantage of skill-
based pay is that it provides greater job security for employees
because they can perform a wider range of jobs.^25
Often skill-based pay is implemented in conjunction with
total quality management (TQM) programs because higher
quality often requires more highly skilled employees. It also is