This is a new term I learned recently.
Salary distortion happens when pay gaps become misaligned and pay structures go out of balance.
This usually happens after a salary adjustment, minimum wage change, new hiring trend, or when bosses do isolated salary fixes without reviewing the whole structure, leading to people with different experience, contribution, and seniority getting paid almost the same.
A simple example:
New fresh graduate is offered RM3,000.00
The existing staff with 3 years experience is paid RM3,200.00
On paper it’s just RM200.
But irl it feels like “Why am I training someone who earns almost the same as me?!”
That RM200 gap can turn into 💥 Demotivation 💥 Resentment 💥 Quiet Quitting 💥 Internal Conflict 💥 Loss of Trust in Leadership 💥💥💥
All because the salary structure didn’t keep up with reality.
So how do we fix it? Honestly, it’s not going to be cheap. But it’s necessary.
1. Do an internal pay equity audit.
2. Align internal parity before hiring externally.
3. Recalibrate salary bands.
4. Adjust tenured staff before or together with new hires (the Big4 does this very well).
5. Budget for salary corrections, not just annual increments.
Remember, when people feel valued fairly, they stop calculating and start contributing.
Fix it before people start sending their resumes elsewhere.
Especially the good ones.
Think about it.
xoxoxo, AuntyHR
