In 2015, the CEO of Gravity Payments, Dan Price, overheard a female employee sharing that she could barely make ends meet with her current salary. Distressed, he decided to do something revolutionary: he raised the minimum salary for all employees to $70,000 a year.
Many criticized the bold entrepreneur, saying he was sure to run his company into the ground, but exactly the opposite has happened. In fact, an infographic details exactly how the turnover rate has improved since a 5-digit salary was promised to all 120 employees.
Turnover is now at its lowest level in Gravity’s history, and because sales are booming, 50 more employees were hired. In fact, the company, which processes credit card transactions for small businesses, has experienced a 30% transaction increase for clients. In effect, profits have nearly doubled in the past year – from $3.5 million to $6.5 – with more companies signing up.
Good business isn’t the only way Price has been rewarded for being generous to those who have been loyal to the company. Recently, the visionary was surprised with his dream car – a new Tesla!
As you can view in the video below, Price experienced a range of emotions upon receiving the vehicle. He cried, laughed, hugged, and even jumped into the arms of his employees when the car was presented outside of the Gravity Payments headquarters in Seattle, Washington.
On the car was a plaque, which read:
“Thank you for always putting the team before yourself. This gift is our way of showing how much your sacrifice means to us.”
Employee Alyssa O’Neal says in the video:
“I think this is just the ultimate way of saying, ‘Thank you’. He’s been up to bat for us, so we figured we could do something nice for him.”
The camaraderie in the workplace is heartening. Thanks to the pay increase last year, employees have been able to shorten their commutes by moving closer to the office and increase contributions to their retirement accounts by 130%.
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