ed to attract, retain and motivate the performance of employees, they are also being used by many organizations as a way of cutting costs over traditional compensations schemes. Traditional compensation schemes often involve automatic raises based on cost-of-living increases, years on the job, promotions and title changes. Many argue merit-pay compensation schemes save money and help companies remain competitive. In Fairfax County, supervisors are experimenting with a $10 million spending plan that replaces automatic raises with a merit-pay system based on work performance. However, Supervisor T. Dana Kauffman said the plan is geared toward cost-cutting without sacrificing competitiveness as much as it is employee motivation. A lower average increase is sought and supervisors are “eager to find out whether the $10 million set aside for merit-increas
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