The Illicit Productivity Objection To Raises

From casual conversations to annual evaluations, workers might be asked to list ways in which they still have alleged room for improvement.  On a rational and moral level, there is a distinct and attainable perfection entailed by any logical truth or moral obligation, and many people fail to realize that this kind of perfection is beyond no one's reach.  On a professional level, there are so many meaningless or amoral factors that contribute to productivity and accomplishments in a career.  Certain employers would also always expect more no matter how much one does for them.

A person cannot continually increase their output without increasing technological aid or human support because they have limited time, limited energy, limited resources, and many other things to focus on that have nothing to do with work.  Start at incredible output from the beginning, and this might be mistaken for a constant that will never fluctuate or a baseline that should not be rewarded with periodic raises.  Start at lower output from the beginning and improve it over time, and every request or opportunity for a raise might still be met with the supposed need to "wait" to evaluate performance later.

The irrational expectation for maximum effort at all time in all jobs hinders raises on merit or other accomplishments.  Incompetent employers could unfortunately withhold raises until there is massive or maximum improvement, and there isn't always room for more, meaning raises can be kept away from employees on the either the grounds that they are 1) less than maximally perfect/"ideal" workers or that 2) they have no more room to improve.  With the right kind of employer or manager, whichever side a worker falls on, they will go unrewarded or will face even higher expectations.

It does not help that some business figures expect infinitely growing productivity and infinitely growing profits.  It does not matter how triumphant or abnormal their prior successes were.  They will always want to expand the current or next year's profitability by a percentage, making the same amount of money from before all over again while adding to it despite many workers having less money to spend thanks to greed and inflation.  The easier way to guarantee higher profits as much as possible is to simply fire employees or refuse raises, productivity being a regular but often irrelevant objection to granting raises.

It is not as if there are not other reasons to give raises anyway.  Increasing seniority and familiarity with company procedures and goals show how someone has, gladly or reluctantly, invested part of their life in their workplace, an investment that is almost never compensated to an extent that is easily livable or that allows for holistic human flourishing.  Productivity could secure attention, raises, and promotions if employers are rational, observant, and fair, but it also might trap someone in low pay or in a cycle of irrational expectations for more.  There is not always an easy way to build a career or greater financial stability by just being productive.  Not even meeting or exceeding higher and higher goals will ensure either of these things.