I've never hired or managed front line staff, so I'm afraid I don't have any advice on salaries or mechanisms for increasing them for front line workers. (I work with the extinct...)
However, I think that this discussion is illustrative of some of the inequities in the museum sector. I found Megan's comment "the parent organization who governs us only values our numbers as a mechanism for worth" to be interesting, because it illustrates how difficult it can be to quantify the "worth" of a given staff member in a non-profit setting. We can't just look at things like sales volume or increase/decrease in new customers the way businesses do, and in most cases the only staff members who directly generate income are those in development. Front line staff don't have much (if any) influence on the number of visitors coming through the door, but they have tremendous impact on the quality of experiences those visitors will have, and are in many ways the public face of the organization.
It's encouraging to see interest in finding ways to increase front line wages and it is important to assess employee performance and acknowledge it when it is good. But perhaps some of the metrics that should be considered when setting the pay scale don't have to do with the employee at all and are entirely external, yet very real. What is the average monthly housing cost in your city? What is the median income? What is the estimated living wage there? How do those figures align with the employee's salary?
If museum government/leadership want their organizations to exemplify the values of awareness, diversity, inclusion, etc. that are often at the core of their missions, they should work to ensure that their salary structure reflects those values. Finding a way to build an escalator is great, but we must first make sure that everyone is at least on the ground floor. <steps off of soapbox>
Thanks for bringing attention to this important issue!
Cheers,
Michael
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Michael Holland
Principal/Owner
Michael Holland Productions
Redmond, WA USA
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Original Message:
Sent: 06-26-2018 11:07 AM
From: Megan Osetek
Subject: Front line staff salary range and approach to salary increases
Hello Mark,
Thank you for asking this question and bringing up a very important topic to the forum. Along with Carla, I am very interested to hear what other institutions are doing out there. As of now our front line staff, Interpretation Specialists (IS), work at the front desk, sell tickets to shows, conduct interpretive programming and tours, among many other tasks and are paid the least, but doing the most important work. Here at KVM IS start at $10.75 are part time, working up to 29 hours and receive zero benefits. Generally the board of trustees votes for an annual "wage of living" increase somewhere between 0.01-0.03% of the individual's current hourly wage or annual salary.
I am working on a proposal to change this, but it has to be gauged in value to our attendance and programming contact numbers. We are FREE general admission museum with a perpetual millage. This is awesome, though the parent organization who governs us only values our numbers as a mechanism for worth. If others are able and willing to post to this thread, I would be greatly appreciative as the information will assist in the proposal to increase our part time to full time staff.
Thank you!
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Megan Osetek
Coordinator of Interpretation
Kalamazoo Valley Museum
Kalamazoo MI
Original Message:
Sent: 06-25-2018 12:44 PM
From: Carla Thacker
Subject: Front line staff salary range and approach to salary increases
Thanks for starting this thread, I too am very interested in this topic!
All of our <g class="gr_ gr_34 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling ins-del" id="34" data-gr-id="34">front line</g> staff start at $12.50/hour. We do give merit increases on a yearly basis (when we can), but in recent years that's been no more than 3% annually.
We have been having discussions about increasing the base rate for years, but never had the means to pull it off. We will have to as Chicago's minimum wage will go up to $13/hour next summer. I'm pushing to go above that, as we need to be competitive with other <g class="gr_ gr_239 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling ins-del multiReplace" id="239" data-gr-id="239">entry level</g> jobs.
What about you?
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Carla Thacker
Deputy Director, Guest Experiences
Museum of Science & Industry
Chicago IL
Original Message:
Sent: 06-22-2018 10:44 AM
From: Mark Osterman
Subject: <g class="gr_ gr_39 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling ins-del" id="39" data-gr-id="39">Front line</g> staff salary range and approach to salary increases
Dear Colleagues,
I am curious about museums approach to salary range and salary increases as relates to frontline staff. If you are willing, could you share what your institution's salary ranges are for frontline staff such as admissions and or part-time educators or guides and also share how you approach <g class="gr_ gr_37 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="37" data-gr-id="37">salary</g> increases, i.e. whether you use increases such as merit pay or through the use of bonuses.
Thanks so much in advance.
Best,
Mark
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Mark Osterman, Ed.D.
Adult Learning and Engagement Manager
Vizcaya Museum and Gardens
Miami, FL 33141
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