Li Wen will quit her job after Spring Festival. And the 26-year-old clerk will not be the only one to do so.

So what has forced their decision? No pay raise is the simple answer.

Says Li, who works for a research institute in Beijing: "I've had an increment of just 500 yuan ($69) in my four years with the institute. My future here is bleak."

Many employees in China don't get a pay raise because they don't ask for one, or hesitate to do so. But why don't they? The reasons, experts say, are more than one: ambiguous pay mechanisms of many companies, an immature human capital evaluation system and lack of free communication between bosses and employees.

The "secret salary" system adopted by some companies, asking employees not to reveal their pay-packets to their colleagues, makes the exercise more confusing. The "secret salary" system prevents employees from assessing their individual contribution to their company, and hence the hesitation in seeking an increment, says Liu Xin, a human resources management expert with Renmin University of China. Besides, it reduces their efficiency and motivation to work, though lack of proper training, too, can do so.

Not all employees, however, are like Li Wen. Many will stick to their jobs and fight for an increment. An online survey conducted by Chinahr.com, a leading job-guiding website, showed that 43.1 percent would talk to their human resources managers to get an increment. In contrast, only 3.2 percent of the about 10,000 respondents have decided to resign, with 5.8 percent preferring to remain silent.

But almost half of those (49 percent) who think they have been treated unfairly will try secretly to get another job.

Despite the complicated salary system in many companies, a large percentage of the respondents are clear about it, the survey shows. This, the experts say, is all the more reason why managers should communicate more with employees to work out their pay and create a fairer working environment.

"The best salary system is the one negotiated by bosses and employees," Liu says. A salary system reflects a company's culture and the values it believes in. That's the reason why many prestigious foreign firms spend a lot of time explaining their pay system to new recruits. "Without communication, employees can't have an idea about their contribution to the company, and the salary system can hardly motivate the employees."

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