"That's a tough situation when you don't have control over financial compensation. At my company, the human resources handbook comes with one mandate: Treat people the way you would want to be treated. So I'll ask you. If you were the employee who deserved more money, how would you want to be treated?
Here's the hard truth. If a member of your team can make significantly more money elsewhere, there's a good chance they'll eventually leave. However, if I knew that my leader was fighting and trying to convince the decision makers that I deserved more money, plus doing other things to offset the financial issues, it would mean something to me.
There always are other gestures you can make to show someone they're valued and appreciated. You might let them off a little early when their kid has a ballgame. You even could make a special award presentation to this person or strongly recommend them for a promotion.
Still, at the end of the day, you either give people what the marketplace will pay, or you run the risk of losing them. Without control over the purse strings, there's only so much you can do in those kinds of situations."
Source: http://www.wickedlocal.com/x579269991/DEAR-DAVE-Control-the-overhead
