It is intensely important for leaders to have a basic understanding of the equity theory. Equity theory is based on the idea that people are motivated to seek social equity in the rewards they receive for their performance. If people believe that they are being slighted or are not on the same pay scale as someone with the same amount of experience putting in the same amount of work etc, they will respond by decreased motivation and effort. If they believe they are on the same scale it will show in keeping up with their work and possibly doing more work in order to move on to the next step. Providing bonuses, raises or any other perceived inequity to people based on work performance really must have warranted reasons for doing so which are outlined before anyone talks about a change in pay. There must be specific guidelines to different payment tracks and methods that are equal to all employees.