Everyone’s obsessed with ping-pong tables and free snacks. I’m obsessed with paying people every Friday.
Most tech companies treat payroll like an HR checkbox—bi-weekly, automated, done. But I’ve found that switching to weekly pay has become one of my most effective retention tools, and nobody talks about it.
I recently spoke with Business Fig about why this simple change transformed how my teams operate across Pabs Marketing, Alive DevOps, and Pabs Tech Solutions.
Here’s what most founders miss: cash flow anxiety doesn’t disappear just because someone has a six-figure salary. Your senior engineer might be crushing it on paper, but if they’re waiting two weeks between paychecks while managing student loans, a mortgage, and daycare, they’re stressed. Stress kills performance.
Weekly payroll removes that friction. It’s not about the money—it’s about rhythm and respect. People can plan their lives with more precision. They feel valued in a tangible way that goes beyond LinkedIn posts about “our amazing culture.”
The retention impact hit me during my first quarter after making the switch. Voluntary turnover dropped by 40% across my companies. Not because we raised salaries. Not because we added perks. Just because people felt their employer actually understood their reality.
I’ll admit—there’s more administrative overhead. More processing, more accounting touchpoints. But I’d rather spend time on that than replacing engineers who leave because a competitor offered them better “benefits” that ultimately mean nothing.
If you’ve ever wondered why great talent keeps leaving despite competitive pay, or if you’re tired of exit interviews where people say “it’s not about the money”—maybe it’s time to look at how you actually deliver that money.
Read the full piece to see the data behind why this matters more than you think.
The best retention strategies aren’t the ones everyone talks about—they’re the ones that actually change people’s lives.