I once dealt with an entrepreneur who, after a few high profile employee departures, was concerned about employee morale. He ran a dominant company in a fun business. People love working there. But the feedback said the boss played favorites in the way he compensated people. Some employee were handsomely paid; other got whatever he thought he could get away with. The only way to get a big raise was to put a gun to his head-i.e., threaten to quit and mean it.