The position of business manager at Smalltown Hospital has been a $$hot seat,$$ changing incumbents frequently. When the position was vacated last May, the four senior employees in the department were interviewed. All were told that since they were at the top of grade and the compensation structure for new supervisors had not yet caught up with that of other positions, the position would involve just a miniscule increase in pay, an increment one could readily consider insultingly small. All four refused the position, and all were given the impression that they were not really considered qualified just yet, but that they might be considered for supervision again at a later date.