Every line of leadership from CEO to mid-level managers to team leads has some sort of metrics. I believe the reason pay is so uneven and Management is so bad is because they have unrealistic expectations set over them by the next highest level and investors. If the store manager is expected to always come in with a budget under what it was the previous year, and the district manager the same, continuing up the line. Everyone is racing for record breaking profits just so less than 100 people can sit in their mansions with our money in their banks (and not paying taxes).