4 ms·

I used to think keeping salaries secret was a racket. And maybe it is. But I also think there might be people you work with who try hard, do decent work slowly

I used to think keeping salaries secret was a racket. And maybe it is. But I also think there might be people you work with who try hard, do decent work slowly, and are compensated accordingly. (Fairly) And who are delighted with their job and salary. How would it benefit that person to be confronted with the fact that someone else makes double or triple what they do?

garettmd 5y ago
Well, I think there's a difference transparency with salaries of existing employees, and transparency with the salary being offered to new employees. And it would benefit that person by giving them the information they need to decide whether to pursue a higher salary or not.
ryandrake 5y ago
Maybe it could serve as a much needed wake-up call to that person. I was him long ago, and finding out someone made 50% more than me for doing essentially the same job provided exactly the kick in the ass I needed to start job hunting again.
lostcolony 5y ago
CEO salaries are made public. We object to them, but most of us don't intentionally avoid working for companies that have that outsized pay discrepancy. Likewise, if I'm making more than I could at any other company, but then found out a coworker was making twice as much as me, I'd still not leave. How much coworkers are paid doesn't affect whether or not we leave the company; it's how we're paid compared to the rest of the market that does. Just taking that off the table. What it DOES affect is our morale and our own performance. To that end, it benefits companies to either keep it secret, or to try and ensure that pay discrepancies within the same role match the actual performance. If that person making double or triple what you do is actually delivering 2x or 3x what you are, and you know that if your own performance increases, your comp will too, that seems like solid incentive. If it's completely disconnected, your morale will drop, and your performance likely -will- drop to be half or a third of what that person's is, and it becomes self-fulfilling. I think the main benefit to making compensation transparent is that it also forces the company to be very mindful about how compensation and performance are tied. They're supposed to be anyway; that's already a goal. It just raises the stakes for getting it right.

garettmd 5y ago

Well, I think there's a difference transparency with salaries of existing employees, and transparency with the salary being offered to new employees. And it would benefit that person by giving them the information they need to decide whether to pursue a higher salary or not.

ryandrake 5y ago

Maybe it could serve as a much needed wake-up call to that person. I was him long ago, and finding out someone made 50% more than me for doing essentially the same job provided exactly the kick in the ass I needed to start job hunting again.

lostcolony 5y ago

CEO salaries are made public. We object to them, but most of us don't intentionally avoid working for companies that have that outsized pay discrepancy. Likewise, if I'm making more than I could at any other company, but then found out a coworker was making twice as much as me, I'd still not leave. How much coworkers are paid doesn't affect whether or not we leave the company; it's how we're paid compared to the rest of the market that does. Just taking that off the table. What it DOES affect is our morale and our own performance. To that end, it benefits companies to either keep it secret, or to try and ensure that pay discrepancies within the same role match the actual performance. If that person making double or triple what you do is actually delivering 2x or 3x what you are, and you know that if your own performance increases, your comp will too, that seems like solid incentive. If it's completely disconnected, your morale will drop, and your performance likely -will- drop to be half or a third of what that person's is, and it becomes self-fulfilling. I think the main benefit to making compensation transparent is that it also forces the company to be very mindful about how compensation and performance are tied. They're supposed to be anyway; that's already a goal. It just raises the stakes for getting it right.