On the flip side do people want all the reasons listed out why someone is better than them?
Athletes are used to this comparison because it’s happened literally their entire life (well until the everyone gets a trophy crowd kicked in), but I’m not sure the population at large is ready to be explicitly told of their short comings.
Yep. People are horribly fragile when it comes to this, and vastly overestimate their importance in comparison to others.
Just this week I had a talk with an employee asking for advice. He was paid $10k under one of his peers, and he was rather upset he got told to go pound sand when he asked to be brought up to that level.
My thoughts at the time? Only $10k? The other guy is vastly more valuable in his role than you, sounds like either you're overpaid, or the other guy is underpaid to me!
The fact the guy thought it was unfair is the norm for humans. Exceedingly few folks have the self-awareness to step back and say "oh yeah, that guy really is more valuable to the company than I am - maybe I should step up my game".
Typically we call those folks high performers, and they aren't generally the ones having issues getting paid well :)
Except that it'll become the same as any other public indicator of performance if public - you don't make X because you perform, you clearly must perform because you make X.
Transparent compensation inherently ranks performance, what's valued by the company, etc.
"Secret" compensation allows the thinking of "I am equal to my coworker" to arise in the first place. So when a discrepancy in that ranking suddenly appears, there's significant cognitive dissonance, and a desire to re-establish equality (or rise above it).
Transparency means from day one, you know who are the movers and shakers, and how much you need to step out up in the eyes of management.
This whole argument is sort of silly, as we already have a less specific public designation of performance in job titles, and that hasn't stopped the world. Should we get rid of job titles so that employee A doesn't actually know they are junior to employee B? That's dumb - the job title hierarchy informs the junior employee they aren't as valuable or experienced, and as they improve, it's extremely likely that title will change over time (and in a not so well kept secret, their compensation as well).
We can all cite one off examples where there was drama associated with job titles, but in general, having them provides more benefit to both the organization and the employees than the outliers where it's an issue. Transparent compensation would likely be no different.
Personally, I would love to have a performance review where I received specific, actionable feedback based on quantifiable metrics. Usually it's "You need to improve in some unspecified way in this vaguely defined category of skills like 'Innovation.' Yea, do more 'Innovation' next year."
I want transparency to be the option to vote for, but I'm really undecided.
The explanation could be:
- you are trainee/junior not senior
- you demanded too less
- the labor market makes your position easier/cheaper to replace
- the company acquired big funding only after you joined
All is 100% independent from the amount of value you generate and work you do.
I once was told that the young designer on the team basically makes minimum wage and they therefore could not pay me what I demanded for becoming the CTO (One of a couple of things that made me reject the offer).
I'd probably feel bad for the young people in my team, if I knew what they are paid. I already feel bad when the team orders more expensive food and everybody joins.
The alternative would be raising or even loans, I don't know if the company could survive than.
On the other hand, a fair step-ladder to higher paid jobs within the company might be a nice incentive.
Athletes are used to this comparison because it’s happened literally their entire life (well until the everyone gets a trophy crowd kicked in), but I’m not sure the population at large is ready to be explicitly told of their short comings.