Comments on: Pay Transparency Survey Results: Part 1

By: PM

PM — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 19:02:00 +0000

Just came across your website and find it very interesting. I work in a government where all salaries are public record and compensation practices are governed by various laws and administrative rules. Employees as well as the public has access to salaries through a website: http://mapyourtaxes.mo.gov/MAP/Employees/ This information is used by some employees to question any raises granted to other employees and to complain about perceived inequalities or “unfairness” in salaries. The complaints are not that the employee feels undercompensated because of effort expended, production levels, or labor market conditions, but because the employee is paid less than a co-worker. I believe that since compensation is rule-driven, complaints are kept to a minimum and pay transparency does not affect morale or performance to any significant degree.

By: I can’t wait until 2057 to get a “man-sized” paycheck. Can you? — Authentic Organizations

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 18:14:32 +0000

[...] follow these steps recommended by Frank Roche at KnowHR, in Women Make Less Than Men: 5 Things HR Needs to Do Right Now to End Pay Inequality. Frank wrote [...]

By: Frank Roche

Frank Roche — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 20:39:35 +0000

@SJ, you make a good point about how pay transparency works in the Army. Perhaps it’s true that your dedication and effort didn’t waver…I’m sure that’s the case. And I’m sure it’s the case for a lot of people in the military. But I’m sure that it doesn’t apply to everyone — not everyone performs at the same level.

I’m not sure the military model works well in general business. I mean, we want people to challenge leaders, we don’t ask people to follow the rank system or risk censure. I’m not being critical of the military, far from it, but I am saying that it’s regimented (of course) and it’s rules driven and it’s all about chain of command. That’s one aspect. The second is that people in public or private companies didn’t sign on for the same deal. Most didn’t want to be judged by time in service. Most didn’t know what pay others made…and pay is a measure of self worth. In the military, everyone knows about rank, but there must be instances of people asking, “How in the hell did he end up with Oak Clusters?” or “What do I have to do to get ahead? I can’t stay a Private forever.”

I know this is a bit jumbled. Exposing pay without any other criteria — performance over time, background, education, extra effort that people have taken over time, etc — is going to cause a firestorm that even a military intervention couldn’t tamp down. I think when pay transparency works it’s in union or military environments. I’m not sure that’s what we want everywhere.

As with all things, I could be wrong.

By: SJDelaney

SJDelaney — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 19:02:37 +0000

As in almost any situation you can think of, lack of transparency can be a shroud of abuse. The best example of transparancy in pay is of course the military. In 12+ years of service in the US Army and Illinois National Guard I never had a problem with someone knowing what my paycheck look like. It never impacted my dedication or effort, and I don’t recall ever hearing someone complain. I don’t think General Powell was too concerned that I knew what he was making. -sd

By: Chris Young

Chris Young — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 05:00:54 +0000

Great work on the survey Frank! I really enjoy learning what active professionals are thinking on these issues!

I’ve shared your post with my readers in my weekly Rainmaker ‘Fab Five’ blog picks of the week (found here: http://www.maximizepossibility.com/employee_retention/2009/03/the-rainmaker-fab-five-blog-picks-of-the-week.html) to let them know about your findings.

Be well Frank!

By: Frank Roche

Frank Roche — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 15:39:28 +0000

Thanks, Kris. Yeah, it’s funny…this blog doesn’t get a ton of comments…I’ve never really sought a bunch. Gathering the data was fun…there’s more coming.

By: KD

KD — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 15:17:54 +0000

Frank –

Nice work – how does this post only have one comment?

Appreciate you doing this and the balanced approach. I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately, and while I’m worried about the employee relation impact of this, I’m open to the conversation. Thanks again for putting together, good stuff…

By: HR World » Blog Archive » Wednesday Links: Education Level, Pay Level, and Getting out of Funks

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 15:51:19 +0000

[...] did a series on transparency in pay and a recent survey they did. Check out Part 1, Part 2, and Part [...]