Transparency of payment
The practice of transparency is to disclose information about salaries of all the workers to their colleagues and justification for these amounts. It helps to solve several problems at once. First of all, it is aimed at eliminating inequality in wages - gender, racial, and so on. The solution does not require additional financial investment, and, as research shows, the investment in personnel , such as discussions and feedback on pay equity, improves the team dynamics and creates a sense of security and trust among workers. It also increases productivity. In addition, transparency in this matter will help eradicate unhealthy rivalry within the team, where, otherwise, ignorance breeds uncertainty and political strife.
Any company of any size can implement this practice.
Any company of any size can implement this practice.
Universal Problem
All over the world there is a gap in wages between men and women doing the same job (women earn 10-20% less on average), however, in the existing system of working relations, women (and more broadly, representatives of different minorities) cannot campaign for equality, because they do not know how much they receive, and how much receive their colleagues.
Solution
Transparency of payment: all employees of the company know how much each one receives on a particular position and what the payment consists of.
Target Image
In the future, employees will be more satisfied with their work and more involved when they understand what factors affect the amount of pay, and know the salary of each member of the team . A mutual trust is growing in the team.
Experiment Framework
Buffer (Joel Gascoigne) is a company that successfully carried out an experiment of introducing transparent salaries for internal use . However, employees were not ready to share information on public domain which turned out to be a frustrating factor. The approach is widespread among governmental officials in Scandinavian countries. In Finland, information on citizens' taxable income is published online once a year. In Norway, this information is available to everyone (it is published on a special website that records who requests information and informs the person whose information was requested). The system is approximately the same in Sweden. This introduces a broader discussion of financial inequality without focusing solely on gender inequality.
Tools and Technologies
- Publication (digitally or on paper) of the salary levels by job title and gender
- Clear job descriptions and performance evaluation criteria
- Discussion and feedback
- Conducting workshops on negotiation skills to train minorities to effectively negotiate pay fairness
Scaling plans
Some experiments show that awareness of peers' pay levels does not increase the productivity of high-paid professionals, but it lowers the motivation of those who earn less, which may be generally disadvantageous to the employer. Formation of a stronger link between earnings and self-esteem may be another negative consequence. It is also noted that the the pay transparency alone (publication of amounts) is not sufficient for addressing gender pay gap : it is essential that the remuneration system is fair.
Standards and Values
- Gender equality
- Transparency of information
Community
Makers Academy, Buffer, GrantTree have implemented transparency payment, but it's hard to argue that this practice serves as the foundation of communities.
Allies
- Fair Trade is an approach that allows farmers in developing countries to get paid more for their work and better manage their lives
- Communities and organizations advocating for gender equality and inclusion on the workplace (Workplace Gender Equality Agency (Australia), Gender at Work, Equal Rights Advocates, etc.)
What you could do in the Kruzhok for joining the approach:
- Make the workload and results of each participant transparent.
- Implement clear descriptions of objectives and results.
- Conduct seminars and practical courses on feedback and negotiation skills in order to train participants to advocate for their interests.
