Sharing Salary at Work - Why is Everyone So Afraid?
Something happened to me a while back that should never, ever happen while searching for a job. After going through two days of intense interviews with a top flight strategy consulting firm, I got a job offer. No, I’m not saying I shouldn’t have received the offer because I performed well. What happened that shouldn’t have is that the compensation package was $20K more than I expected!
Don’t get me wrong, these are the kinds of "should never happens" that you want to have, but there is no way I or anyone else should be that far apart in expectation of compensation. I had done my homework. I used one of the "salary" company’s information; it’s almost useless for consultants because of the nature of the business. The range in pay was about $70,000. Not helpful. I also checked in with my network of consultants to see what the market was like these days. I was an analyst with a top firm back in the day and still had a few friends in the industry. What I found intriguing was that although my friends gave detailed descriptions of the direction of the consulting industry (full of needless jargon, I might add) none of them gave me a decent picture of compensation. They kept it vague, describing "compensation structures", "percent raises", "payment timing". None of them said, "I make $X and you’ll probably be in a range from $A to $B." That’s what I asked for.
Why wouldn’t these friends share their salaries?
Why is everyone so afraid of sharing salary information with their colleagues? Then it dawned on me–when I was working for a major Fortune 500 company, I never shared my compensation with my peers. The HR department and managers directly discouraged me from sharing this information. They set up this "cloud of secrecy" about revealing compensation to peers. They said things like, "trust me, you’re one of the highest paid at your position," or "you don’t want to cause a stir in morale by sharing your salary with others on the team," or "your compensation information is proprietary company information." Have you ever heard of someone getting fired for sharing their salary with a friend? I didn’t think so.
What’s the big secret?
We all know that some people get paid more than others. Is this data confidential? Would I be committing corporate treason by letting my colleagues know how much I made? Absolutely not. The issue is that the threat of losing your job is a profound motivator for silence. Companies don’t want employees (at any level) to demand upward pressure on compensation. The reality is that managers and employees can keep each other accountable by revealing pay for themselves and team members. Team productivity can foster healthy competition. Managers can motivate the team by showing that other performers are compensated for success. That way, there are no secrets–and people can feel motivated by the openness rather than threatened by the cloud of secrecy.
Written by David S Williams
