The KnowHR Pay Transparency Survey Results are Out!

Over 600 people responded to Frank Roche's brief pay transparency survey at the KnowHR blog.

His Part 1 post provides a rundown of the responses themselves - here's a recap:

Question 1

 

Question 2

   

Question 3

 

Question 4

 

In his Part 2 post, Frank shares just a few of the written comments respondents shared - which helps shed light on the thoughts behind some of the responses to the survey.

It is interesting to see that some of the patterns revealed in earlier research conducted by Ceridian show up here as well - although the specific questions asked are different.  One similar finding:  We are reluctant to have our own pay information shared.  The KnowHR survey finds that 75% of respondents don't want their personal pay details shared beyond their close friends, or at all.  This confirms one of my concerns about the issue of pay transparency - whether employees have some right to privacy around their personal pay information.  

Would pay transparency make pay more fair?  Respondents are almost evenly split between "yes", "no", and "maybe".  More thoughts on this question in an upcoming post!

Comments

[Mark Stelzner]

Interesting findings Ann. One question Frank didn't pose is whether you would be willing to share your pay details "anonymously" in order to search on other's. That's the premise behind Glassdoor (www.glassdoor.com) and I'm torn as to whether this helps or harms the employee/employer relationship. Any thoughts?

[Ann Bares]

Mark:

Thanks for the thoughts and questions (amazing that you are finding time to read and comment on blogs these days)!

I did have a really interesting conversation with Rober Hohmann (founder of Glassdoor.com) about this whole question awhile back, which led me to post this...
http://compforce.typepad.com/compensation_force/2008/07/internet-pay-da.html

I think one of the biggest challenges that the wide availability of Internet pay data has brough to us is the fact that employees and employers now have their own (often quite different) sets of facts by which to judge an individual's pay. That being the case, I think we in HR/rewards (if we are smart) need to have an open, adult conversation with employees about these different sets of pay information and the conclusions they lead to.

So I think we can argue whether it is helpful or harmful; the bottom line is that it's now our reality, and we'd best address it head on ... and in as transparent a manner as possible. (Note that I am talking about transparency around how the pay program is built and administered, not sharing everyone's salaries with everyone else...)

Those are my thoughts! :)

[Mark Stelzner]

Excellent Ann, thank you. Per your comment above, I spoke with one of their co-founders recently and when I posed a similar question regarding an employee's ability to understand the subtle nuances of pay, pay parity, base/bonus/benefits/retirement, etc., he seemed unconcerned. As I've personally experienced from complex merit cycles and the like, even a well-tooled manager if often challenged to comprehend and effectively communicate the elements and strategy surrounding total rewards. By extension, I then fear that employees are ill-equipped to process such "content" in the "context" of what they seek.

Thanks for your response, and yes, I don't sleep much these days! :)

[E James (Jim) Brennan]

One of the downsides of "transparency" is the degree of valuable industrial intelligence it enables through access to supposedly confidential information. Some online services appear to be in the business of selling secrets to competitors and vendors... from data collected from individual employees volunteering proprietary employer data in exchange for a freebie. Not even counting those who offer online payroll planning that gives them access to your entire pay budget and identifies your key players.

If they don't clearly state they will not expose or share the information submitted, they are free to analyze, bundle and sell it to those who wish you no good. Can give you nightmares, if your own people are unwittingly stabbing you in the back.

[Ann Bares]

Interesting angle and point, Jim.

[The Career Encourager]

This is very interesting information - thanks for sharing. I have a question for you...if employees are doing a good job of linking their pay programs to their performance management programs, does making individual salaries transparent have any implications for making individual performance ratings transparent?

[Ann Bares]

Peggy:

It's like you read my mind! See March 4 posting where I ask exactly the same question!