Found via https://yorickpeterse.com/articles/what-it-was-like-working-for-gitlab/
I always considered the gitlab model, where the comp can be calculated via a public online tool, to be pretty progressive.
While this certainly doesn’t scale (as they admit) I think the sentiment is right.
If it’s working for them, that’s great. I wonder how they deal with resentment if someone is not contributing as much as everyone else. Knowing compensation is equal for differing level of work could result in higher performers reducing their effort, leading to an overall decline in the work the team is doing.
I don’t wish for other people to be paid differently based on what I’m doing.
Do you think that if a team member who is producing less starts getting paid less, they’re going to work more? No, if anything they’ll produce even less.
Have you honestly felt resentment towards someone else because you chose to do more work than they did? You’re the one who controls how much work you do. How is it fair to them that your labor output level sets the bar for the salary? If they haven’t been let go, then it actually seems like they’re the ones closer to the actual proper output level for the salary, and you’re the one overproducing. Also, studies show that people overestimate their own contributions towards group work and underestimate others’.
That mindset is how you get a bunch of workaholics who are all terrified that someone else is producing more.
TBH I’m usually a high performer, and transparent salaries would give me the honesty and security in my employer that would let me concentrate on the actual work instead of worrying about how am I getting fucked over with pay today.
I would not reduce my effort, maybe even increase it, because one seldom gets raises or promotions for effort anyway, but an honest employer is quite rare.
Likewise - I’m consistently rated a high performer, but my lack of awareness around compensation consistently has me questioning whether it’s worth my time to put those extra hours in - most of the time I decide it isn’t.
We recently had a situation where my employer changed compensation criteria mid-cycle and the reaction from my coworkers is summed up by 🤷♂️
To paraphrase the corporate God himself:
When you’re a Fortune 500 company, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab 'em by the pussy.
Why put in extra hours? That’s not high-performance, it’s just doing more than one job, assuming you’re paid for a target number of hours.
Good point, I’m not against the transparent salary, my company lists a salary range, and knowing I’m at the top of my range for my position is rewarding.
Agreed with this. Even if one leaves the high performers out of the equation, if someone is consistently shirking work, and others are having to pick up the slack in order to make sure deadlines are met or that quality standards are reached, then that’s a recipe for resentment if pay is the same. I don’t think everybody on the team has to put in exactly the same level of work, and in a good working environment people tend to be pretty understanding of variances in output (both quality and quantity) as long as everybody is trying their best. Unless you’ve got someone that does significantly less than everyone else. To deal with that, you either need to have really good management, or pay rates need to reflect the actual work done.