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#Leadership : Why Everyone’s Salary Should Be Revealed…Transparency in Pay Provides Employees with Reassurance that They are Being Treated Fairly in Relation to Their Peers.

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 When it comes to their salaries, Americans are pretty pessimistic.  Almost two-thirds of over 71,000 U.S. employees who are paid the market rate for their positions believe they’re underpaid, according to a PayScale survey. These workers also said they’re considering looking for higher-paying work somewhere else, and they’d still leave if you gave them a raise.
pay-check

That’s because employees at companies that didn’t practice transparency just assumed that their coworkers were making more money.

“It turns out that pay transparency—sharing salaries openly across a company—makes for a better workplace for both the employee and for the organization,” David Burkus, author of Under New Management: How Leading Organizations Are Upending Business as Usual, said in his TED Talkearlier this year. “When people don’t know how their pay compares to their peers’, they’re more likely to feel underpaid and maybe even discriminated against. Do you want to work at a place that tolerates the idea that you feel underpaid or discriminated against?”

Keeping salaries secret does exactly that. Since companies are often transparent about expenses like health care and travel that have skyrocketed over the past few years, “It makes sense to pivot from the old way of keeping pay grades under a veil of secrecy to a more transparent way by sharing the compensation information on all employees based on the different roles,” says Tim Tolan, CEO and managing partner of the executive search firm The Tolan Group.

In fact, being open about what you pay employees can have benefits that exceed the savings companies can have by negotiating with each individual employee.

IT BOOSTS EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION

“Transparency in pay provides employees with reassurance that they are being treated fairly in relation to their peers,” says Jeanne C. Meister, coauthor of The Future Workplace Experience: 10 Rules for Mastering Disruption in Recruiting and Engaging Employees. “They may still leave, but pay may not be part of the equation.”

Workers who are paid less than the market rate for their jobs were more satisfied if their employer was transparent about their pay, according to PayScale. And if someone sat down and openly discussed the reason behind the compensation, their job satisfaction rose from 40% to 82%.

 

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IT INCREASES EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY

In a study from Cornell University and Tel Aviv University, researchers found that keeping salaries secret is associated with decreased employee performance. In an experiment, students were paid a base salary for completing three rounds of a computer matching game. While participants played the game individually, they were assigned to a four-person work group. Half of the participants were informed about only their own performance and bonus pay, while the other half experienced pay transparency, being told what the other team members were being paid. The study found the group that had pay secrecy also had decreased performance in the task.

IT ENCOURAGES GROWTH AND RETENTION

Pay transparency provides an incentive for employees to climb the ladder, says Burkus. “The research shows that when people know how they’re being paid and how that compares to their peers, then they’re more likely to work to move up it,” he said in an interview with Harvard Business Review. “And even those high performers are more likely to work hard to stay high performers in order to demonstrate why they bring that much value to the organization.”

IT HELPS FIGHT GENDER BIAS

Transparency requires employers to justify their decisions, and makes it less likely that these decisions will be based on bias or discrimination, says Kate Mueting, a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Sanford Heisler, LLP.

“For example, D.C. has one of the lowest gender pay gaps in the country (11%), and this is largely attributable to the fact that the federal government has lock-step, transparent compensation,” she says.

Earlier this year, Fast Company reported that President Obama had announced a proposal aimed at closing the gender wage gap by requiring companies with 100 or more employees to report their staff’s pay broken down by race, gender, and ethnicity to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). This information would be an update to the EEOC tool that currently collects wage data from businesses and isn’t scheduled to start until September 2017.

BUT THERE COULD BE DRAWBACKS

“In reality, salaries remain a sensitive topic,” says Lauren Griffin, senior vice president for Adecco Staffing. “Before openly speaking about your income with peers, it’s important to consider whether those conversations would offer any benefit.”

For example, sales environments commonly share performance rankings, which hint toward a person’s paycheck. “In that situation, openly discussing pay could encourage teams to share best practices and drive them to get better,” she says. “In addition, it could help retain less tenured employees who want to know what to expect as they move up within an organization.”

While there may be justifiable reasons why one employee commands a higher salary, such as increased responsibilities or experience, pay discussions can cause team members who don’t have access to the big picture to become disgruntled and feel undervalued, says Griffin.

“Once you open this door, you can’t close it,” she says. “Employees who perceive that their salary isn’t fair when compared to a peer’s can spread those frustrations to other colleagues and teams, ultimately leading to poor engagement, turnover, and decreased productivity.”

HOW TO SHARE THE NUMBERS

Potential drawbacks make the way that you share the information important. Choosing a method that fits your company culture can help. For example, Buffer puts all of its salaries on its website for anyone to see. SumAll shares numbers within the company, and Whole Foods employees can make an appointment to view the company’s “wage report.”

Other companies post pay rates for certain positions and let employees figure out individual salaries based on the hierarchy or their organizational chart. Some companies share their formula for calculating pay rates, while others provide the median salary for key roles and make this transparent both inside the company as well as on the company’s Glassdoor page.

“Some executives are concerned about the privacy issues,” says Tolan. “A way around sharing exact amounts would be to use salary bands and provide ranges for each role—and while you would still know which band a coworker is in, you probably would have to guess at their actual salary.”

Sunlight makes it impossible to hide things, said Berkus in the HBR interview. “And so in a transparent culture, regardless of how you do it, you tend to find people who have a higher sense of the organization being fair,” he says. “You tend to see increases in collaboration and all sorts of other positive effects.”

 

FastCompany.com | STEPHANIE VOZZA  | 11.15.16 5:24 AM

#Leadership : Team Building; 5 Understandable Reasons Why Your Co-workers Are on Your Nerves…We, in General, Tend to Attribute our Actions as the Cause for other Events or Reactions Happening. Often This is Not the Case.

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While we all have good days and bad days, some people seem to be more difficult on a regular basis than others.

Free- Stones stacked on each other

Sometimes this seems to just be who they are from a personality point of view. They have a rather negative mindset. They’re grumpy. They don’t smile much and just have a dark cloud that follows them around. Then there are others, who recently seem more touchy and easily offended than they usually are. Their moodiness can be confusing to others and offensive as well.

As a psychologist, I tend to notice how many people attribute others’ behavior and reactions (or even general life events) to their own actions. That is, we, in general, tend to attribute our actions as the cause for other events or reactions happening. Often this is not the case.

Instead, frame your response in the sense of “It seems…” or “I’ve noticed…,” which makes your comment a bit softer. Then ask a question that communicates your concern for them, such as “Are you okay?”

In fact, there is fairly good research showing that people tend to over attribute their influence on the world around them and even their own lives. By the way, this is the basis of superstitions – developing a habit of wearing the same shirt, jeans and sitting in the same place that you did when your team won a big game, hoping it will bring luck, and they’ll win again.

While I’m usually an advocate for individuals taking a look at their own behavior and accepting responsibility for their actions, in this case, I actually believe it’s best to put ourselves and our actions at the back of the line with regards to the potential reasons why our co-workers may seem prickly and easily offended.

Here are some alternative reasons to explore why your colleague may seem rather testy and annoyed.

1. They may not feel well.
Often people become surlier when they don’t feel well physically. This can come from lack of sleep, a medical issue they’re dealing with or chronic pain. It may be that they have started to struggle with migraines, lower back pain or some other issue. Many employees don’t talk about how they feel physically; and so, those of us around them don’t really know that they don’t feel well.

 

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2. They may have issues going on in their personal life.

When we are dealing with stressful issues in our life, the emotional resources demanded to deal with these issues is significant, and we get worn out. Again, many people won’t share their personal issues; especially, if they are not asked about them. So there may be something going on in the background of your colleague’s life that you don’t know about.

This could include relationship difficulties, struggles with their children or adolescents, financial pressures or extended family issues. When we feel pressed in our personal life, many of us become more annoyed at work in response to what would otherwise be a normal demand.

3. They may feel anxious or fearful.
Irritability, a mild form of being angry or upset, can be a cover for other underlying thoughts and emotions. In our culture, many people have been taught – either directly or indirectly — that it’s not appropriate to express negative feelings. Therefore, they try to keep those feelings inside. Two of these common feelings is anxiety and fear. Our culture has shaped most of us to believe that it’s not acceptable to be anxious or fearful. Therefore, we tend to suppress our feelings, and the anxiety is expressed through being prickly and grouchy in response to other people.

4. They may be frustrated.
Sometimes people become crabby when they’re frustrated either with their life, their job or some specific issue going on at work. Frustrated is an interesting word because it is used in two different ways in our culture.

In many settings, when someone is frustrated, it is a nice way of saying they are a little bit angry. The other meaning of frustrated is to feel blocked – like you can’t reach the goal you are trying to achieve. Frustration can lead us to negatively react to any situation, regardless of whether it’s directly related to the issue about which we are frustrated. That is, we react in a quick-tempered manner to a situation that’s not directly related to what we are frustrated about.

5. They may not feel valued.
When employees don’t feel valued, either by their supervisor, management or their colleagues, a common response is for them to become increasingly irritable, moody and easily offended. One type of frustration is when we believe our colleagues should value what we do and contribute, but we don’t seem to hear much positive feedback.

In our work with the 5 Languages of Appreciation, we help individuals identify their primary language of appreciation; that is, the way in which they prefer to receive appreciation. Interestingly, we also found that employees are most easily offended when a message is sent – unintentionally — via their primary language that hurts them in some way.

For example, people who value verbal praise are also quite sensitive to any critique or criticism. And those who value quality time are easily offended when they feel left out.

How should you respond?
While it is helpful to know possible reasons for the surliness of your colleagues, the question remains: What should I do?

A helpful response may be: I’ve noticed that you seem somewhat more easily annoyed recently. Are you okay? Is there anything going on that would be helpful for me to know about?

Conversely, it is not helpful to be accusatory or speak in a factual tone of voice, saying something like: You have been incredibly grouchy lately. What’s up with that?

Instead, frame your response in the sense of “It seems…” or “I’ve noticed…,” which makes your comment a bit softer. Then ask a question that communicates your concern for them, such as “Are you okay?”

Be forewarned, you may or may not get a positive response – especially immediately. Try not to react in a defensive or antagonistic way. In fact, what often happens is a colleague will come back to you later and explain what’s going on after they have thought about your inquiry and concern for them.

 

Entrepreneur.com  | July 15, 2016 | Paul White, Psychologist, Speaker, Trainer

Your #Career : How Do You Survive Office Competition?…Hypercompetitors Spark Strong Reactions in Colleagues, from Fighting Back to Shutting Down; Warriors vs. Worriers

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Every office has at least one—the hypercompetitive employee who’s out to win at all costs. These adversarial types go beyond striving for success. They turn every endeavor into a competition, whether it is intended to be or not, psychologists say. And they spark strong reactions in colleagues, from fighting back to just shutting down.

Free- Man at Desktop

 

Competition is often healthy and encouraged at work, of course. People who compete in a healthy way see it as a route to developing their skills, reaching shared goals, staying motivated and thriving on the job.

Research on hypercompetitors sets them apart. Intense rivalry is linked with a win-at-any-cost mind-set and a tendency to ignore the perspectives and decisions of others, according to a 2010 study at Harvard University. Other research shows highly competitive people focus on attaining status over getting work done, and readily put their own interests above others’.

HEALTHY OR HYPER?

How competitive are you? To find out, answer ‘true’ or ‘false’ to the following questions.

  • 1. Winning in competition makes me feel more powerful as a person.
  • 2. I do not see my opponents in competition as my enemies.
  • 3. I like competition because it teaches me a lot about myself.
  • 4. I can’t stand to lose an argument.
  • 5. Competition can lead to forming new friendships with others.
  • 6. Failure or loss in competition makes me feel less worthy as a person.
  • 7. It doesn’t bother me to be passed by someone while I am driving on the roads.
  • 8. Competition does not help me develop my abilities.
  • 9. Success in athletic competition does not make me feel superior to others.
  • 10. If I can disturb my opponent in some way to get the edge, I will do so.

Scoring: Answering ‘true’ to questions 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9 and 10 reveals a tendency toward hypercompetitiveness. Those who answer ‘true’ only to 3, 5 and 8 tend to have a healthy attitude toward competition.

Source: Richard Ryckman et al., Journal of Personality Assessment.

 

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Hypercompetitive people tend to ignore their impact on others, so getting them to change often requires pointing out that they’re hurting themselves.

How we react to competition varies widely. People may be conditioned by childhood experiences to see a hypercompetitive colleague as a challenge—and to respond by trying harder—or as a threat, triggering a retreat into fear and anxiety.

It is rooted partly in genetics: Scientists have identified a “warrior” variant of a gene linked to performance under pressure, which confers an advantage in threatening situations, and a “worrier” variant linked to poor performance, according to a 2015 study by researchers at Eötvös Loránd University of Budapest.

These tendencies shape early decision-making. College students who are competitive by nature tend to aim toward competitive jobs, such as coaching, according to a 2015 study led by John M. Houston, a psychology professor at Rollins College, Winter Park, Fla. Those who are less competitive train for more collaborative jobs, such as school counseling.

People who become anxious and shy away from hypercompetitors in the workplace often hurt their own performance, says Shelley Reciniello, a New York psychologist and author of “The Conscious Leader.” After a rival confronted one executive with a harsh critique of her speaking skills, “she lost her footing. It started to get to her,” and the executive began stumbling during presentations, Dr. Reciniello says.

Such confrontations can stir a visceral response so powerful that it blindsides people, she says. “They know they feel angry, they feel sick, they feel sad. They find themselves having revenge fantasies,” Dr. Reciniello says.

Equally at risk on the job are those who prefer to sit out any competition. “Some people don’t even want to compete,” says Steve Sims, chief product officer for Badgeville, a Redwood City, Calif., maker of gamelike motivational tools for the workplace. If you show such a person a leaderboard of the top 10 performers in the office, “that person will drop out.”

Patti Johnson first noticed a colleague’s hypercompetitive behavior when she was vying with the woman for a promotion years ago. She withheld information Ms. Johnson needed to do her job, and took credit with the boss for work they had done together, says Ms. Johnson, chief executive officer of PeopleResults, a Dallas human-resources and change-management consulting firm.

“I realized it was part of my job, to manage her,” Ms. Johnson says. She insisted the boss include her in meetings on joint projects and kept her boss well-informed about her contributions, she says. “I made it more and more difficult for her to throw tacks on the road.”

At times, the presence of super-competitive people can spur others to achieve more. Jay Bower says feeling overmatched early in his career by warrior types with Ivy League M.B.A.s drove him to study nights for 4½ years to get his M.B.A. too. Knowing he lacked skills his co-workers had “was kind of a searing experience for me,” says Mr. Bower, president of Crossbow Group, a Westport, Conn., marketing-services firm.

Deciding whether to confront an ultracompetitive colleague can be tricky. “It depends on the situation. You have to look at what you stand to lose,” says Susan Packard, author of “New Rules of the Game,” a book about how women can compete in the workplace. A little political maneuvering by a rival might not hurt much. But if a hypercompetitor starts interfering with your career goals, or with the funding or resources you need to do your job, you have to act, she says.

The first step is to be aware of your own reactions. Then, practice confronting co-workers, if necessary, to insist that they stop undercutting teammates or shared goals.

Gather specific examples of the hypercompetitor’s bad behavior and the reactions it caused. A hypercompetitor won’t understand what you’re asking unless you explain the behaviors that need to end, saysJessica Bigazzi Foster, a senior partner with RHR International, a Chicago leadership and business-psychology consulting firm. Prepare to explain how the behavior is hurting the business or the team.

​Consider practicing what you plan to say with a friend, to help control your emotions, and write a script if necessary to keep the conversation on track, Dr. Reciniello says. Super-competitive people “will do everything to get you off point.”

Start on a positive note, says Elaine Varelas, managing partner of Keystone Partners, such as, “You’re very successful and I appreciate that. What I find very difficult in working with you is that you don’t share information.” Then give examples and describe the behavior you’d like in the future, she says.

Employees who are stuck with a hypercompetitive colleague may not get much help from the boss, at least at first. The dark side of a hypercompetitor often goes unnoticed because the boss “is seeing this aggressive, results-oriented person,” says Ralph Roberto, president of Keystone Partners, a Boston career-management consultant.

It can be tough for a boss to crack down on a hypercompetitive employee. Bill Fish sees competition as a motivator. When an aggressive sales agent at his company, ReputationManagement.com, accumulated an oversized roster of clients, he initially hesitated to take clients away from him, thinking the competition was fueling sales, says Mr. Fish, president of the Cincinnati provider of reputation-management services. “He wasn’t thinking about anybody else. At first, I really didn’t see it as a bad thing,” he says. After customers began to complain that the agent wasn’t responding quickly to their requests, however, he realized that the agent’s uber-competitiveness was hurting the business and made him share the load.

Hypercompetitive people tend to ignore their impact on others, so getting them to change often requires pointing out that they’re hurting themselves. David Hoffeld once managed a top-performing salesman who needled co-workers, saying, “Maybe you should work harder, because I’ve noticed I’m always higher than you on the leaderboard,” says Mr. Hoffeld, chief executive officer of a Minneapolis sales-training firm. “It didn’t spur his co-workers to work harder. It just made them angry.”

Mr. Hoffeld took the salesman aside and pointed out that he was alienating his co-workers, making them less willing to help him out on big projects in the future. The salesman changed his behavior.

Write to Sue Shellenbarger at sue.shellenbarger@wsj.com

 

WSJ.com | April 20, 2016 |  Sue Shellenbarger