It's time to have a conversation. A very open, honest and transparent conversation about compensation and your company's philosophy around it.
Employees at your company have now tried Know Your Worth by Glassdoor and they are wondering what it means for their current jobs. Like Glassdoor's CHRO Carmel Galvin, you may have managers or team members knocking on your door or scheduling meetings with you to discuss their pay. Don't panic. Get organized.
"Know Your Worth is all about transparency," says Galvin. "It is a tool that helps you to have an open, healthy conversation with your employees about pay. It's incumbent upon us as an employer to remind people to look at that calculus for themselves. Being afraid of employees getting access to Know Your Worth is a self-defeating proposition."
A recent study shows that employees want and need more information.
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- A majority of employees (65%) wish they had a better understanding of what fair
market compensation is for their positions at their company within their local job market (Source: Harris Poll, Sept 2016). - Approximately 3 in 4 (73%) employees would negotiate their salary or search for a new job if they discovered their current pay is significantly less than fair market pay (based on their work experience and local job market) (Source: Harris Poll, Sept 2016)
- Nearly 4 in 5 (78% of employees) would be interested in using a product that helps them confidentially assess if they're being paid fairly. (Source: Harris Poll, Sept 2016)
- A majority of employees (65%) wish they had a better understanding of what fair
"You can leverage conversations with employees and candidates to drive deeper engagement and ensure the discussions have the right context," adds Kirsten Davidson, Glassdoor's head of employer brand.
So if you haven't already, dig into the Know Your Worth tool for yourself. Enter in your own employer, location, current job title, base pay and years of relevant work experience. Find out if you are being paid fairly. Then explore the results page. For starters, you'll see your market value and the difference between the base pay you entered and the market value .
A person's market value is presented as an estimated median base salary and is also benchmarked in a line graph that illustrates how their market value has trended over time, how it relates to their current pay, and how their market value tracks compared to typical workers in similar roles in their market. Keep in mind the figure is base pay, and doesn't account for the other aspects of the "total rewards pie" such as benefits and equity.
To help users think about next steps, Glassdoor surfaces relevant job postings. This type of important insight in one screen was next to impossible before Know Your Worth.
Again, don't panic. Think about how much information this provides to employees and how it equips them to be better informed about compensation and the value of the company they're at now.
"Salary discussions are nothing new but the increasing transparency around salary data is," adds Davidson. "Having access to real time, location-based competitive salary data will help you drive differentiation for your employer brand, and retain top talent."
Understanding what's most important to your employees and helping them achieve their goals, which sometimes mean raises, results in higher levels of engagement and retention of top talent. Here's a checklist to get you prepared before entering into conversations with your employees about their personalized market value from Know Your Worth.
⏯ Yes, I have all the information and materials I need to share details about our Total
Rewards and Compensation strategy and I understand how this differentiates us from
our talent competitors.
⏯ Yes, I have all the information about my employees' salary and compensation and
performance history in front of me.
⏯ Yes, I can help my employee create a development plan that aligns with our review cycle
and approach to promotions and raises.
⏯ Yes, I am willing to have discussions about what a meaningful career looks like for my
employee - beyond just salary.
For more insight, check out:
- The Glassdoor Guide to Salary Conversation available for download now!
- The Know Your Worth Employer Guide
- FAQs and Methodology
