How Did You Figure My Pay and What Are You Going to Do About It?

"Today's (and tomorrow's) employees are not inclined to believe and accept a pay program that is shrouded in mystery."

This is how author and consultant Ann Bares ends her blog, Compensation Force, on the disconnect between employees and employers in dealing with compensation practices. This is one more example of how the workplace has changed with the generational differences. It used to be that no one ever questioned what they were paid or why. And companies had (and many still have) a prohibition against sharing how much you make with a coworker. BTW, this is a violation of the National Labor Relations Act if the sharing of such information is deemed to be concerted activity by employees.

Bares states that a study entitled Emerging Workforce Study (catchy title) shows "a significant divide between employees and employers on compensation. Three quarters (75%) of the employees surveyed cite compensation as the thing most crucial to retaining them, but only 26% are currently satisfied with this aspect of their job." Bares feels this is indicative of different attitudes by younger generation towards pay, and as she says "Good or bad news, what it adds up to is an employee population that is more inclined to challenge and/or disbelieve an employer's pay data, practices and policies than in the past. "

She has a warning to HR professionals, one that I hardily agree with, that we must be prepared to address this challenge. Her solution is transparency in the pay program. As she says "openly sharing how the pay program is built, where the data used to build it comes from, how it is designed to operate, and what its philosophical underpinnings are meant to be. And - certainly - I think individual employees should fully understand how the program applies to them (i.e., their salary range, etc.)." I have always been an advocate of such transparency. What people make is no secret. People talk, or whisper, or see things, or some how figure what everyone else is making. And if they don't know they generally inflate what they think the other person is making, which is worse for the organization.

So if you are one of those organizations that shrouds the pay system in mystery you may be facing a challenge in the coming years as your workforce shifts to the next generations.

Generational Differences At Work

Author/columnist/blogger Penelope Trunk wrote a blog on the 5 workplace practices that should be over, now. Trunk is a writer and speaker who provides advice to the younger generations in the work place. Her blog The Brazen Careerist is a great source for identifying generational issues in the workplace.

In her blog on the 5 workplace practices two of them are clearly generational. First, she states that voice mail is seldom used by workers under the age of 30. Only the "old" people leave voice mails. For the under 30 crowed, they either use texting, email or just return the missed call. They don't listen to or leave voice mails. So if you are having communication issues with younger workers (or if you are a younger manager and have older workers) take a look at the communication system you have set up and give the "generational test."

The second practice that might be considered generaltional is using the "reply-to-all" button in email. As she says "This was a great button to have in 1993 when even the busiest people only got fifty emails a day. Back then reply to all was a way to have an inclusive conversation.
Now reply to all is only a way to annoy people and make yourself look foolish."

Her other three practices that she thought should be gotten rid of are:

1. The office candy machine.
2. The office fundraising drive.
3. The massive office party.

She is an interesting read, especially for us "older" HR types. So I recommend you link to her blog and keep up with this "voice" of a younger generation.