Why Less Than One-Third of Employees Believe That They Are Paid Fairly

Less than 1/3 of employees believe they are being compensated fairly, according to a recent survey conducted by Gartner of 3,523 employees. What do we at Clear-Salary.com believe contributes to this incredibly low number? You probably can guess. Yep, a lack of pay transparency.

When employees understand how the sausage is made—that is, what goes into the compensation practices—it increases trust for the organization. But oftentimes, employees are kept in the dark, which leads to secrecy and distrust. They have no clue how their compensation is calculated, much less how it stacks up compared to others within their organization or industry.

We’ve highlighted before the benefits of pay transparency as it relates to employees: a better understanding of compensation practices; ability to better advocate for oneself based on facts and comparative data; and helping to close the pay gaps that have long held women and minorities behind, just to name a few. But what about for the employer? Are there benefits, too? Yes! While there certainly has been no shortage of hesitation by employers to reveal payment practices, they could actually benefit by making their compensation practices more transparent as it would likely lead to increased organizational trust. It goes without saying that when someone is open and honest with you, you trust them more. Now, if only employers could figure that out…