If you support gender pay equity, then it's time we got more serious about pay transparency in the hiring process. Here’s why:
According to Sofi Papamarko (a columnist at Canadian Business Magazine) some companies do not reveal salary expectations in their job postings in hopes that more agreeable applicants will ‘low ball’ themselves later in the negotiation process.
Those companies end up saving thousands of dollars in the short-term, but this practice also has negative long-term consequences:
✖️ It fosters discord among employees who get paid different amounts for the same work
✖️ It creates public distrust of the company as a 'bad faith' negotiator
✖️ And it unfairly impacts women who (for reasons due in part to structural inequality) end up with less compensation than men in blind negotiation scenarios
A lot of these negatives could be avoided if companies valued pay transparency at the very beginning of the hiring process. Having explicit, objective metrics around salaries and bonuses would:
✔️ Increase employer trust
✔️ Reduce conflict between employees
✔️ Foster 'good faith' negotiating, and
✔️ Help to narrow the gender wage gap
What do you think about the issue of transparency?
What other steps do you think companies should take to support fair and equitable salary negotiation?