Submission + - Buffer sees clear benefits to transparent employee salary policy
An anonymous reader writes: At social media startup Buffer, a single leadership decision eliminated salary negotiation for new employees, preempted gender-based salary discrimination, and prompted a flood of job applications.
The decision? Make all employee salaries transparent.
"We set down transparency as a core value for the company," CEO Joel Gascoigne said in 2014. "And then, once we'd done that, we went through everything. And salaries was one of those key things that we found that [made us] question ourselves: 'Why are we not transparent about this?'"
Years later, the policy is still in place (go ahead and calculate your salary as a would-be Buffer employee)—and it presents a fascinating case study for anyone interested in the ways open organizations approach a rather prickly subject: transparency.
The decision? Make all employee salaries transparent.
"We set down transparency as a core value for the company," CEO Joel Gascoigne said in 2014. "And then, once we'd done that, we went through everything. And salaries was one of those key things that we found that [made us] question ourselves: 'Why are we not transparent about this?'"
Years later, the policy is still in place (go ahead and calculate your salary as a would-be Buffer employee)—and it presents a fascinating case study for anyone interested in the ways open organizations approach a rather prickly subject: transparency.
