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Hey! He makes more than I do!Amanda Kramer
A. There are ways to handle a salary slip when it occurs, but frankly, the best approach is to prevent the situation from occurring in the first place, said Barry Gerhart, a UW-Madison professor of management and human resources. "It's hard to know how to deal with that when it's out," Gerhart said. "It's a lot easier to be proactive." Gerhart suggested that a company's salary system be more transparent, which means disclosing the pay ranges for different types of jobs to all employees so they won't be surprised if they accidentally come across a colleague's salary. "Let's say you're a first-line worker; in a lot of companies you wouldn't have an idea what your manager makes or his manager makes. You may have no idea what the range of pay is at your own level," he said. But, Gerhart said, a company on top of its game will make it clear throughout the organization what it's paying its employees. The information could be the actual ranges, or it could be the minimum and maximum amounts for employees at various levels. If salary information does get out to others, however, there are things a human resources professional can do to smooth over the situation. "(The salary information) should be immediately secured in a confidential manner," explained Connie Kielty, senior manager of corporate compensation with CUNA Mutual Group in Madison. "The information should not be used inappropriately or passed along to others in an inappropriate manner." If employees are still frustrated, Kielty said, talking it through is a good strategy. "If an employee or group of employees were upset to learn one of their co-workers was getting paid more, the situation should be addressed with them one-on-one, rather than as a group," Kielty said. "Explain that people in the same job may receive different pay increases; people are paid in their salary range based on a variety of factors, including performance, experience, internal equity, market demand for skills." In fact, Kielty said, even if two people are doing the same job, they most likely won't be making the exact same amount. "There could be performance or skill differences," Kielty said. "It is important to understand that internal equity doesn't translate into exact pay for everyone." kramer.news@gmail.com madison.com ©2009 Capital Newspapers. All rights reserved. |
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