Salary negotiations can sometimes feel like a carpet bazaar. If you’re confident and are good at selling yourself, you’ve a good shot at a higher salary, regardless of whether a less confident co-worker is better at the job. Even when a company undertakes to make salaries fair, they can still remain rather opaque when they are based on estimates and negotiation skills.
The criteria based on which other may earn more/less are unclear
Complicated and repeated salary negotiations
Classic salary models are based on evaluation and are therefore debatable
Unfair wages are possible, since some people are better at negotiating than others
Unequal wages between men and women
Future expenditure for positions cannot be planned
Salary transparency is made difficult because of the individually negotiated wages
No matter how high or low the salary is, there is often a feeling of unfairness
We no longer evaluate according to individual performance, negotiation skills and estimates, but rather based on facts. Our new wage model is based on a basic salary for all employees and on four criteria that increase the basic salary individually: Training, loyalty, responsibility and experience.
All employees are paid the same basic income
Type of training
Areas of activity in which the employee mainly works
Professional experience in a specialist area pertinent to the company
Years in the company since permanent employment with contract
The whole team participates in the company’s success when business is going well
Non-monetary services offered by the company
Awards for outstanding services in various areas
Criteria 2-3 raise the basic salary incrementally by several hundred francs. In the salary discussion, the criteria are gone through together and the level at which the employee currently finds themselves is established. The basic salary deviates only in the case of lateral entrants with no specialist training. This lower basic salary then mutates after three years into the regular basic salary.
A salary is often seen as compensation for work performance. However, if the employees are given the opportunity to develop, manage their time themselves and adjust it to fir their lives, the office can become an extended living space. The monthly salary loses relevance; freedom and self-determination are the true values that determine quality of life.
Among other things, we offer six weeks of holidays, flexible working hours, home office, massage, lunch, professional development, a voice in the company and much more.
Playful recognition for individual performance An awards system provides us with the possibility of expressing mutual recognition in a fun way and rewarding outstanding performance. These awards are handed out for outstanding work in a project and for loyalty to the company. For the annual medal, which is first awarded after 3 years, the employee is allowed to make a wish, which will be fulfilled by the company. These sorts of things play a major role, according to studies at least. The effect of honorary titles was examined in the IBM research centre in Zurich and in a call centre. The result: employees who were awarded worked better afterwards. Those who aren’t don’t work any worse. At our company, fun is at the forefront of this ritual.
We don’t have salary negotiations or discussion anymore and we evaluate criteria that are important to us in the company.
Even if we don’t announce every salary for all to hear, the model is the same for everyone and everyone is able to calculate approximately what the other salaries are. The employees’ own salaries can be estimated for years to come, since it develops from year to year.
Since everyone is classified according to the same system, no one has to wonder anymore if somebody else is being treated better. The criteria are transparent and fair and apply to all.
The figures in the model can be adjusted. When the company is doing better, either a success bonus can be distributed or the basic salary adjusted. Other companies, too, can enter their own figures into the model for a customised solution.
The long wage negotiations are eliminated. Salary expenditure can be planned better and the administrative costs are lower.
It’s the model that generates the payroll, not the managers. The salaries have been equalised in such a way that there are no more extreme outliers. This results in gender-neutral salaries that are based on criteria that apply equally to all.
There is often a latent sense of injustice that we can take off the shoulders of employees. It is not a question of wage transparency but of transparent and fair wage criteria.
Till Könneker
A salary system that is seen as being fair enables better teamwork, and good teams attract good people. The salary development is clearly evident and in this way we hope to find employees that can identify with our corporate culture – employees who want to determine their own life-work balance and employees who, thanks to the transparency, have faith in Apps with love and who actively contribute to the company’s success with their joint efforts, thus also increasing the monetary wages for all. No matter how high or low the salary is, there is often a latent feeling of unfairness, which we have been able to lift from the shoulders of our employees. For our company, it means that the salary expenditure can be planned realistically, is equal and fair, and a lot of time can be saved in salary discussions and admin. Of course, our model isn’t perfect yet – there is no perfect salary model – but it is a new approach that fits our culture and our values.
