Dive Brief:​​

• More than half of female respondents – 63% – to a Glassdoor survey said the wave of quits is giving them more leverage to negotiate their pay. The study, conducted by the Harris Poll on the job review company's behalf, surveyed 800 employed adults on their attitude toward compensation and equity.
• Forty-one percent of employed women surveyed said the gender pay gap is a serious issue at their company, with 85% of respondents saying they deserve a pay increase. Roughly 1 in 3 women said the fear of being denied is discouraging them from negotiating pay.
• Glassdoor reported that 63% of respondents overall said they prefer to work at a company that discloses pay information; only 19% said their company discloses pay ranges internally.

Dive Insight:

If any HR pros are ignoring the pay conversation, they're doing so at their own peril. Compensation continues to be a deciding factor in the final decisions of job candidates and employees.

A Salary.com report published in January 2022 unpacked worker perceptions around pay transparency. In it, only 23% of respondents said their employer is candid about how people are paid and that leadership is OK with answering salary questions. In turn, half of respondents said they have never asked a manager how their pay is determined; 1 in 4 respondents said their manager couldn't answer the question to their satisfaction and 17% said their managers couldn't answer their questions at all.  

Not only is there a culture of discouragement, but there is also a knowledge gap when it comes to total rewards breakdowns. HR professionals seem to be self-aware regarding the disparity; 37% of respondents in a prior Salary.com survey, conducted in fall 2021, said they were struggling to address pay equity. They cited lack of tools, leadership support and staffing as reasons why they couldn't implement new approaches to pay. 

Ironically, most respondents (64%) said they felt increased pressure to address pay equity. These conversations may become more urgent. Colorado requires pay range disclosures in job ads and as of Dec. 15, 2021, the NYC City Council mandated employers include salary ranges on job listings. Legal experts say other major jurisdictions may be soon to follow.

Regardless of whether there are laws on the book regarding transparency, HR teams can seek to be more open now. HR Dive previously reported on companies, such as Buffer, that were prioritizing radical honesty when it comes to wages. The social media software company puts it all on the table, with a public-facing breakdown of pay for maximum accountability. Salaries, raises and company finance are all available for perusal. 

Taking another approach, a staff member at Less Annoying CRM told HR Dive that the company approaches salary discussions the same way they address other forms of transparency. A spokesperson for Limeade explained a similar approach: Look at compensation as a part of the employee experience, workplace culture and a representation of an employer's values.