Perception among British employees is that the grass is greener elsewhere as one in two employees feel they must switch companies in order to get a pay rise, new report finds.
Some 57 per cent of employed adults in the UK feel they need to change jobs to obtain any meaningful compensation due to a lack of understanding about what their salary should be, according to Glassdoor’s Global Salary Transparency survey.
Seven in ten UK employees wish they had a better understanding of what fair pay is for their position and skills set at their company and in their local market, the survey of more than 8,000 adults employed full-time and part-time in seven countries including the UK, the US and Germany found.
Dawn Lyon, Glassdoor vice president of corporate affairs and chief equal pay advocate said most employees are still “in the dark” when it comes to fair pay.
“The majority of employees report their companies do not share pay data internally even as most employees believe salary transparency is good for business and employee satisfaction. Employers need to understand that perpetuating salary sharing taboos can ultimately impact retention,” Lyon said.
Times are changing, but sharing salary information among employees at a company is still not the norm.
Less than half of employees in the UK say their company discloses salary information internally. This is higher than France with 33 per cent and Germany with 28 per cent respectively.
But 74 per cent of UK adults believe salary transparency is good for employee satisfaction and nearly the same per cent believe it is good for business.
Researchers found that there was a direct link with pay secrecy and decreased performance.
David Burkus is the author of Under New Management, in which he looks at the growing number of companies, like Whole Foods, which are transparent about pay.
“When people know where they stand and know what it will take to move up, they’re more motivated to work to improve both their performance and their standing – and that’s good business for everyone,” he wrote in the Harvard Business Review.
Burkus previously argued that keeping salaries secret makes it easier for companies to discriminate.
"Employers need to understand that perpetuating salary sharing taboos can ultimately impact retention. More than half of employees around the world feel that in order to get a significant raise they need to jump to a new company. Our data shows by helping employees understand fair pay and providing clear pathways for advancement, employers can increase employee satisfaction, engagement and retention,” Lyon said.
