If you lead any kind of development then I’m talking to you, and I am telling you to just stop haggling over salaries
When was the last time you walked away from a salary negotiation feeling good about the process? Whether you were asking for more money or deciding how much to pay, when did you last think “That went well, everyone’s happy, and we handled this right”?
Never. Because salary negotiations are theatre. A ritual to make it look like you are making decisions on performance when in reality you are avoiding conflict.
Most companies I worked for had the same process. We discussed performance against vague criteria, if there were any. The conclusion was always “You are doing a good job, but you can improve on a few things”. There was a lot of talk about how little money there was. Management hid behind closed doors and emerged with a number. Always ending with the question: “Are you OK with this?”
There had to be a better way. The solution dawned on me when I heard that most people care more about fair salaries than high salaries. So I took that and ran with it.
First, for each profession, I wrote down the expectations. Three bullets on what they should spend their time on. A sentence about how you can tell if a good job is being done. And four seniority levels, each described by a single sentence.
Second, a manager may only give one of three reviews: Fulfills expectations. Does not fulfill expectations and should not get any raise at all. Exceeds expectations and gets promoted to the next seniority level.
Third, I accept that I compete for talent on an open market. I find a large salary database and pin the salary of each profession and seniority level to an appropriate selection from that database.
Fourth, I make sure that each person who lives up to expectations gets a small bump, while still leaving room for a proper raise once they reach the next seniority level.
The system above means that everybody who has held the same professional title at the same level for the same amount of time are all paid equally.
Those who did not live up to expectations are the exception. They get no change in salary at all. If they leave, that is best for both parties. But we do hold no grudges. If they perform next year, they get the same salary as their peers.
There you have it. Write down what performance looks like. Judge performance clearly Pay fairly
Less theatre More progress