Why you should know how much your coworkers get paid | David Burkus

Translator: Elri Marais Reviewer: Ingrid Lezar

Hoeveel word jy betaal?

How much do you get paid?

Moenie hardop antwoord nie.

Don't answer that out loud.

But put a number in your head.

Maar sit ’n syfer in jou kop.

Nou, hoeveel dink jy word die persoon langs jou betaal?

Now: How much do you think the person sitting next to you gets paid?

Weereens, moenie hardop antwoord nie.

Again, don't answer out loud.

(Laughter)

(Gelag)

By die werk, hoeveel dink jy

At work, how much do you think

the person sitting in the cubicle or the desk next to you gets paid?

word die persoon in die afskorting of by die lessenaar langs jou betaal?

Do you know?

Weet jy?

Should you know?

Behoort jy te weet?

Notice, it's a little uncomfortable for me to even ask you those questions.

Let op, dis selfs effens ongemaklik vir my om jou hierdie vrae te vra.

But admit it -- you kind of want to know.

Maar erken dit -- jy wil so half weet.

Most of us are uncomfortable with the idea of broadcasting our salary.

Die meeste van ons is ongemaklik met die idee om ons salaris uit te saai.

We're not supposed to tell our neighbors,

Ons moenie ons bure vertel nie

and we're definitely not supposed to tell our office neighbors.

en ons moet beslis nie ons bure by die kantoor vertel nie.

The assumed reason is that if everybody knew what everybody got paid,

Ons neem aan die rede is dat as almal weet wat almal anders betaal word,

then all hell would break loose.

sal die duiwel los wees.

There'd be arguments, there'd be fights,

Daar sal stryery en bakleiery wees,

there might even be a few people who quit.

’n paar mense sal dalk selfs bedank.

But what if secrecy is actually the reason for all that strife?

Maar sê nou geheimhouding is eintlik die rede vir al daai getwis?

And what would happen if we removed that secrecy?

En wat sal gebeur as ons daardie geheimhouding wegvat?

What if openness actually increased the sense of fairness and collaboration

Wat as openheid eintlik die sin van regverdigheid en samewerking

inside a company?

in ’n maatskapy versterk?

What would happen if we had total pay transparency?

Wat sou gebeur as ons totale salaris-deursigtigheid gehad het?

For the past several years,

Oor die laaste paar jaar

I've been studying the corporate and entrepreneurial leaders

het ek dié korporatiewe en ondernemingsleiers bestudeer

who question the conventional wisdom about how to run a company.

wat die konvensionele wysheid oor hoe om ’n maatskapy te bestuur, bevraagteken.

And the question of pay keeps coming up.

En die vraag oor betaling kom aanhoudend ter sprake.

En die antwoorde verras aanhoudend.

And the answers keep surprising.

It turns out that pay transparency --

Dit blyk dat salaris-deursigtigheid --

sharing salaries openly across a company --

om salarisse openlik in ’n maatskapy te deel --

makes for a better workplace for both the employee

’n beter werkplek vir beide die werknemer

en vir die organisasie maak.

and for the organization.

When people don't know how their pay compares to their peers',

As mense nie weet hoe hul salaris met hul gelykes s’n vergelyk nie

they're more likely to feel underpaid

is hulle meer geneig om onderbetaal

and maybe even discriminated against.

en dalk selfs teen gediskrimineer te voel.

Do you want to work at a place that tolerates the idea

Wil jy by ’n plek werk wat toelaat

that you feel underpaid or discriminated against?

dat jy onderbetaal en teen gediskrimineer voel?

But keeping salaries secret does exactly that,

Maar om salarisse geheim te hou doen presies dit,

and it's a practice as old as it is common,

en dis ’n praktyk so oud soos wat dit algemeen is,

despite the fact that in the United States,

ten spyte daarvan dat in die VSA

the law protects an employee's right to discuss their pay.

die wet ’n werknemer se reg om sy salaris te bespreek, beskerm.

In one famous example from decades ago,

In een beroemde voorbeeld van dekades gelede

the management of Vanity Fair magazine

het die bestuur van die tydskrif Vanity Fair

sowaar ’n memo rondgestuur met die titel:

actually circulated a memo entitled:

"Forbidding Discussion Among Employees of Salary Received."

"Belet op bespreking onder werknemers van salaris ontvang."

"Forbidding" discussion among employees of salary received.

BELET op bespreking onder werknemers van salaris ontvang.

Now that memo didn't sit well with everybody.

Almal het wel nie daai memo aanvaar nie.

New York literary figures Dorothy Parker,

New York literêre figure Dorothy Parker,

Robert Benchley and Robert Sherwood,

Robert Benchley en Robert Sherwood,

all writers in the Algonquin Round Table,

almal skrywers in die Algonquin Round Table,

decided to stand up for transparency

het vir deursigtigheid opgestaan

and showed up for work the next day

en is die dag daarna werk toe

with their salary written on signs hanging from their neck.

met hulle salarisse op bordjies geskryf en om hulle nekke gehang.

(Laughter)

(Gelag)

Imagine showing up for work

Verbeel jou jy kom by die werk

with your salary just written across your chest for all to see.

met jou salaris sommer op jou bors geskryf vir almal om te sien.

But why would a company even want to discourage salary discussions?

Maar hoekom wil ’n maatskapy salarisbesprekings ontmoedig?

Why do some people go along with it, while others revolt against it?

Hoekom stem party daarmee saam terwyl ander daarteen wil opstaan?

It turns out that in addition to the assumed reasons,

Dit blyk dat buiten die aangenome redes

pay secrecy is actually a way to save a lot of money.

salaris-geheimhouding eintlik ’n manier is om baie geld te spaar.

You see, keeping salaries secret

Sien, om salarisse geheim te hou

leads to what economists call "information asymmetry."

lei tot wat ekonome "inligting-asimmetrie" noem.

This is a situation where, in a negotiation,

In só ’n onderhandelingsituasie

one party has loads more information than the other.

het een party hope meer inligting as die ander een.

And in hiring or promotion or annual raise discussions,

En in besprekings oor aanstellings, bevorderings of jaarlikse vehogings

an employer can use that secrecy to save a lot of money.

kan ’n werkgewer dié geheimhouding gebruik om baie geld te spaar.

Imagine how much better you could negotiate for a raise

Dink net hoeveel beter jy vir ’n verhoging sou kon onderhandel

if you knew everybody's salary.

as jy geweet het wat almal verdien.

Economists warn that information asymmetry

Ekonome waarsku dat inligting-asimmetrie

markte kan laat skeefloop.

can cause markets to go awry.

Someone leaves a pay stub on the copier,

Iemand los ’n salarisstrokie op die fotostaatmasjien,

and suddenly everybody is shouting at each other.

en skielik skree almal op mekaar.

In fact, they even warn

Hulle waarsku selfs

that information asymmetry can lead to a total market failure.

dat inligting-asimmetrie tot ’n totale markmislukking kan lei.

En ek dink ons is amper daar.

And I think we're almost there.

Dis hoekom:

Here's why:

first, most employees have no idea how their pay compares to their peers'.

Eerstens het meeste werknemers geen idee hoe hul salaris vergelyk nie.

In a 2015 survey of 70,000 employees,

In ’n 2015-opname van 70 000 werknemers

two-thirds of everyone who is paid at the market rate

het twee derdes van almal wat die marktarief betaal word

said that they felt they were underpaid.

gesê hulle voel onderbetaal.

En uit almal wat gevoel het hulle word onderbetaal,

And of everybody who felt that they were underpaid,

60 percent said that they intended to quit,

het 60% gesê hulle beplan om te bedank,

regardless of where they were -- underpaid, overpaid

ongeag of hulle onderbetaal, oorbetaal

or right at the market rate.

of presies die marktarief betaal word.

If you were part of this survey, what would you say?

Wat sou jy in hierdie opname gesê het?

Are you underpaid?

Word jy onderbetaal?

Well, wait -- how do you even know,

Wel, wag -- hoe weet jy eers?

because you're not allowed to talk about it?

Want jy mag nie daaroor praat nie.

Next, information asymmetry, pay secrecy,

Volgende, inligting-asimmetrie, salaris-geheimhouding,

makes it easier to ignore the discrimination

maak dit makliker om die diskriminasie te ignoreer

that's already present in the market today.

wat reeds vandag in die mark teenwoordig is.

In a 2011 report from the Institute for Women's Policy Research,

In ’n 2011-verslag van die Institute for Women's Policy Research

the gender wage gap between men and women

was die salarisgaping

tussen mans en vroue 23%.

was 23 percent.

This is where that 77 cents on the dollar comes from.

Dit is waar daardie 77 sent op die dollar vandaan kom.

But in the Federal Government,

Maar in die Federale Regering,

waar salarisse op sekere vlakke vasgestel is

where salaries are pinned to certain levels

and everybody knows what those levels are,

en almal weet wat dié vlakke is,

krimp die salarisgaping tussen geslagte na 11%,

the gender wage gap shrinks to 11 percent --

and this is before controlling for any of the factors

en dit vóór gekontrolleer is vir enige van die faktore

that economists argue over whether or not to control for.

waaroor ekonome stry om te kontrolleer of nie.

If we really want to close the gender wage gap,

As ons die salarisgaping tussen die geslagte wil oorbrug,

maybe we should start by opening up the payroll.

moet ons dalk begin om die loonlys oop te maak.

If this is what total market failure looks like,

As dit is hoe totale markmislukking lyk,

dan bly openheid die enigste manier om regverdigheid te verseker.

then openness remains the only way to ensure fairness.

Now, I realize that letting people know what you make

Ek besef dat om mense te laat weet wat jy verdien

might feel uncomfortable,

dalk ongemaklik mag voel,

but isn't it less uncomfortable

maar is dit nie minder ongemaklik

as om altyd te wonder of jy teen gediskrimineer word nie of

than always wondering if you're being discriminated against,

or if your wife or your daughter or your sister is being paid unfairly?

of jou vrou of jou dogter of jou suster onregverdig betaal word nie?

Openness remains the best way to ensure fairness,

Openheid bly die beste manier om regverdigheid te verseker

and pay transparency does that.

en salaris-deursigtigheid doen dit.

That's why entrepreneurial leaders and corporate leaders

Dis hoekom korporatiewe en ondernemingsleiers

have been experimenting with sharing salaries for years.

al vir jare met dié aspek van salarisse eksperimenteer.

Like Dane Atkinson.

Soos Dane Atkinson.

Dane is a serial entrepreneur who started many companies

Dane is 'n reeks-entrepreneur

wat baie maatskapye met geheime salarisse begin het,

in a pay secrecy condition

and even used that condition to pay two equally qualified people

en hy't dit selfs gebruik om twee mense met dieselfde kwalifikasies

dramatically different salaries,

dramaties verskillend te betaal,

depending on how well they could negotiate.

afhangend van hoe goed hulle kon onderhandel.

En Dane het die twiste gesien wat as gevolg hiervan ontstaan het.

And Dane saw the strife that happened as a result of this.

So when he started his newest company, SumAll,

So toe hy sy nuutste maatskapy, SumAll, gestig het,

he committed to salary transparency from the beginning.

het hy hom van die begin af aan salaris-deursigtigheid gewy.

And the results have been amazing.

En die resultate is merkwaardig.

And in study after study,

En in studie op studie,

as mense weet hoe hulle betaal word

when people know how they're being paid

and how that pay compares to their peers',

en hoe dit met hul gelykes vergelyk,

is hulle meer geneig om hard te werk om beter te presteer,

they're more likely to work hard to improve their performance,

more likely to be engaged, and they're less likely to quit.

meer geneig om betrokke te wees en minder geneig om te bedank.

That's why Dane's not alone.

Dis hoekom Dane nie alleen is nie.

From technology start-ups like Buffer,

Van nuwe tegnologie-maatskapye soos Buffer,

to the tens of thousands of employees at Whole Foods,

tot die tienduisende werknemers by Whole Foods,

where not only is your salary available for everyone to see,

waar nie net jou salaris beskikbaar is vir almal om te sien nie,

but the performance data for the store and for your department

maar die prestasiedata vir die winkel en vir jou departement

is available on the company intranet

op die maatskapy se intranet beskikbaar is,

for all to see.

vir almal om te sien.

Now, pay transparency takes a lot of forms.

Nou, salaris-deursigtigheid neem baie vorme.

It's not one size fits all.

Een grootte pas nie vir almal nie.

Party maak hul salarisse bekend vir almal om te sien.

Some post their salaries for all to see.

Some only keep it inside the company.

Party hou dit binne die maatskapy.

Some post the formula for calculating pay,

Party maak die formule om salarisse uit te werk bekend.

and others post the pay levels

Ander maak die salarisvlakke bekend

and affix everybody to that level.

en heg almal aan hulle vlak.

So jy hoef nie bordjies te maak

So you don't have to make signs

for all of your employees to wear around the office.

vir al jou werknemers om in die kantoor te dra nie.

And you don't have to be the only one wearing a sign

En jy hoef nie die enigste een te wees wat ’n bordjie dra

that you made at home.

wat jy by die huis gemaak het nie.

But we can all take greater steps towards pay transparency.

Maar almal kan groter stappe na deursigtigheid neem.

For those of you that have the authority

Vir dié van julle wat die gesag het

to move forward towards transparency:

om vooruit te beweeg na deursigtigheid:

dis tyd om vooruit te beweeg.

it's time to move forward.

And for those of you that don't have that authority:

En vir dié van julle wat nie die gesag het nie:

it's time to stand up for your right to.

dis tyd om op te kom vir jou reg daartoe.

So how much do you get paid?

So hoeveel word jy betaal?

And how does that compare to the people you work with?

En hoe vergelyk dit met die mense saam met wie jy werk?

You should know.

Jy behoort te weet.

And so should they.

En hulle ook.

Thank you.

Dankie.

(Applause)

(Applous)