On the Job by Anita Bruzzese Should You Tell Others What You Earn

On the Job by Anita Bruzzese Should You Tell Others What You Earn Over the years there has been great discussion about whether companies and employees should be more transparent over salaries. The latest salvo in this discussion comes from a Tel Aviv University and Cornell University study that finds pay secrecy can hurt individual performance. Why? Because if employees dont clearly see that better performers earn better paychecks, then they dont understand that they need to work harder. In addition, top performers may be more likely to leave if they dont understand that theyre earning more money because theyre seen as valuable, researchers say. Despite such studies, most companies dont want workers talking about how much they earn. For one reason, its easier to gain the upper hand insalary negotiationsif employees are in the dark about what others are earning. For another, they fear it will damage morale and lead to spats among workers and create headaches for managers. But Edward E. Lawler III, the distinguished professor of business at the University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business, has argued for years that leaving workers (read more here)