Hey team,
I’m trying something a little different today. More of an opinion piece if you will, beacuse there’s been a big announcement in the UK over the weekend, and it’s sparked quite the debate that I think is relevant for us to have globally as leaders.
The UK’s Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, announced plans to introduce legislation that would make it a legal requirement for employers to include salaries in job ads.
And I am completely behind it.
I’ve never understood why we’ve normalised expecting people to invest hours of their time into applications, interviews and recruitment processes, only to discover that the salary isn’t even enough to cover their living costs?? Surely it’s just a waste of EVERYONE’S time?
Last week, I took the conversation to social media, and WOW, did people have opinions…
The responses were pretty divisive.
Some, like me, argued it’s important we give as much clarity as possible up front. And others, argued it’s tough enough already for businesses and leaders, without putting more red tape around hiring.
Why I’m completely behind salary transparency
I want to start by acknowledging something…
It is really bloody hard running a business and team at the moment.
I’m an employer myself. I know how expensive everything has become. Salaries, taxes, pensions, software, student loans, petrol, overheads, the list goes on.
And I know that when you’re already trying to manage rising costs, the last thing you want is another piece of legislation telling you what you need to do. I get it.
But I also think we need to be really careful about the mindset we’re approaching these conversations with. There’s a difference between managing your costs responsibly and seeing your employees as a ‘cost you need to minimise’.
Too many businesses have fallen into the latter.
My team are the greatest asset I have in my business. Not my technology, my products or my IP, but my people.
And yes, they cost money of course. But I never look at their salaries and think, “How can I get this number as low as possible?”
I think, “How can I build a business that enables me to keep investing more in these people?”
Because the better my team becomes, the more my business grows.
What do you think? Let’s chat this throguh toghether in the comments, I’d love to hear from you.
An investment, not a cost
I talk a lot about having an abundance mindset in leadership, and I think salary transparency is a brilliant example of where we need one.
A scarcity mindset says:
“If I publish the salary, people will just ask for more money.”
“What if my existing team find out what we’re offering new starters?”
“What if our competitors see what we’re paying?”
But an abundance mindset asks a completely different set of questions.
“What if being transparent helps us attract better candidates?”
“What if this encourages us to build clearer progression opportunities?”
“What if being known as a fair employer becomes one of our biggest competitive advantages?”
Same situation, very different way of looking at it.
Scarcity vs abundance. Which will you choose? Cos I know what type of business I’m building.
Looking after your people is how you look after your business
Your people aren’t separate from your business performance, they’re the ones responsible for delivering it. Think about all the things we’re constantly trying to improve:
Customer satisfaction
Revenue
Profitability
Productivity
Retention
Innovation
But who actually delivers and creates those things? Your team.
And yet, we sometimes talk about investing in employees as though it’s competing with investing in the business.
As though we have to choose between looking after our people and improving our commercial performance.
But they’re not mutually exclusive.
If I want to improve customer satisfaction, I need people who care about our customers.
If I want to improve productivity, I need people who have the skills, tools and confidence to do their jobs well.
We underestimate just how much harder we’re making our lives when we neglect the people we’re relying on to deliver our results.
Look after your team, and give them the environment they need to look after everything else.
That’s how I think about building a sustainable, fulfiled and high-performing team.
Do you know how your team really feel?
Not how you THINK they feel.
Not what they tell you when you ask them in a meeting.
But how they genuinely feel about their workload, their development, their manager, their opportunities and the culture they’re working in.
Because you can’t improve something you don’t understand.
And that’s exactly why I built Custard.
A little something to help you
Custard is our culture intelligence platform, designed to help managers and business owners understand how their teams are really feeling, before small problems become expensive ones.
Through regular anonymous employee surveys, you can measure the health of your culture across eight key areas, including trust, accountability, recognition, development and workload.
And rather than just handing you a load of data, Custard helps you understand what needs your attention and gives you practical actions to improve it.
Culture should be treated as a business KPI. Something we measure, understand and continuously improve.
Not something we only start worrying about when our best people hand in their notice.
So if you want to start building a team where your people can thrive, and your performance improves because of it, I’d love you to give it a go.
You can try Custard free for 14 days.
And whether you’re using Custard or not, I’d love you to take one thing away from today’s article.
Stop asking how little you can ‘spend’ on your people, and start asking how much better your team could become if you invested in them properly.
All the best,
Heather