The Rules About Salaries

Remember the three editors who were about to have their first review? They made a pact to go to lunch to make sure they got the same salary increases.

In my experience, the idea that you don’t talk about your salary is a foreign concept to well over 50% of people who are in their first business job. In a context in which most employees I trained didn’t go to business school, this number makes total sense. There is no reason they might have picked up this information.

In most companies, it’s a serious offense for an employee to reveal his or her salary or compensation details. I’ve seen it lead to written reprimand and probation. Every employee handbook that I’ve read states the company’s right to terminate an employee’s job for such an action.

Most new employees immediately can see why such a policy is in the company’s interest, but often they don’t see why the policy works to protect them. So whenever I share a company handbook, I tell The Brother Story and the Facts about Grandma.

The Brother Story

When I was nineteen and still in college, my much older, married brother sat me down to teach me of the world. He asked about my future and my goals as if I were in an interview. Then he invited me to ask him questions–any questions–I asked many. What struck and scandalized me at the time was that he answered every question, no matter how personal, except one–How much money do you make a year?
I thought he had his priorities screwed up for sure, telling me personal things, but keeping things of money secret. I told him as much. He said, “Never tell how much you make. People only need so much money to live, and the rest is gravy. If you knew my salary, it would change things.”

“No it wouldn’t. You’d still be my come-here-grasshopper-learn-from-the-master, older brother.” At the time I was too inexperienced and idealistic to understand what he was saying.

That’s why, when I relate The Brother Story, I always follow it with The Facts about Grandma. I figure if I needed something more concrete, other people might need it too.

The Facts about Grandma

“Now, listen to these facts about my son’s grandma,” I’ll say, “and decide whether my brother was right.”

• My son’s Grandma retired.
• She used to manage a real estate office in downtown Chicago
• Her yearly bonus was US$20,000.
• When she retired, her boss gave her an extra US$30,000 bonus, a sterling silver champagne stand, and a magnum of Moët et Chandon.
• The bonus was 20% of her yearly salary.

Do you see how Grandma changed in five sentences? She’ll never be the same Grandma she was before I revealed the information in the last three sentences. The changes in who Grandma seemed to be are proof of the rule.

When people know how much money you make it changes how they see you.

I don’t even tell Grandma how much I make.

–Me “Liz” Strauss
Check out the Work with Liz!! page in the sidebar.

Related
Business Rule 10: Is Their Urgency Real?
Business Rule 9: What’s the Value of Money?
Business Rule 8: What Are Your Square Periods?

A List Is a List

Betsy, a second-year editor was working a series of Dinosaur books. The books were for second graders. That’s when kids get crazy for dinosaurs. So, the details had to be precise. Second graders know dinosaurs better than their teachers do.

The schedule was pushed tight. To kick up the pitch one more notch. When the books were done, we’d be using them to build online and CD-Rom products. Those new products relied on the books being complete on time. To raise the bar exponentially, we were working with a developer, that added time in transport and in communication.

At one point Betsy came to me, requesting help. She was a planner and a good project manager. She could see that with only one of her that the schedule was in jeopardy. We looked over the remaining tasks to see what parts she might delegate. A time-consuming and discrete part was writing the art specs.

Another editor, Susannah — of “Oh Susannah” fame — loved anything science. Her husband also taught at the university. One of us suggested that Susannah might write the art specs for the dinosaur books. We discussed the pros and cons of the idea.

“Susannah likes to go deep on everything,” I said. “You’ll have to manage her time, or each art spec will end up a book-long narrative.”

Betsy explained to Suzannah the time frame and the help that was needed. She asked Susannah for the specs as two lists for each book page -– a list of the animals and a list of the plants -– with references where possible. She encouraged Susannah to collaborate with the professor of paleobotany that Susannah was friends with, telling her we would pay him a stipend. The two editors agreed on a date when the first specs were due.

Betsy concentrated on the books in progress, while Susannah prepared the next art specs so that they would be ready when the artists were.

When the first art specs were delivered, Betsy brought them to me. She plopped in my visitor’s chair and bemoaned what she saw.

“I told her a list,” was all that she said, as she handed me three single-spaced, covered pages of text.

I looked at them. I looked at Betsy. I looked at the pages again. I thought for a minute about Betsy’s fine communications skills, and then I said what had to be true.

“This must be Susannah’s definition of a list.” We talked a bit. Then I sent Betsy back to artfully find out if Susannah had her own idea of what a list was.

Yep.

We use the same words, but don’t be surprised when they mean different things.

I don’t know why Suzannah thought what she wrote was a list. I don’t know who taught her that nor did I try to find out. I only know that this same kind of thing happens frequently, and it’s easily avoided by defining terms before people start work.

Five minutes of showing an art spec list already completed might have saved a bunch of time and some exhausted feelings. I wish I’d thought of suggesting that then.

Of course, some business lessons you just have to learn. And if you’re me, you have to learn them over and over, and over, and over again.

–Me “Liz” Strauss
Check out the Work with Liz!! page in the sidebar.

SOBCON 07
Starts this FRIDAY!!

Related
Business Rule 10: Is Their Urgency Real?
Business Rule 9: What’s the Value of Money?
Business Rule 8: What Are Your Square Periods?
Business Rule 7: Sound Bytes, Stories, and Analogies
Business Rule 6: Who Dropped the Paddle?