Don’t be left out; get pay right™

If you’re looking for clearer direction on compensation, Salary.com has a new podcast called Get Pay Right™. It’s hosted by Mary Crogan and Kevin Plunkett and provides the latest insights on all things work and pay.

Benefits of the podcast include bonus guests, the first one was David Cross, a senior compensation analyst at Salary.com. For our money, we think you’ll find it rewarding. (There’s also a refreshing absence of compensation and other puns in the podcast. Not true here though. Did you find all 6?)

In the first episode, Kevin and Mary talk about a recent Salary.com survey exploring the gap between employer and employee views on returning to the physical workplace. No big surprise, but only one group is in favor.

It also turns out that not everyone left the city to work remotely. Only about 9% of respondents moved to a different area during the pandemic. And despite many employees wanting to work remote, only 8% of employers have a practice in place to determine pay for remote workers.

David Cross raised some of the issues employers have trying to figure out compensation for remote workers. Should they be paid less or differently based on the cost of living for the place they sit? Or should there be a uniform approach no matter where people work?

When employers close down physical office spaces, they will have significant cost savings in rent, improvements, furniture, phone and internet systems. How will those savings be shifted to employees who are now providing the workspace? No matter what, understanding compensation data for a company’s industry, jobs, and locations is going to be important to compete for and retain people.

Another fascinating issue is how to think about culture when people are almost never physically together. Everyone assumes it matters, but we are still figuring out how much. We’re also working to understand how remote work affects culture and what the trade-offs are.

Then there’s productivity. Most people are more productive working remotely, probably because there are fewer interruptions and unscheduled meetings. But it may also be because people are working longer hours since they don’t have to commute.

Maybe we should define and measure productivity differently when the work environment changes. Maybe we should look at compensation differently as well to account for the benefits of freedom and flexibility when we’re not at a work site. Maybe we should have freedom and flexibility, no matter where we work.

We’re at an important inflection point in how we think about both work and pay. Join Mary and Kevin’s lively discussions exploring what’s changing, how to think about it, and how to Get Pay Right™.

To download the Get Pay Right™ podcast, visit the podcast homepage and choose your preferred streaming platform or listen directly on our site.