Corporate partners can be reticent when it comes to compensation. Those that strongly discourage talk of pay and profit outside of designated meetings do so by design. When businesses don’t have frank internal discussions about profits, they can get away with not paying top producers what they’re worth. How best to even the playing field?
You’ve likely heard that talking about compensation with coworkers is not only impolite, but often vehemently discouraged by employers. In reality, it isn’t a matter of politeness. The practice of banning pay talk is designed to prevent top producers from knowing how their income compares to others within their company and their industry. The lack of these conversations benefits the employer — and makes it even more challenging for employees to negotiate equitable pay.
To ensure you’re being paid fairly for your contributions, you should discuss compensation with your colleagues, peers, and — especially — an experienced mortgage industry talent agent who can provide an objective, data-based view. Pay close attention to who is making more or less than others. If there’s a pattern, bring that knowledge to the negotiation table.
It’s not uncommon to be unsure of what your total monetary contribution is to the company you work with, and with good reason. Corporate partners often obfuscate this data, making it harder for employees to argue that their contributions are undervalued. It’s difficult to prove you aren’t being paid fairly if you don’t have access to exactly how much you are earning the company.
A proactive approach is the best approach. Keep a careful log of the accounts you contribute to, as well as the nature and value of your contribution. When your corporate partner praises or emphasizes the success of any of the accounts, take note — literally and figuratively. If the information you need to negotiate compensation is not shared freely, the onus is on you to take charge of your compensation destiny.
Obscurity leads to a lack of trust between top producers and corporate partners, which is very difficult to overcome once it’s established. The only way a corporate partner can assuage suspicion is through consistent and ongoing transparency.
Radical transparency lifts the veil of mystery around profits, allowing top producers to know exactly what their contributions are worth. This approach benefits the employer as well as the employee: Producers know their pay is fair, and corporate partners spend less time in pay conversations and negotiations. If a corporate partner is excessively wary of transparency, it may be a sign they are purposely undercompensating producers.
The relationship between top producers and corporate partners can be fraught with secrecy and distrust — a negative environment benefiting no one. While open communication between peers and careful logging of contributions can address part of the issue, they don’t solve the core problem. Only radical transparency by corporate partners builds a true foundation of communication and trust with top producers.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional | 11 months | The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". |
viewed_cookie_policy | 11 months | The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data. |
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.