Q: How open should a company be with financial information? Should they even be open about salaries and if so, why?
A: Srijan Technologies, an New Delhi, India-based IT consulting company engaged in designing and building web applications and IT infrastructure systems using open source software. They practice open-book management, which means that they are open with financial information about the company to their employees. Salaries of all the staff at Srijan, including the CEO, are also recorded in spreadsheets and made accessible to everyone.
And as a company with complete salary transparency, Srijan is committed to an on-going dialogue with all its staff regarding individual salary levels, the process for determining salary levels, and the criteria for performance evaluations. Recently, as a result of feedback from various staff members conveying dissatisfaction with the process for determining salary levels, the company began exploring options and is dialoguing with its employees in order to develop a new strategy
“If freedom to express oneself fearlessly is built into the day-to-day work culture, it brings in greater accountability across the board, including of the top leadership, and pushes everyone to give their best – and a little bit more,” explains managing director Rahul Dewan. “The environment demands greater communication, and feedback for improvement.”
The CEO also shares the company’s financial information with the employees, and solicits their feedback for strategic planning. As a result, the staff feels a greater sense of fairness and of shared responsibility.
“Transparency in finances becomes a necessity in this culture, and with it the sharing of profits,” says Dewan. “This brings in a much deeper sense of co-ownership. All of this is working quite well for us, and it just makes our work environment more loving, tolerant, accommodating – and even spiritual.”
