Let’s talk about our salary process!

Magda: The salary system in Boldare is different from the mechanisms used in other organizations. Where did the need to design something new come from?

Asia: Boldare is a unique company and its management method differs from traditional organizations. We work in a holacratic system, which means having no managerial roles at all. Instead, we operate in self-organizing teams which manage their own tasks and decide independently how they want to organize their work. The traditional role of a manager is simply unnecessary.

However, that doesn’t mean that the responsibilities that usually fall to a manager magically disappear. They are simply distributed among the different roles in a team, according to their competencies (in order not to overwhelm one, single person with the entire burden of the decision-making process).

In the majority of companies, the manager is the one deciding the salaries in a team. So, who’s responsible for that in a company with no managers? How do you make the salary process fair and transparent, and at the same time, consistent with the idea of self-organization?

Unfortunately, the market didn’t provide ready-made examples. We had to invent our own system.

Magda: Having no managers, who decides about my salary then? Who’s responsible for giving raises in Boldare?

Asia: Your salary proposal is based on your own assessment of your competence, and the assessment of your team. If necessary, your technical skills are also evaluated by an expert who specializes in a similar area to yours.

All these factors are analyzed according to a specific algorithm, and on this basis (knowing the previously adopted range) your salary is calculated. The whole process is conducted by a specially assigned Salary Team, which ensures its independence and objectivity.

Thus, your salary will not depend on the opinion of one person. It is influenced by many different factors, which makes the process more objective. This is what we cared about most when we built the system: that the rules of remuneration are transparent and fair for all Bolders.

Magda: What exactly is evaluated in this process? What does my salary depend on?

Asia: As you may have guessed, the specialization aspect (subject matter knowledge and skills) is evaluated, which is what the market typically looks at. However, it doesn’t stop there. We believe that restricting the process to these factors would be limiting, so we also evaluate other aspects, such as:

• versatility, i.e. the ability to work in a changing environment and to switch smoothly between different subjects;
• individual learning, the ability to learn on your own;
• performance, i.e. how effectively we deliver results and achieve our goals.

Each of these factors (including technical knowledge) can have a different weight, depending on which team you’re in and what its purpose is. At Boldare, we provide a very diverse portfolio of services and products. Each requires a slightly different set of competencies, so it doesn’t make sense to judge everyone by the same measure. \ \ The easiest way to explain this is to use the example of two developers with different approaches to programming. Let’s assume that they both have several years of professional experience. The first one likes variety and is willing to test new technologies. He’s not an expert in any of them, but it’s easy for him to learn new things. The second one prefers a stable environment and has been developing in one programming language for years, becoming an absolute expert. Is one of them better? Not necessarily. The first one is simply better at short-term services focused on testing (prototypes and MVP), while the second one feels more comfortable with long-term, complex solutions (product-market fit and scaling). The work of each of them can ultimately bring similar value to the company. Hence, they should have equal chances to be well compensated.

The idea is simple. Instead of striving for perfection in all criteria, you can focus on developing what you’re best at. You can work in a team that implements the type of products with which you perform the best.

Magda: My team plays a significant role in determining my compensation. As I understand it, I have a say in the compensation of my colleagues as well. Isn’t this a burden for Bolders?

Asia: Certainly, it is an additional responsibility falling on the team, that’s why we provide support from the Salary Team (and especially from the Salary Partner, who runs the process). Before beginning the salary process, the team goes through a dedicated workshop to introduce them to the details of the system. This is a good place to ask any questions or raise concerns.\ \ What is more, a team’s participation doesn’t mean directly granting specific salary amounts. Each member is given a special questionnaire with a specific scale and evaluation criteria to follow. We evaluate only those skills/behaviors that we are able to observe in our daily cooperation. If we don’t know how to assess a particular indicator, we can simply skip it.

Bottom line: there is certainly a cost to the team’s involvement in the salary process. But it’s a cost that Bolders are willing to bear, in exchange for more objective compensation criteria. In our internal, anonymous survey, 85% of respondents agreed that having their work evaluated by the entire team (not just the leader) positively impacts their motivation. 61% of respondents said they notice greater team engagement when working on projects, and 56% note that their own actions have a real impact on team outcomes.

Magda: What happens at the end of the salary process?

Asia: At the end of the salary process, each scrum team has plenty of space to share feedback and review the results together. The team shares lessons learned about working together, and each member can use these to set individual development goals that are consistent with their team’s strategy (designated to strive for even higher salaries in the future).

Moreover, everyone can make suggestions for improvements to the salary process itself. In this way, it gets better with each iteration.

Magda: One of the key principles that guided us in designing the salary process was transparency. What, in your opinion, is the essential information that Bolders should have in the context of the salary process?

Asia: Generally speaking, every employee should know what their salary options are (how much they can earn), what the rules are, what their salary depends on and when it can change, and who decides it. In my opinion, this should be standard in every organization.

Magda: Moving forward, how does the marketplace relate to our salary process? What role does it play in designing the system?

Asia: Certainly, when designing our compensation system, we take into account the market trends - we analyze them, primarily, while setting the salary ranges. However, the rules on which we move within these ranges (i.e. what exactly we reward Bolders for) are more dependent on our internal vision and strategy. The salary system is one of the tools that, when used wisely and consciously, can effectively support the culture and values of the organization - this is what we do.

I would also add that adequate remuneration is, above all, a basic element of an employee’s comfort and sense of security. We’ve always strived for our pay ranges to be in line with market standards. At the same time, we never wanted them to be the most important reason for choosing Boldare as an employer.

Magda: IT salaries continue to rise, and companies are constantly competing with each other in this field. Many organizations find it difficult to keep up with the rapid changes in the job market. How is Boldare doing in this area in your opinion?

Asia: I think that the rapidly changing job market is a challenge for the entire IT industry. In Boldare, we focus primarily on transparency - including in the area of finances. Not only are the rules of remuneration transparent, but also the results of the company (revenue, profit, margin, sales rates). So, if we raise salaries, we immediately inform the organization what it means to us financially.

It’s a cause-and-effect sequence: raising salaries across the company means increasing the price of our services. This, in turn, requires us to add more quality or complexity to the products we deliver. By presenting these results against the background of the entire organization, we are primarily building an understanding that each of us has a say in what salaries we will have at Boldare. It’s our common cause and shared responsibility, not an artificial invention of the salary process developer.

Transparency is always the best solution. It gives the employee a sense of security and a context for making the right decisions (they know just where they stand). The employer, on the other hand, gains an informed and active partner. This is the best way to build trust on both sides.

Magda: How often is the salary of employees verified in Boldare? Who prompts it, the employee or the Salary Guide?

Asia: Salary verification in Boldare happens periodically (a minimum of once a year). New people to the organization are additionally subject to salary verification after the end of their onboarding period (this happens 3 to 6 months into the role, depending on circumstances).

Regardless of the “salary calendar”, however, we should have the space to talk about a raise as often as we need to. If we feel that salary is becoming a factor of discomfort, we should have mechanisms and opportunities to respond.

Ideally, the employer should be the one creating such mechanisms so that the employee doesn’t have to seek a raise because the salary naturally follows the employee’s contribution and development. It is always better if it’s the employer who gets ahead of the employee in this respect.

Magda: Finally, a request for advice. Many people still associate talking about money with stress. How do you deal with that?

Asia: I think that each of us will perceive this situation differently. For some, salary is still a taboo subject, for others, not at all.

What usually makes us feel safe and calm is understanding the rules and context. Before starting a conversation about salary, it’s worth acquiring information on how the remuneration process works, what my salary depends on and how I can actively influence it. This should help calm any fears or concerns.

It is also worth keeping the topic of remuneration in perspective. It is a natural and basic element of our work - each of us works in order to earn money, after all - and it just one of the needs that can be fulfilled through our work. So, we should remember that this topic is just one element (albeit an important one, of course!) of the employment contract and it is a natural topic to discuss with our team and employer.

Does our approach to the salary process sound interesting to you? Check our career site and discover the new possibilities at Boldare!