Hacker News Reader

I actually love the radical transparency here, even after reading all the warnings in the HN comments.

What I like less is the salary formula. What's going to happen is that all of the negotiation is going to get packed into the experience and seniority multipliers. It creates the illusion of rigor and possibly does more harm than good.

View on HN

This is a really great point. We don't see as much negotiation as might be expected, however what you say is definitely true to an extent.

How do you think we could improve that aspect?

I'd just drop the formula altogether, I think. If at the end of the day, the numbers are just worked out so that you and the employee agrees the salary is about right ("I want $x, so I guess I'd better get a 1.3x experience multiplier"), then just make "work out the salary such that you and the employee agree it's about right" the policy. The transparency keeps these negotiations simple and fair; for example, pushier people won't get more raises than their shyer colleagues because everyone will notice and act accordingly (including you, who will find it easier not to give pushy people those raises when they're posted on the company website).

Reply on news.ycombinator.com