Salary transparency is not about money

This comes up almost weekly in my work with leaders and hiring teams. On the surface it appears to be about money, but it's not.

From a people and culture point of view it might be about policy and employee relations.

From a marketing and brand point of view, it's about reputation and positioning.

But pay transparency isn’t really about publishing salary bands. It's much deeper and more important than that.

Pay transparency is a signal of trust.

Your recruitment process is the start of a relationship —  trust is a critical ingredient.

Pay transparency is about a commitment to fairness, clarity and consistency — the same principles that underpin a positive employee experience (which drives not only retention but attraction outcomes, too).

If you're on the fence about pay transparency, this might help:

Job ads with salary transparency attract 3-4X more applicants.

Of course quality is more important than quantity when you're hiring, but you need to attract the right people.

This comes up time and time again in my research with people about the experience of job searching

"Salary is such a strange hidden factor".

(If you want to read more job seeker insights and learn how to create an impactful recruitment campaign, send me a message and I'll send you a sample chapter of my book Attract: Recruitment Reimagined).

A few years ago, research found that 68 percent of employees would move to an employer with greater salary transparency, even if they didn’t receive a pay rise. That tells us something powerful. People value fairness and honesty, not just compensation.

In early 2025, ADP named pay transparency one of the top HR trends for not-for-profits. That’s not surprising.

In a sector built on integrity, community and public good, transparency is both a value and a differentiator.

Employees and candidates are the consumer of the modern workplace.

The importance of trust in modern workplaces can’t be overstated. Global research from the Edelman Trust Barometer found that while 79 percent of employees trust their co-workers, only 47 percent trust their CEOs.

The data gets even more compelling when you look at outcomes. Employees in high-trust environments are:

• 76 percent more engaged

• 88 percent more likely to recommend their workplace

• 70 percent more aligned with the organisation’s purpose.

Researchers have also linked trust to the neurochemical oxytocin, sometimes called the 'bonding hormone'. It’s what creates social connection, empathy and belonging – the same human factors that drive engagement, loyalty and advocacy.

In high-trust workplaces, employees are 50 percent less likely to look for another job — and 260 percent more motivated.

That's more than transparency, trust and a positive culture — that's good business.