I wanted Fog Creek to have a salary scale that was as objective as possible. A manager would have absolutely no leeway when it came to setting a salary.

But as he describes the system more, it doesn’t sound so radical.  Basically, Fog Creek determines a level for everyone based on Experience, Scope, and Skill.  Experience being how many years an employee is bringing to the table, scope being how much management they need or how many folks they’re managing, and skill being what they’re actually able to do.  Basically, every employee is assigned a pay level based on an average of Scope and Skill.  That average is  then compared to a sliding scale based on years of experience.  There’s an infographic in the article here.

Splosky is pretty convincing at heading off arguments about salary inversion — that’s when the market determines that rookies are worth more than current employees when labor markets are tight and demand for workers with certain skills are in high demand.  He basically says that employers should bite the bullet and give everyone a raise or determine other workplace incentives to keep employees.

There are a couple of possible issues here, the first being that Splosky’s payscale system seems geared toward the software industry.  While Skill, Scope, and Experience may seem like universal measures, they may be more difficult to apply to an accounting team or marketing department.  Second, it seems that even this simple scoring system could get complicated very quickly and many of the measures are subjective, essentially eliminating any fairness and transparency that was originally intended.

Still, this system is admirable in that it exists.   Many companies give raises (or don’t give them) based on whether or not they want an employee to stay and as a motivational tool.  Since most managers don’t have a system for giving raises, it becomes a shoot-from-the-hip, gut reaction game.  That’s just not good business.  Splosky found a system that works for his company.  Creating one for your company is also important, but it’s important to:

1.)  Keep It Simple:  Creating extra work and bureaucracy isn’t going to help anyone.  Even a simple three part rating system at Fog Creek can get complicated.

2.)  Realize It’s Not a Cure All:  Employees are motivated by all kinds of things and, for the most part, crave fairness.  A system like this will promote fairness, but will not be completely fair in and of itself.

3.)  Don’t Fear Transparency:  Splosky’s most radical suggestion is complete transparency in pay.  Employees may share information any way so why pretend that salaries are secret?  Don’t let someone’s ‘level’ become code for salary and another numer to hide.

4.)  Tailor a System:  Creating a system that’s right for your market and company culture is important.  Some work environments are driven by efficiency, others by service, and others by sales.  It’s important to determine what drives your company and create a system that rewards the right combination of people and skills.

Read Splosky’s full article at Inc.com here.

Many professionals have created blogs as a way to stay active and involved in their professions when between jobs, to keep their skills sharp and as a tool for self-promotion. But even the best intentions can go awry if the professional blogger doesn’t adhere to some hard and fast rules to blog by:

1. Keep your posts professional – There is room on the web for dating blogs and movie review blogs, but they don’t belong on your professional blog. Too many bloggers blur the line between personal and professional and end up with a blog that has no distinct identity. They intersperse posts about their weekend exploits with friends with professional observations concerning project management dynamics on complex software development projects. Big mistake. The readers of your professional blog are looking for insights and expertise dealing with their specific professional concerns. They’re not interested in your social life, your sporting achievements, your kids or your vacations. And make sure you maintain professional and appropriate language throughout your posts. There’s no need for profanity or vulgarity to make your points.
2. Stay on topic – Pick your topic, then write about it. Repeatedly. If you’re a professional recruiter, there are plenty of topics for you to explore without having to resort to throwing in a post about sports marketing. I understand that you may be a Renaissance Man (or Woman), but your professional blog is not the place to display your mastery of all topics, just the one that matters most to you and your professional audience.
3. Post regularly – There’s nothing more frustrating to your readers than discovering your blog and becoming interested in your perspective and ideas only to discover that you haven’t added a new post in over a month. If you’re committed to your blog, you’ve got to maintain a regular posting schedule. We understand that not every post can be an epic – and we really don’t have time to read epics every day – but we do require that you post something. Seth Godin has made a fortune and extends his international reputation daily with blog posts that are sometimes as short as a single sentence. Regular posts are essential.
4. Keep your content current – You should expect that your readers are current with the latest news and trends in their industry, so your content must be current also. If you’re writing about social media and write a post that references a study done in 2007, you appear dated and out of touch. To maintain the impression of authority you must stay on top of your industry’s news and keep your posts current and useful.
5. Engage with your readers – There’s a reason that a blog is considered social media. It provides you with an avenue to actually engage with like-minded readers around the world. Make sure that you enable comments and actually respond to every comment submitted. You’ll build actual relationships with brilliant and talented professionals who can provide expert insight, intelligent and thoughtful ideas, and useful contacts that can help build your professional network and advance your career.

This is a quick, funny presentation and one that’s very motivational.   But it also seems to be from the heart.  Looking at our careers, a straight path is rarely evident.  St. John is advocating 8 ideals that anyone, at any level can follow to make the most out of their lives.

From TED.com:

[Richard St. John] thinks of himself as an average guy, not talented at school, not terribly handsome or particularly lucky. So he spent more than a decade interviewing 500 people he defines as successful — from architect Frank Gehry to non-celebrities successful in their own lives.

The resulting book, Spike’s Guide to Success: Stupid, Ugly, Unlucky and RICH, has spawned a new avenue of success for St. John as a motivational speaker and talk-show star. His newest book is 8 to Be Great: The 8 Traits that Lead to Great Success.

Advice to managers:  Encourage this and don’t be threatened.

Advice to employees: Frame your arguments in terms of ‘the good of the company’ or you’ll be seen as self-serving.

Listen to it here: Link

Her talk on Recession-Proofing Your Career covers recession-proofing mistakes, looking at your hard skills and soft skills, managing up, and the art of self-promotion.  While Klaus is focusing on the recession here in the title, this is all good advice in any economy.  She also talks about the politics of most offices and how to operate within them.

This is just a clip but you can view the entire video here thanks to fora.tv.