InnoGames, mobile developer and a part of Modern Times Group, has boasted that their salary transparency scheme has helped them to fill all 19 of their available vacancies within two months. The scheme, which involves making information about pay and salary-bands available to applicants before an offer is made, was announced back in July. Judging by the tone of InnoGames’ recent announcement and the speed with which they filled their vacancies the scheme has paid off big time for all involved.
Co-founder and COO of InnoGames, Michael Zillmer said of the initiative "We’re thrilled at the impact of our salary transparency initiative. Critics will say that it was because of the extensive media coverage and the attention it brought that we were able to fill our vacancies so quickly. That was certainly a factor, but it's not an exhaustive explanation. Too much has changed in our recruiting for that. We not only receive a lot of unsolicited positive feedback from applicants but have also noticed that the tone in our hiring conversations has changed for the better. Overall, we have gained considerably in trustworthiness. This will also have a positive effect in the long term.”
Transparency pays when you’re transparent about pay
Making salary-bands and pay transparent for applicants has been something numerous groups have pushed for in recent years. With claims this will help in a number of ways, from ensuring employee security to helping close the gender wage-gap by ending the guesswork about who is paid what. In the case of a highly competitive industry like mobile gaming, and gaming in general, for many employees knowing what they’re worth at a company is not the sort of guesswork they want to do. What InnoGames has done is ensure that the people applying are not only capable, but aware of all the benefits and risks they may be taking on.
The benefit for the company is obvious, as noted by Director of Human Resources at InnoGames, Andreas Lieb “Identifying and quantifying all the effects that have contributed to this great result is impossible. However, we can’t ignore the fact that, for example, the search for a Data Analyst has taken up to 15 months in the past - not 2. The bottom line is that our initiative has already led to almost all the positive effects we had hoped for, while the feared risks - above all a wave of headhunting attempts - have not materialised so far.”
Whilst in many places across the world it is fully legal for employees to discuss their salaries, standard practice has been that most are unaware of what people at all levels in an organisation are being paid. InnoGames is the first games company in Germany to voluntarily publish its salary bands for applicants to see.
InnoGames was also recently a part of the MTG Game Makers’ Day where the group showcased discussions and panels from various developers in their studio ecosystem.
