Fair Pay: How to Get a Raise, Close the Wage Gap, and Build Stronger Businesses

by David Buckmaster

Longlisted for the 2021 Porchlight Business Book Awards, Management & Workplace Culture An expert takes on the crisis of income inequality, addressing the problems with our current compensation model, demystifying pay practices, and providing practical information employees can use when negotiating their salaries and discussing how we can close the gender and racial pay gap.American workers are suffering economically and fewer are earning a living wage. The situation is only worsening. We do not have a common language to talk about pay, how it works at most companies, or a cohesive set of practical solutions for making pay more fair. Most blame the greed of America’s executive class, the ineptitude of government, or a general lack of personal motivation.  But the negative effects of income inequality are a problem that can be solved. We don’t have to choose between effective government policy and the free market, between the working class and the job creators, or between socialism and capitalism, David Buckmaster, the Director of Global Compensation for Nike, argues. We do not have to give up on fixing what people are paid. Ideas like Universal Basic Income will not be enough to avoid the severe cultural disruption coming our way. Buckmaster examines income inequality through the design and distribution of income itself. He explains why businesses are producing no meaningful wage growth, regardless of the unemployment rate and despite sitting on record piles of cash and the lowest tax rates[0] in a generation . He pulls back the curtain on how corporations make decisions about wages and provides practical solutions—as well as the corporate language—workers need to get the best results when talking about money with a boss.  The way pay works now will not overcome our most persistent pay challenges, including low and stagnant wages, unequal pay by race and gender, and executive pay levels untethered from the realities of the average worker. The compensation system is working as designed, but that system is broken.  Fair Pay opens the corporate black box of pay decisions to show why businesses pay what they pay and how to make them pay more. 

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Economics

320 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 29, 2021

About the author

David Buckmaster is an expert on pay. He has led corporate compensation teams at companies like Stability AI, Nike, and Starbucks, and worked with business leaders on pay projects all over the world.

Buckmaster was named to the global shortlist of the 2018 Financial Times and McKinsey & Company Bracken Bower Prize for emerging business writers. His first book, Fair Pay: How to Get a Raise, Close the Wage Gap, and Build Stronger Businesses, releases June 29, 2021 from Harper Business.

Originally from Tampa, Florida, Buckmaster now lives in Portland, Oregon with his wife, daughter, and labradoodle.

Reviews

[Tova Buckmaster · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book looks amazing!! I can’t wait to read it once it’s out! (Haha, I’m the author’s daughter 😂)

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I normally gravitate towards fiction, but this book was a wonderful departure from my norm. I appreciate the author's conversational tone and Dad-like sense of humor, as I think they go a long way towards helping the fiction lovers among us stay engaged while reading a non-fiction book.

Like most people, I often wonder what magical forces are at play behind my paycheck. I vacillate between feeling fairly compensated on my good days and grossly underpaid on my bad days. After finishing this book and doing some research via the methods recommended by the author, I was able to determine that I am fairly paid, but that the lack of transparency at my place of employment (how wages and ranges are determined, methods of leveling and job classifications, etc.) is a huge source of discontent. As the author states, "the process your company uses to set and increase people's pay has left you uninformed, behind, or at a disadvantage." As someone who is employed at a small, private company, I feel this in my bones, and I hope to begin some meaningful conversations with my coworkers on this topic and work towards changing our culture of secrecy.

This book is a great read for everyone, even those without a traditional W2 job. The author has some really impressive ideas on how to improve pay and fairness for all types of folks - artists, gig workers, people impacted by gender/race pay gaps, etc. I am merely a rank-and-file individual contributor at my place of employment, but we can all make a difference simply by starting these difficult conversations.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a good mix of academic research and practical experience about Fair Pay primarily from a corporate/firm perspective. A lot of the principles do not apply to state jobs or academic roles, but everyone deserves equitable compensation.

[Renée · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read on how companies create their pay scales, how to benchmark your pay against a companies' payscale, and pay equity.

[Michael MacRae · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slightly dull and largely opinion based read, but one that made a big difference in building our income system. The book does a tremendous job of covering the topic of pay inequity but lacks information on how to renumerate for top level performance. Questions like how fair is it to renumerate top level performance (one person doing the work of five others) with exponentially higher salaries?

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

a semi-apologetic case for higher wages by a human resources executive responsible for setting employee pay. the best part is when he describes how companies set compensation. the worst part is the unconvincing "we can change this from within the current system" argument