In recent years, pay transparency has become a headline topic across corporate America. New state laws now require companies to publish salary ranges in job postings, and organizations are publicly positioning transparency as a symbol of fairness and equity.
But according to Scott Trumpolt, Founder of Trumpolt Compensation Design Solutions (TCDS), the conversation is missing something essential: clarity.
In a recent interview featured on Medium, Trumpolt explored what he considers “the fallacy of pay transparency” — not the concept itself, but the belief that simply posting a salary range automatically produces fairness, trust, or engagement.
You can read that original feature here:
https://medium.com/@zmartconsultant/the-fallacy-of-pay-transparency-scott-trumpolt-redraws-the-lines-9e96a286067d
As a compensation consultant with more than three decades of experience, Trumpolt has seen firsthand how organizations misunderstand transparency and how employees often misinterpret the meaning of published ranges. What looks like openness can quickly become confusion if not supported by structure and communication.
This article expands on the themes from the Medium piece and offers deeper guidance for organizations looking to approach pay transparency with intention, strategy, and clarity.
The Transparency Illusion
Salary ranges in job postings are often celebrated as a step toward fairness. In theory, they reduce uncertainty and empower candidates to negotiate. But as Trumpolt points out, the reality is more complicated.
Consider a posted range of $72,000–$96,000. While it appears informative, it immediately raises questions:
- Why is the range so wide?
- What determines whether a candidate receives the lower or higher end?
- Which skills or experiences justify movement within the range?
- How does this range tie to future progression?
Without these answers, transparency becomes partial — numbers without narrative. Partial transparency can be more frustrating than no transparency at all.
As Trumpolt notes in the Medium article:
“Transparency only works when it includes context.”
This is why compensation consultants play an important role: translating policy into communication and turning raw numbers into meaningful expectations.
Why Pay Transparency Alone Isn’t Enough
Organizations often approach transparency as a compliance task: publish a range, meet the requirement, move on. But true fairness and clarity require more.
When transparency is implemented without structure, three common issues emerge:
1. Misaligned Expectations
Candidates often assume the top of the range is available to them, while hiring managers may be operating from a very different baseline.
2. Employee Distrust
Internal employees compare posted ranges to their existing pay — even when roles, experience, or performance differ.
3. Lack of Meaningful Conversations
Rather than opening doors, transparency can shut conversations down when managers lack the training or tools to explain compensation decisions.
Trumpolt identifies this as the core fallacy: the assumption that transparency itself creates equity. In reality, equity comes from consistency, communication, and clearly defined processes — all of which require intentional compensation strategy.
Introducing Career Architecture: The Structure Transparency Needs
In his Medium interview, Trumpolt highlights a framework he frequently develops for clients: Career Architecture.
While salary ranges explain where someone starts, Career Architecture explains where someone can go.
This approach shifts the talent conversation in powerful ways.
Candidates begin asking:
- “What does growth look like here?”
- “How does compensation evolve over time?”
- “What skills help me progress?”
Managers begin communicating:
- Defined role progressions
- Future skills and experiences needed for advancement
- Milestones that influence compensation
- How internal equity is maintained
- How the role fits within the overall business model and mission
Rather than a negotiation over a single number, the hiring process becomes a discussion about trajectory, contribution, and long-term fit.
This dynamic shift transforms potentially stressful or combative conversations into positive, meaningful interactions between employees and management — the key to sustained engagement.
Why Compensation Consulting Matters More Than Ever
Organizations often underestimate the complexity of implementing transparency. Skilled compensation consultants help bridge this gap by:
- designing market-based salary structures
- narrowing salary ranges for greater clarity
- establishing consistent placement guidelines
- building communication frameworks
- developing Career Architecture models
- training leaders to speak confidently about pay
- preparing organizations for transparency legislation
In short, compensation consulting turns transparency from a compliance risk into a strategic advantage.
Transparency as Culture — Not Compliance
One of the strongest themes in Trumpolt’s thought leadership is the idea that transparency should reflect culture, not just compliance.
A company earns employee trust when it can clearly demonstrate:
- how roles are structured
- how skills influence growth
- how compensation evolves with contribution
- how internal equity is evaluated and maintained
- how pay decisions are made and communicated
Delivering this clarity requires thoughtful systems and intentional communication. Transparency without structure creates confusion; transparency supported by structure creates trust.
As Trumpolt emphasizes:
“Transparency is not about posting numbers. It’s about explaining the system behind them.”
When Transparency Works, Engagement Grows
When organizations implement transparency correctly, the benefits ripple across the workforce:
1. Better Hiring Conversations
Candidates understand the long-term picture and view opportunities through the lens of growth, not just compensation.
2. Higher Engagement
Employees trust processes they understand — especially when they can see how their work connects to advancement.
3. Stronger Internal Equity
Clear expectations reduce resentment, confusion, and compensation-related conflict.
These outcomes aren’t achieved by a salary range alone — they are achieved by the structure surrounding it.
A Better Way Forward
Pay transparency is expanding rapidly. In many states, it’s already required, and many industries are adopting it voluntarily to strengthen trust and employer branding.
But as Scott Trumpolt argues, transparency should be more than a regulatory box to check. It should be a reflection of how a company defines fairness, values its people, and communicates expectations.
Companies that embrace meaningful transparency — supported by clear systems, Career Architecture, and intentional communication — benefit from:
- stronger culture
- deeper trust
- higher engagement
- improved retention
- clearer pathways for growth
- better alignment between employee performance and organizational goals
The future of compensation requires more than transparency.
It requires transparency with context — and transparency with purpose.
Read the original Medium feature here:
https://medium.com/@zmartconsultant/the-fallacy-of-pay-transparency-scott-trumpolt-redraws-the-lines-9e96a286067d