Pay transparency: HR nuisance or brand amplifier? 

When you think about your company’s brand, what comes to mind? Your products, your logo, and your values, as a few top-of mind aspects.

You might also think: This is all determined by our Marketing team.

Think again. Human Resources can have a hand in amplifying your brand, too.

All of ways you build associations with your brand, like the touch-feel of your products, your store display, and your website – which are essentially a complex exercise in managing expectations about your brand – point back to your people.

That may include your user interface designer who creates a frictionless online shopping experience. Or your retail associate acting as a tastemaker to your customers.

As you continue to find ways to amplify your brand, leveraging your people as brand ambassadors with HR in the driver’s seat, an emerging trend can support your efforts: that is, pay transparency.  

With so many U.S. states introducing pay transparency legislation, it might feel like just one more regulation you have to follow – whether you like it or not.

Compliance with legislation is a must, but that’s not the only reason to embrace pay transparency. Look at it as an opportunity to take control of your compensation story – and build a stronger employee value proposition and brand in the process.

Before New York City introduced its game-changing pay transparency law in 2022, there was Glassdoor. Among other company-specific information available on the platform, people can anonymously report their salary by job title. This information exists without context – like tenure, performance ratings, and other factors that would inform their pay – and the amount of data, along with Glassdoor’s convenient averages for salary and other forms of compensation, confers the experience of it being true, especially in the absence of the employer confirming their compensation approach. For many years, Glassdoor has been the one owning the narrative around pay, instead of companies themselves.

Now’s your chance to provide accurate pay information, which is essential in today’s labor market. Gen Z composes about 27% of the U.S. workforce – and, as many studies have pointed out, transparency around pay are table stakes for them. They’re also more likely to share pay information internally. And, according to Mercer’s research, nearly half of all candidates – of any generation – won’t apply for a job that doesn’t include a pay range.

Mercer has also found that when employees understand pay, they’re eight times more likely to feel they’ve been paid fairly. And we know that when employees feel they’ve been given a fair shake, they’re more likely to thrive, operating on all cylinders of engagement, loyalty, and productivity.

According to Mercer’s latest Global Talent Trends report, HR leaders around the world at consumer goods and retail companies agree: one of their top priorities for 2025 is enhancing the employee experience and amplifying their employee value proposition. No doubt, pay is a part of that – but it’s not the only part that matters.

Your employee value proposition – the distinguishing secret sauce or special thread about your company that keeps employees coming back for more – can be defined to include:

• Your transactional rewards, such as pay and benefits, that help employees thrive
• Your employee experiences, including around flexibility and career, that help them feel whole
• Your brand purpose that helps them align practice to your values

So, you can see how pay transparency can serve as the platform to tell your unique story – while also building a workforce of loyal, engaged brand ambassadors.

When you think about how pay works, you may think: It’s different for different roles. Some employees may be paid an hourly wage with overtime opportunity, while others earn a base salary and maybe even a bonus. Throw in benefits eligibility, and the total “deal” you offer your employees can be as unique to them as you are to your customers.

Knowing your employee segments – what each part of your workforce wants and needs, not just in work, but in life – can help you see the beautiful picture of your employee value proposition through their eyes. And then reflect it back to your employees when you communicate with them – so your employee value proposition feels less like a lofty promise, and more like a mirror.

Consider these segments, which we find common with our retail and consumer goods partners:

Store employees

Based on our experience, we find this workforce segment may be younger, paid on an hourly basis, and juggling a lot of “life stuff” like their first apartment or first budget. If they’re part-time, they may also not be eligible for your core health care benefits – yet they too need health care.

When you view your employee value proposition through their eyes, you can reflect back what may matter to them, like how to help them make their paycheck go further – like subsidized fitness classes – or social well-being opportunities like onsite book clubs.

If there ever were a more prominent brand ambassador for your company, they are it. Constantly training and replacing these employees costs money and time. Help them see the value of not only sticking around but thriving as the face of your brand.

Distribution center and manufacturing employees

In Mercer’s experience, these employees may be older, more likely to be male, and have limited access to a computer.

How can you help them? Clear, easy-to-scan information about benefits like your 401(k), including the IRS catch-up contribution, and one-on-one financial advice. And don’t forget to send information about your benefits to home for their spouse to weigh in on the benefits that are right for them.

Corporate employees

Your corporate employees range from your Marketing team through HR, Legal, and beyond. They may be benefits-eligible and typically work at a desk.

Although they may not be on the front lines of your brand experience, you also need to engage them, to cultivate loyalty and trust, with pay transparency as your opportunity for doing so.

Meet them where they are – whether it’s by email or a sophisticated total rewards portal – to communicate about career opportunity, how pay and pay opportunity works, and the way you enable flexibility on the job. Help them use the comprehensive benefits you have in a way that supports them and their families, ranging from various types of leave through telehealth and beyond.

Don’t forget about managers

All of your workforce segment employees have one thing in common: They have a manager.

According to Mercer’s latest Global Talent Trends study, retail and consumer goods companies reported supporting managers as their top priority for 2025. It’s no wonder when your managers may be the strongest communicator to amplifying your employee value proposition.

Ensure managers have what they need to feel competent and confident in discussing pay and other facets of your employee value proposition with their direct reports.

When an employee sees a pay range, their first two questions may be:

1. Why am I paid what I am?
2. How can I earn more?

Anticipating employee questions and translating those scenarios into tangible talking points and guidance for managers can help you help them further amplify the value you deliver.

With widespread pay transparency legislation, odds are pretty good you’ll have to say something about pay. Why not do it on your terms and see it as an opportunity to accelerate your brand promise – among your employees, prospective hires, and even your customers.