A salary model without negotiation: how we built it with Viisi
Viisi is a Dutch mortgage advisory firm with a clear mission: let's change finance. They organize with Holacracy, put people first, and are known for doing HR differently.
Working without managers raises questions that traditional pay systems can't answer. How do you set salaries when people don't have fixed job descriptions, but a mix of roles that is different for everyone? And who judges performance when there is no manager to do it?
Where it started
Viisi already had a clear philosophy. Believing in your colleagues' talent and giving each other feedback matters more than judging each other. Without an annual review cycle, the bonus attached to it no longer made sense.
Two moments made the direction clear. When Viisi's Compensation Architect asked colleagues about the bonus, a large majority wanted to get rid of it. Next came a series of speed dates with every colleague. Each one showed all salaries and asked a simple question: which ones do you think are too low, and which are too high?
After that, there was no going back to a closed system.
What Viisi asked us
Develop a new compensation model together. No performance reviews, but real room to grow. And fully designed around the way Viisi works.
Viisi didn't want a standard model from an external consultant. They wanted a model that was theirs. That shaped our role: we designed and facilitated the process, brought the analysis and market data, and challenged the design choices along the way. The model itself was built with Viisi's people.
How we built it
Over six months, we developed the model through a series of work sessions and analysis steps, in three phases.
Phase 1: Principles
Before touching any numbers, we agreed on what the model had to achieve. Work from intrinsic motivation. Keep salary in the background. Don't address performance through pay differences. Reward expertise. Attract and keep top talent. Put the team above individual reward. Scale with fast growth. Be fully transparent.
Phase 2: Testing
We tested different scenarios, grounded the model in market data, and narrowed it down to one proposal.
Phase 3: Deciding
A salary model only works if people trust it, so the decision was made openly. In one large decision-making session with all advisors, the model was adopted.
We started with the advisors. After that first success, we repeated the process for the other groups within Viisi. A year later, the whole organization had a new compensation model.
How the model works
The model is simple on purpose.
Six salary curves. One per field, such as Mortgage Advice, People & Coaching, and Admin. Your curve is the field where you do at least 80% of your work.
Linear growth. Everyone gets a fixed annual raise, so you know exactly what you will earn in the years ahead.
Top of the market. Viisi aims for the top 25% of each field. Salaries are corrected for inflation every year, and each field is benchmarked regularly.
No personal bonuses. Everything revolves around teamwork. Instead of performance bonuses, everyone receives a fixed 13th month.
No negotiation. Your salary is based on your relevant work experience. Nothing more, nothing less.
Room to move. If you spend most of your roles in another field for a longer period, your relevant experience on the new curve sets your new starting point. Salaries never go down. At most, they are frozen until you're back on the curve.
The Viisi Benefit Shop. Holiday pay and the 13th month go into a benefit shop. Everyone decides what to do with it: buy extra days off, save it up, or have it paid out monthly.
Loyalty counts. At 3, 6, 9 and 12 years of service there is an extra salary step. Depending on their role, people also build up Virtual Shares in Viisi, so everyone benefits if part of the company is ever sold.
Keeping it calibrated
A salary model is never finished. Markets move, roles change, and a growing company needs a model that grows with it.
That is why we stay involved and periodically recalibrate the model. When new data points come in, we update the evidence behind the curves so they stay calibrated. And when practice brings up lessons nobody could have predicted up front, we support Viisi with small adjustments to the method.
The model keeps evolving step by step, driven by the tensions Viisi's people bring in. That is how it stays relevant.
What it brings
Equal pay by design. Without negotiation, the gap between people who ask and people who don't disappears. Everyone in the same field gets the same annual raise.
Teams that work as teams. Because pay isn't tied to roles, teams can redistribute work without anyone worrying about their salary. No competition between colleagues, and a safer environment to give and receive feedback.
Growth without becoming a manager. In many organizations, the only way to earn more is to start managing people. At Viisi, you grow by developing your expertise. Teams decide themselves who takes on a coordinating role, and for how long.
The model has become one of the pillars behind Viisi's growth, and has received wide attention in newspapers, magazines and at events.
See the model for yourself
Viisi is fully transparent about its salary model. On their website you'll find the principles behind it, how it works in practice, the Viisi Benefit Shop, and the benefits it has brought them.
Thinking about how pay works in your own organization?
Schedule a call with Koen.