ST. LOUIS—Calling it the company’s most significant investment in employee compensation in years, Northbridge Systems announced Monday that annual raises would be replaced by an interactive dashboard showing staff exactly how much more they could have been making.
The platform, MyWorth, displays each employee’s current salary as a flat gray line beneath a steadily climbing green line labeled “Your Potential.”
“Previously, employees had no visibility into the raises we weren’t giving them,” said CEO Martin Wells. “Now they can see exactly how much we value them, right down to the money.”
Employees can hover over any point on the green line to learn what their salary would have been if their performance, experience, and additional responsibilities had resulted in a pay increase. A separate tab adjusts the figures for inflation, although HR recommends opening that one only when someone else is nearby.
Customer support specialist Rachel Bennett said the dashboard revealed she could be earning $14,600 more annually.
“I clicked on the gap because I thought there might be an explanation,” Bennett said. “It let me change the color.”
According to HR director Susan Keller, MyWorth addresses years of employee feedback requesting clearer communication about compensation.
“We heard people saying, ‘Where’s my raise?’” Keller explained. “It’s right there. You can zoom in.”
The platform also includes a planning tool that translates hypothetical earnings into tangible milestones, including a kitchen renovation, a paid-off credit card, or a dental procedure. Selecting a milestone adds it to a personal vision board that managers can view during performance reviews.
“We’ve already had some wonderful conversations,” Keller said. “One employee showed me the vacation she could have taken. I recommended September.”
To encourage participation, employees earn badges for checking their salary regularly. Thirty consecutive logins unlock “Invested in Your Future,” while anyone who shares their dashboard on LinkedIn receives a small animated wallet that opens and closes.
The company reported a 96% engagement rate during the first week, a figure that includes employees repeatedly refreshing the page to determine whether it was a payroll error.
Wells declined to disclose the platform’s development cost but confirmed it came from a separate budget that could not have been used for salaries once it had been named something else.
Following employee requests for a way to download their projected earnings, Northbridge added a printable statement suitable for framing.
Bennett said she had already placed hers beside her monitor.
“It says I’m on track to retire at 61,” she said. “I’m 64.”
At press time, Wells had received a $180,000 bonus for successfully closing the company’s compensation communication gap.
