What happens if businesses become football?

Reading Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer's "No rules rules: Netflix and the culture of reinvention" shows that impossibility is nothing. By the way, that is my most outlandish management book in 2020.I have never seen a sharp departure from the norm as the book portrayed.

Prior to reading the book, it never occurred to me, that a time will come that employees will not be allotted vacation days and managers will be allowed to lead with context, not control, in a place where there is no travel, expense or vacation policies! You just act with freedom and responsibility!

Mesut Ozil ranks sixth in highest earners in the English Premiership with a reported salary of ￡350,000 per week. He became the 2nd highest paid player for Arsenal because of a new contract signed by Aubameyang just last September. Ozil hasn't kicked a ball since March, 2020 and has been left out of the team but salary alerts keep coming. This is an issue for debate because players' salaries are in the public. So everyone is asking, why paying a player who doesn’t play for you? His is a discussion for another day.

It is my personal belief that it is a civil service ideology that people on the same grade should earn the same amount irrespective of their contribution. Why? because they are both brand managers! It is known in most multinational organizations that senior managers in the sales department tend to enjoy certain perks like the use of official cars. This motivates people in other departments to join sales, sometimes solely because of the perks. This serves as a motivation because other people in the organization are aware of it.

While it is understandable that there would be enormous pressure on performers to justify their high earnings which is expectedly and deservedly so, as it happens every week in football where they always put your performance side by side with your earnings. It is also expected that this will spur underperformers to give their best, knowing that they can earn more because they are aware of the possibilities that exist for them if they up their game. If this is exactly what happens in football, why are businesses exception to this?

Renowned CEO, Jack Welch has said “In business, there probably would be pandemonium if companies started publishing everyone’s salary”. Maybe, maybe not. Why is it that request is made of what people earn from previous or current workplaces before new wages are determined for them? How ethical is this and why should previous wages affect wage proposition in a new workplace?

Someone once got an offer that would be almost 400% of his current wages. He was told they would only pay him a 200% increment as 400% would not be justifiable. The new offer is in a new organization. Accepted that policies might not allow some level of increment in the same organization. How does this affect an offer from a new workplace?

I have seen where people who perform similar roles earn disproportionately different salaries that does not even reflect their contribution to the organization that if both should become aware, equity theory sets in. I have seen subordinates who earn more than their managers before and I wonder in all this, why the secrecy of compensation? To what end? if the compensation of CEOs are in the open, why can't that of other staff in the organization too be? At least to fellow workers?

So, Lionel Messi earns more than his manager, does it undermine the power of the manager? Is the Manager not aware? In situations where one person’s salary could pay that of ten other players combined, does this affect their performance on the pitch despite their knowledge of this?

Has this system not brought equity and fairness to players, knowing what colleagues earn and agreeing that such earnings reflect their importance to the team?

To the Management experts, managers, HR practitioners and compensation and benefit managers in particular, why can’t the compensation structure in businesses mirror the transparent structure in football?