Technology company Agens develops games, apps and digital services. Among the customers are Norsk Tipping and the BBC. The approximately 50 employees all have a small share in the company. All employees receive the same salary. Pay week happens in, to put it mildly, an unconventional way: Human bowling ball, ice bath and paper airplane – I just block it out myself. Per Thomas Søiland Haga is strapped into an inflatable bowling ball in Torshovparken in Oslo. Soon he will roll down a small hill and bring down as many bowling pins as possible. For every cone he gets down, he and all the others in the company go up two kroner in hourly wages. App developer Per Thomas Søiland Haga inside the human bowling ball. Photo: Agency – In a way, I am the one who decides the salary for everyone. It must be said: the managing director decides what is the lowest and highest possible pay week, based on the economy of the company. The rest is up to Per Thomas: Twice a year they have a “salary assessment”, where how he does it in a stunt determines how much they get paid: – Now we’ve been through ice bathing, stand-up shows, paper airplane throwing and ski jumping. – What has been the best salary-wise? – I think the best was actually the paper airplane, because it flew surprisingly far, says Per Thomas Søiland Haga. Per Thomas Søiland Haga at one of the other wage settlements, where the goal was to make a paper airplane fly as far as possible. Same salary as managing director Håvard Måseide is managing director and co-founded the company almost 20 years ago. At that time, there were six friends who started the company together and it was agreed that they should have the same salary. When they started to employ more people, they kept the model of equal pay. And they still have, despite the fact that they soon have 50 employees. – Why shouldn’t you have more pay, you who are the boss? – I think that the work I do is not any more important or necessarily any better than any of my colleagues who do completely different things. Håvard Måseide is managing director of Agens. Every time they land a new big deal, they ring the bell. They recently landed a big deal with the BBC. Photo: Knut Are Tornås Less stress around pay Erik von Essen Fisher is a developer in the company and works with the app for Norsk Tipping. For over 10 years he was a pilot and worked, among other things, in SAS for many years. The contrast to the job in the airline industry is great: – This is like the exact opposite of what I am used to there, where there was always one or the other with pay. Designer Hanne Martinsen, who has previously worked in the advertising industry among other things, experiences the same thing: Hanne Martinsen, designer at Agens. – In many ways, it was easy to come from something that was very hierarchical and caused a lot of unrest, to being able to relax around it. Then other things suddenly become more important. At 12 o’clock there is a joint lunch for everyone in Agens. Equal and good pay Like others in the technology industry, they treat their employees very well. Per Thomas Søiland Haga took down almost all the bowling pins and the employees could celebrate over 20,000 more in wages. And this was only the first of two annual reports. The employees do not have millions in salary, but earn around 300,000 more than the average salary in Norway. In addition, they each own a small part of the company. It also means that they can get a bonus if the company does well. Recently, they also landed a major agreement with the media giant BBC, which provides new opportunities in the future. Hopes to inspire others The boss thinks the model they have chosen is not suitable for everyone. But that other business leaders might get something to think about: – I think that if more people thought a little more like us, at least with regard to moderation and reason in management pay versus additional pay, then we could have been spared a number of strikes in recent years. Playful group: The employees can, among other things, play darts, chess and table tennis, if they need a little break. Norway’s largest employers’ association does not think the model will be a major competitor to the usual wage settlements. This is what director of working life at NHO, Nina Melsom, says: Nina Melsom, area director for working life and collective bargaining at NHO Photo: Moment Studio – The Norwegian model for wage formation has inspired Norwegian employees and employers very well. It is important to take care of differences in earning capacity and other local challenges. The governing factor for the company’s ability to pay must be the four criteria; the company’s finances, future prospects, productivity and competitiveness.
ttn-69
In the employee-owned company Agens, everyone has equal pay – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
