What If Your Employees Set Their Own Pay?

Dr. Niklas Richter · 2026-07-16

Imagine a company with no managers, no hierarchy, and no internal emails. That's exactly what Jan Van Lishout built when he founded Qteal, a software consultancy based in Herentals, nine years ago. After a 30-year career climbing the corporate ladder at IBM, Progress Software, and a former Philips division, he reached the level of managing director. Then he decided to throw it all away and start something radically different. ### The Self-Managing Revolution Qteal operates without investors, managers, or even business cards. They haven't sent a single internal email in nine years. In this episode, Jan explains how self-management works in practice, not just in theory. Decisions get made without anyone having the final say. Salaries are completely transparent, from the newest hire to the founder. Employees decide their own pay and choose their own vacation days. But that freedom came with an unexpected challenge. In the beginning, no one dared to ask for a raise. The system was so new that people didn't trust it yet. ### Transparency and Peer Pressure Jan talks about the pitfalls of consensus and the peer pressure that comes with salary transparency. Qteal welcomes labor inspections with an open login system instead of closed books. They introduced a mobility budget seven years before it became law. The company's philosophy: "People don't need to be fixed. Systems do." ### The Future: Internal Crowdfunding Jan is building a model for the future that includes an internal crowdfunding system. Employees decide where the company invests using virtual Monopoly money they earn based on company profits. It's a bold experiment in democratic decision-making that puts power directly in the hands of the team. ### Key Takeaways for Entrepreneurs - Self-management requires trust and a culture shift, not just a structural change. - Transparency can be uncomfortable at first, but it builds long-term accountability. - Systems should be designed to empower people, not control them. - Internal crowdfunding aligns employee interests with company success. This episode is for every entrepreneur who has ever wondered if things could be done differently. Jan's story proves that radical ideas can work in the real world, even if they feel scary at first. For more episodes, visit the podcast website. Subscribe and leave a 5-star review if you find these conversations valuable. Special thanks to our partners: Teamleader and Victus Sales. Download their free sales guide at victussales.be/ondernemer.