How employers can help tackle the gender pay gap
For every pound a man earns, a woman will on average earn just 90p. Even if progress is being made to tackle the current gender pay gap, it is not happening fast enough.
The labour market is currently tight and competitive, so companies that take action to close the gender pay gap will become more attractive as a workplace, particularly for women. Two-thirds of women take the gender pay gap into account when considering applying for a new job, and 58% of women would therefore be less likely to recommend their present employer if they had a pay gap. This showcases that companies must do more to tackle this current pay gap.
If you are an employer who is looking for ways to create an equal workplace, read below for vital strategies on what you can do.
Contents of this article:
-Committing to flexible working arrangements.
-Clear routes for progression.
-Produce a narrative report.
-Making promotions and pay rises transparent.
-Encouraging salary negotiations.
-Encourage men to take parental leave.
-What we can do.
Commit to flexible working arrangements
Allowing your employees to work flexibly to fit around their family arrangements is simple and is an important step to being able to help reduce the gap. It is uncommon for women to have reduced working hours to allow them to manage their family commitments, reducing their income.
By having flexible working where possible in your business you are allowing women to commit to full-time work without feeling like they are jeopardising family time.
Promoting flexible working across all roles and hierarchical levels is crucial. By doing so, we can dismantle the stereotype of women primarily as caregivers. This initiative can empower more men to embrace flexible work arrangements, creating a more equitable distribution of caregiving responsibilities with their partners. This can contribute to advancing women's career progression.
Clear routes for progression
Women are more likely to have part-time and low-paid roles compared to men, which is a massive contributor to the gender pay gap. The main problem that women will often face at work is barriers that stop them from being able to progress into senior positions, enabling them to earn higher salaries.
Progression routes are challenging for women, especially those of colour: 31% of women of colour have been unfairly passed over or denied a promotion at work. As an employer, if you foster the talent, experience and skills of women in your workplace, as well as offering clear and transparent routes to progression, you support them to reach their full potential.
Produce a narrative report
Businesses should consider creating a narrative report which will offer a detailed insight into the salaries of employees, with a breakdown of the roles, hours and promotion statistics for each gender. By preparing a report like this, you will be able to identify your shortcomings and provide a time-bound, target-driven plan which will assist in closing the pay gap.
By being proactive and acknowledging that the pay gap exists, you will demonstrate your commitment to equality in the workplace. You may find that the report will highlight economic and social factors for the gap, however, you will not know this for certain until you have attempted to identify the root of the gap.
Making promotions and pay raises transparent
As an employer, you must have a transparent process for pay raises, promotions and rewards. It is vital to ensure that all of your employees have equal opportunities to progress within the company. This can be completed by adhering to structured interviews for recruitment and promotions that will reduce unconscious gender bias.
Across the world, people are calling for a change to the law that allows women to request salary details of their mail comparators if they suspect discrimination in their pay. Whilst employees don’t have the right to know what someone else in the business earns, they have the right to understand how salary increase calculations are made. Employers must ensure they have clear criteria in place and keep accurate records of deciding factors when these decisions are made.
Encouraging salary negotiations
Studies have suggested that men and women typically approach salary negotiations differently, which has been quoted as a possible reason for the gender pay gap. It is reported that women are much less likely to negotiate their salary than men, leaving them with lower salaries. To fix this, employers should encourage employees to negotiate their salaries during reviews, whilst also advertising internal posts with a salary range. By doing so, you can empower all your employees to challenge the salary on offer and provide them with realistic expectations of the salary in a certain role.
Encourage men to take parental leave
Even though shared parental leave was introduced in 2015 in the UK, new fathers found that their employers were not supportive in terms of the time they take off to look after a newborn. By incentivising men in your organisation to take shared parental leave ensures that their partners can continue working. This goes a long way towards helping to close the Gender Pay Gap.
What we can do
At Heritage PS we aim to work closely with our clients and candidates, in a spirit of genuine collaboration, to fully understand their unique business and personal requirements. We believe that this approach enables us to provide exceptional service and solutions that meet and exceed their expectations. If you need help with discovering if there is a current salary imbalance within your organisation that needs to be addressed.
Our experienced recruiters can educate clients on their current gender pay gap, demonstrating the positive impact that closing the pay gap has on staff performance, retention and morale.