How to close the gender pay gap – expert analysis, support and action-planning

Early November currently marks the time in our calendars that women in the UK effectively start to work for free, such is the extent of gender inequality in the workplace.

The gender pay gap is the measure of the difference between men’s and women’s average earnings across an organisation or the labour market. In the UK, the gender pay gap still stands at over 9%. According to the World Economic Forum, 2017 marked the first year that the gender pay gap had widened since 2006.

We recognise that the gender pay gap is a complex issue – there are no magic bullets here. By drawing on over 25 years of experience in diversity and inclusion consultancy, we are best placed to address those structural and cultural barriers to gender equality that can affect even the best-intentioned of organisations. We’re specialists in addressing unconscious bias, and the impact it can have on the recruitment, retention and promotion of women. And we’re expert proponents of creating inclusive cultures at work, allowing our clients to maximise the talent and potential of their employees, whatever their gender.

Working with EW Group will support you in building a viable narrative around your gender pay gap reporting and analysis. We’ll work in partnership with you to define:

• Your organisational roadmap to close the gender pay gap

• Your senior-level commitment to gender equality and inclusive culture

• Your communications strategy around closing the gender pay gap

• Your plans to support sustained change in gender pay.

Through our partnership with people analytics software specialists Staffmetrix, we are also able to provide guidance and support for improving your gender pay gap reporting capacity, whether it’s how to track recruitment, attrition and other key metrics, or how to drill down into your data analysis based on specific protected characteristics.

Gender pay gap consultancy – detailed analysis with practical recommendations for next steps

We’ll delve deep into the gender pay gap data beyond the headlines and isolate the priority areas for development. Then we’ll provide you with a set of short-, medium- and long-term recommendations in those key business areas, including:

1. Recruiting and retaining women

• Recruitment and selection processes (and the impact of unconscious bias)
• Promotion and retention of women
• Employee pay and reward (including any bonus pay gap)
• Job role design
• Flexible working
• Pregnancy and maternity return (including shared parental leave and career breaks)

2. Building an inclusive culture

• Organisational structure (the gender pay gap at different staff grades)
• Barriers to progression for women
• Representation of women at board level

3. People and performance management

• Talent management
• Employee engagement
• Learning and development opportunities / high-potential programmes
• Staff networks and ERGs
• Role-models, mentoring for women, and workplace champions

Once your action plan is in place, we can support you in monitoring and communicating the success of your gender pay initiatives. This will help to build momentum and engagement internally.

What are the business benefits of closing the gender pay gap?

As well as the clear moral and legal imperatives for gender equality, addressing the gender pay gap will also yield a myriad of business benefits, including improvements to your:

• Employee engagement and retention (with lower staff turnover and costs)

• Productivity and stability in the face of widening skills gaps

• Ability to attract the best candidates in the race for talent

• Innovation of new products and services

• Reputation as a fair and transparent employer, and a brand of choice

• Representation and service levels for your customers and end-users.

Why addressing the gender pay gap matters – the business case in statistics

Closing gender gaps in work could add £150 billion to the UK GDP by 2025. That’s 6.8% higher than business as usual, or the rough equivalent of current annual GDP across the UK’s entire financial services sector, or current annual government expenditure on education, defence and transport.

Source: McKinsey, The power of parity: Advancing women’s equality in the UK, 2016

Under-utilisation of women’s skills costs the UK economy between 1.3% and 2% of GDP every year. Eliminating the full-time gender pay gap would contribute £41 billion of additional spending to the economy each year.

Source: UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES), 2015

85% of women who are millennials say an employer’s policy on workplace diversity and workforce inclusion is important when deciding whether or not to work there.

Source: PwC, The female millennial: a new era of talent, 2015

42% of women are confident that their gender will have no bearing on their career progression, compared to 72% of men.

Source: The 30% Club and KPMG, The Think Future Study, 2015

The proportion of female employees decreases with seniority in two-thirds (67%) of organisations.

Source: CIPD, Gender diversity in the boardroom: Reach for the top, 2015

Although representation of women in both Non-Executive and Executive appointments has improved in the FTSE 100, the number of Executives who are women remains low at 9.6%.

Source: Women on Boards (Davies Review), Improving the Gender Balance on British Boards, 2015

Gender pay gap reporting – what are other companies doing?

In 2018, the low-cost airline easyJet reported a 52% mean gender pay gap. In response they have committed publicly to a target that 20% of new-entrant pilots should be women by 2020.

Meanwhile, McKinsey and Co have reported a 23.8% mean gender pay gap, attributing this to a disproportionately high proportion of men working in senior roles. To address this, McKinsey have committed to having 40% women in consultant roles by 2020, including 30% partners and 15% senior partners.

Elsewhere, UK asset management firm Hermes has committed to employing a dedicated diversity and inclusion manager, following its publication of a 30% gender pay gap, rising to 60% for the bonus pay gap.