The results are out, the gender pay gap varies across industry sectors, but three quarters of the companies that participated in gender pay gap reporting pay men more than women. This is as a result of both society-led and organisation-driven reasons. But why should organisations with under 250 employees care?
Closing the Gap
To close the gap, companies need to understand the causes to be able to create reactive solutions. With UK employers struggling to find workers, improving staff recruitment and retention should be high up on the priority list. Understanding how attractive your job roles are to men and women in each section and level of your organisation will help to prevent you missing out on potential talent, by ensuring that recruitment is not exclusionary.
The gender pay gap calculations have provided a measure for businesses to work with and encourage organisations to really ask themselves why they may have a gap and identify what levers they can use to drive change. Areas to look at include adjusting recruitment policies, training, strategies for decision-making and communication. Paying attention to these factors could make all the difference.
Some are also predicting that the bar for legal reporting may drop to 100+ employees in future years. Therefore it is vital that all levels of SMEs take care to consider their own gender pay gap.
Positive Change
The process needn’t stop with gender. Closing the gap will require cultural change, and organisations should use this process to explore wider issues of their company culture around diversity, equality and social responsibility. There is little doubt that how your organisation is perceived internally and externally now, and in the future, will influence your recruitment, staff retention, branding and social responsibility. In addition, it has been evidenced that diversity increases engagement and performance for your business. What more of an incentive do you need?
We’re here to help and support you, no matter which stage you’re at. As independent professionals, the Fitzgerald HR team offer objective insight to support you with your next steps.
If you’d like to talk to our team, please contact us today.
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