5 ways to manage your reaction to the gender pay gap in your company

given the amount of media coverage and the reactions of some organisations it would be hard not to be aware of the government's requirement that every company that employs more than 250 people must report on the relative pay of their male and female workers by April. The government’s requirement for gender pay gap reporting for the first time makes transparent what many women have known intuitively, men are paid more than them. The data shows pay differences between male and female staff, and the proportion of women in the best- and the worst-paid roles. With a few weeks to go less than 1,300 of the 9,000 or so companies that need to file have done so.  The cynics amongst us might think this last-minute reporting is an attempt to have their data "lost" in the rush.

With the UK lagging at 20th place in the World Economic Forum's gender equality rankings, the gender pay gap is narrowing very slowly and our place in the ranking is going down as other countries make better progress on the issue. The year we get parity in male and female pay is predicted to be 2069. Way too late for most of us to benefit or even our daughters for most of their career.

Women's reaction to company data

How will women in the companies with the biggest pay gap respond? One area we are hearing little from companies on is how they expect their female employees to react and what they are going to do about women's concerns.

It's likely that women will be curious to know what the numbers are for their company and whist they may have a sense that there is a difference seeing the numbers in black and white can create a strong reaction. Take for example a senior female employee from Barclays, reported in The Guardian who found that women’s median hourly rate is 43.5% lower than male colleagues and that women’s bonuses are 73.3% lower. At Barclays, 81% of the best-paid employees are men; 63% of the worst paid are women.

The Guardian says it was an "unpleasant sensation" for the woman when she saw in black and white something that she had long suspected. She is quoted as saying “Sadly, I wasn’t shocked… The figures made me feel that this organisation isn’t the right place for me, that it won’t let me achieve my potential.”

Your reaction to the data

Assuming you check the government web site for the data for your company how might you automatically react? We know that when "unpleasant sensations" happen the brain registers a threat and in that mode the inclination is to fight, flight or freeze. What this might look like in viewing the pay gap data is:

Fight: having a robust conversation with your boss and demanding to know where your pay is verse male colleagues. This may or may not make you feel better but it's unlikely to get you much information other than bland reassurances. You could of course ask your colleagues but norms in most companies suggest talking about pay and bonus is not "done" and this could alienate your peers. Fight may also come in the form of anger and a withdrawal of trust and this should be more worrying for your employer. However, it won't do much for you either and is likely to make you feel unhappy and can have long term health consequences. You may of course decide to fight more formally, joining with others to demand change.

Flight is the reaction from the lady at Barclays. "Let me go elsewhere" this is an automatic reaction and may not be something you act on and rationally where do you go? So far, the number of companies who have reported anything close to a minimal pay gap is minuscule and there is no guarantee that a new employer would be any better than your current one. More worrying for you and your employer is a mental flight. By this I mean you stay in your job but withdraw your engagement and discretionary effort.

Freeze is the "ignore it and it will go away" reaction. Maybe you don’t even check what the data is for your company. Maybe you fall back on your intuitive sense of where you stand and avoid conversations with peers about the topic.

Whichever of these reactions you have its helpful to prepare yourself and to notice what your expectations are. When our expectations are not met we tend to have a stronger reaction. It's easier to manage your reaction when you have thought about it rationally ahead of seeing the actual data.

If as a result you no longer trust your employer, it is probably right to leave. Remaining and supressing anger and resentment is bad for your health and going to do nothing for your career. Research in neuroscience shows suppression actually increases the threat response in the brain when similar issues occur, and the suppression has a detrimental impact on stress levels and health. It also takes quite a lot of brain power, leaving you less for managing your personal and job demands. Having a positive strategy and a plan to take action can help you feel more in control.

What's the point?

Part of the point of the reporting exercise is to trigger a debate about how men and women are paid; there are no sanctions for organisations for having a big gap – the idea is that companies will be forced to examine their record and improve. Presumably because of social or employee pressure. A surprising number of organisations, however, seem puzzled about why the figures arouse any interest at all. Big companies with slick PR support have invested in creating videos designed to reassure female staff that they are not being discriminated against. The main points seem to be: there are simply more men in senior roles (as if that is the most natural thing in the world and requires no further explanation); and the company is not doing anything illegal. The videos offer calm explanations of the difference between unequal pay (which is illegal) and the pay gap, which simply reflects how women are working in different ways in different parts of the organisation and are paid differently (that is less) as a result. A few companies have linked the pay gap issue to their talent management approach and admit to needing to gt more women into senior, high paying roles. This opens up the option of having a career discussion with your manager to understand not only the company policy but also how you and your career prospects are viewed. Do in with some questions and a clear idea of how you would like your career to progress. You might way to read our article and take our career audit first.

Getting men to support change

What you choose to do about the gender pay gap in your organisation will depend on multiple factors: your confidence, the support you can access from colleagues, the risk to your career (there are penalties for women who advocate for gender parity in most organisations) networks, mentors and sponsors. Mostly it will come down to the culture of your organisation and your industry. And that culture is largely created by men.  

High-profile male leaders are increasingly vocal in their support for gender diversity and inclusion.

A report by Diversity Council Australia has found that getting men involved in gender diversity initiatives is critically important because "they are often perceived positively, while the reverse is true for female champions of gender equality."

What gets men engaged

In general men don’t think it’s their problem, they fear judgement by their peers if they speak up, and many claim they don’t know what to say or do.

However, the Diversity Council report found there is a major upside: men themselves will personally benefit from progress towards gender equality, in their family relationships as well as in their workplaces and communities. They recommend framing gender equality as a business issue rather than a women's issue, while at the same time appealing to men's sense of social justice and fair play.

A report by the international equality action group Catalyst has also found that men who were committed to the idea of fairness were personally concerned about issues of equality, were more aware of gender bias in the workplace and more likely to take action.

What you can do to get men on board

We believe it's important that women don't just accept the status quo. If you take whatever action you can to advocate for others, you help to crank up the engine of change. Just as you are benefitting from the efforts of previous generations of women, so you can help to change the landscape for the women – and men who come after you.

Work to win round the hearts and minds of the men you are able to influence at work – your colleagues and team-members – because it's the right thing to do. As an added bonus you may also find that good practice travels upwards, and your efforts may influence the men who are in a position to decide on your own advancement and pay. And it's clear from this social experiment that the next generation in the work place are not going to be complacent about the pay gap. This in the end might be what gets organisations to take faster action and reduce that parity date from 2069 to something more realistic.

What to do within your team

None of these actions are particularly arduous: they don't cost any money or require any intervention from HR, but you will be impressed by how effective they can be:

1.    Men, like women, are profoundly influenced by the experiences of the people they care about. Create opportunities for conversations not just about the facts of inequality but the emotional impact of personal experiences: injustice experienced by a wife or a daughter makes theory a reality.

2.    At a team-building event, use stories to trigger change ("I need to change" / "I need to make sure this isn’t me"). Collect stories written by people who have experienced unequal pay for similar work, for example, but instead of just distributing them get team-members to read them out loud. This means people are mentally in the story tellers shoes and feel the emotion not just the facts.

3.    Use the example of the life cycle of a woman within your organisation to bust myths and illustrate the data about progress, pay and promotion.

4.    To build inclusiveness and ensure that women's contributions are equally valued, have team members map their connections: who they consult with or ask advice from. The amalgamated map will clearly represent the in-groups which may be encouraging group-think and be limiting opportunities.

5.    Make a point of sending occasional emails of congratulations to encourage a culture of praise and recognition: particularly recognition of the kind of continuing effort which can go unnoticed. Of course, you'll include congratulations for men, but make sure that women are generously featured.

Small actions, as well as policy directives, change corporate culture and make organisations more encouraging of women's progress. And when it all gets too much remember there is a lighter side. This video by Kirsten Bell has to make you smile!

Our leadership and career management programme Brain-savvy Wo+man is now available on line to help you manage your career and meet your potential.  More details here.