Gender Pay Gap - I can't hide from it, we need to be better
Caroline Hawkings
Chief Talent Officer - leading our global employee proposition to make Savanta a truly progressive, tech-led and inspirational place to work.
For the first time, Savanta has had to publish its gender pay stats.?While we’re now legally obligated to do this, it’s something I feel we should be happy to do as a progressive company aiming to be transparent to its team.
My initial feeling was that with a female CEO, and a female UK General Manager – as well as a high proportion of senior women across the team – we’d perform well.?So when I saw the results, I must admit my heart sank.?The stats are there in black and white for all to see on the government website, so I won’t start quoting numbers, but let’s just say we have work to do.
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We must face up to the fact that we need to change, do more, and be fully committed to closing the gap.?Inevitably, this is not as easy as I wish it could be.
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So, what can we do??The government stats are a fairly blunt tool, and aren’t great at representing any nuance, so the first thing we have done is dig into the data (we are researchers after all!) and look at where specific issues exist and understand what’s driving the gap.
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Armed with this information I am working with my senior team and my DE&I Committee to create a plan which looks into all areas likely to drive improvement – hiring practices, promotions process, career management, learning & development, as well as our policies to ensure they are genuinely focused on creating a more equitable workplace.
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One positive outcome is that being more equitable is not just about benefitting the females in my team, but other groups where pay gaps can exist.??To that end, having reported the data for gender we are now looking to do the same by ethnicity.
I am aware this won’t be as quick as I would like or as others may expect, but as our first female CEO I am committed to doing better.?I am hoping that it won’t be too long before I can log onto GOV.UK and replace that sinking feeling with a beaming smile on behalf of all the other women that I am privileged to lead.
Founding Director at Synchronix Ltd, Market Research Professional & Author
1 年This is an important issue and an industry wide challenge. One thought that occurred to me is that this gap might already be baked in at the time when a business hires someone. If we think about it, when businesses bring in graduate trainees it is easier to monitor and control this issue. Everyone starts at the same level and your business has 100% control over their progression from there. However, when a business brings in someone at any other level, it might be inheriting a pre-existing pay gap (i.e. female staff who were underpaid by their previous employer). This then presents the challenge - how does the business address this kind of inherited imbalance? Should the business conduct an 'inherited pay-gap' review of each such employee after 6 months or so, to assess whether or not such a problem has been inherited? It's a tricky one.
Insights & Consultancy | Growth Strategy Expert | Build, grow and scale insights businesses | Advisory Board Member | Sailor and F45 enthusiast
1 年Awesome to see the transparency and initiative your company is taking to address the gender pay gap, Caroline Hawkings! It's encouraging to see leaders taking action towards creating a more equitable workplace. Let's hope other companies follow your example!
Chief Executive Officer at The Nursery Research & Planning
1 年GPG is by its very nature about looking in a rear view mirror. At hiring decisions that were made some years ago and dictate the shape particularly of your senior team. I don’t think any CEO can or should be held accountable for the number per se. As long as we ensure that our work practices are designed to eliminate it in the medium to long term. So I share your pain but will continue to concentrate on looking forward, not back.