TEE stands for Transparency.

Why FACT3 felt compelled to sponsor the 2022 Womens PGA Masters at Hurlston Hall and why TEE stands for Transparency.

Before we Tee off…

Two FACTS to consider as you read this article:

FACT #1: Globally, in 2021, Professional Male Golfers averaged earnings of $1.25 million versus $48,993 for their Female counterparts - a pay gap of 180%.

FACT #2: The 2022 Gender Pay Gap report showed women in the UK were paid 90p for every ￡1 earned by a man in an equivalent role - a 10.5% pay gap.

The actual reality of the UK pay gap is unknown – the report is based on organisations who are legally obligated to disclose their pay data, which are those that employ over 250 people.?It ignores pay gaps in SME’s altogether.

But the Government released the gender pay gap report 4 months ago... so why are we talking about this now? A little delayed isn’t it??No, the noise around the report falls pretty silent after the first month of publishing which leaves us wondering, is the issue being taken seriously and what are businesses doing to resolve this??

A Shining Example from the FACT3 Community?

This week, the Women’s PGA Masters was hosted by Ormskirk based, Hurlston Hall .

The one-day event attracted hundreds of spectators to watch 43 professional golfers and 9 amateurs compete for a record-breaking prize fund including Alison Nicholas MBE, Lauren Taylor and Keely Chiericato.

Only a week prior to the event, the WPGA purse stood at ￡16,000, an amount that General Manager, Lee Williams, believed was below par; the Club’s biggest driver was to close the gender pay gap completely by matching the 2021 PGA Regional Masters Prize Fund for Male Professional Golfers.?

With an additional sponsorship from FACT3 , the ￡20,000 target was achieved, taking the Women’s PGA Order of Merit total from ￡30,000 to ￡50,000. ?

Following the success of the event, Hurlston Hall aim to achieve an even larger prize fund of ￡45,000 for the 2023 WPGA in a bid to encourage more women and girls to compete at a professional level.

The day itself was a huge success and FACT3 were honoured to attend, taking in the golf and also the growth of the 500 trees that they had planted at the golf course in 2021. We'd like to congratulate Lauren Taylor on her outstanding win and the first of her professional career!

How does FACT3 compare?

FACT3 employ 45 people so don’t NEED to share their gender pay information BUT transparency is key when tackling taboo topics in the workplace, so we are happy to in an effort to provide a benchmark for our clients and any other #sme.

Here are the #FACTS:

• We employ 25 Males and 20 Females: a 55% to 45% split.
• Where there is a like for like role the pay gap is 0%
• Where roles are varied with no direct comparator, there is a 4.6% gender pay gap
• Whilst this demonstrates we still have some work to do, we are proud to be moving in a positive direction when compared with 10.5% average gender pay gap in much bigger businesses.
• Equality, Diversity & Inclusion are high on our agenda and is a FACT we monitor and act upon regularly.

What can your business do to bridge the Gap??

1. Benchmark your FACTS.?Assess your workforce in terms of male:female split and the salary average of each to generate a gender pay gap %.?Decide if there is room for improvement.
2. Consider your pay structure. Is there any structure or is it loose and therefore open to ambiguity – consider a simple pay grading structure which aligns similar job roles with salaries removing any unconscious bias when it comes to recruitment and promotion.
3. Take the ‘traditional length of experience’ criteria out of your mind! Gender Pay Gaps tend to develop when someone has taken a “career break” or been “part time” for a period of their career. Times are slowly but surely changing and companies are no longer questioning someone’s motives behind a ?career break, however the unfortunate reality is some businesses will still have doubts about ability and dedication when a longer period of time has been taken out of their career; typically when a woman has had time off to care for a child/children.?To overcome this, swap out “time served” for more useful criteria such as behavioural impacts in the role, by using behavioural profiling techniques such as Belbin, you will be able to identify behavioural traits that align with the role requirements.

If you have any questions or would like further information on how to bridge the gap, please reach out to us by emailing [email protected]