If you’re a manager or CEO of a business that’s just reported on the gender pay gap, you might be wondering what to do next? Reporting the results is just the first step. Now you need to act on them. As a leading London recruitment agency, we aim to make the workplace better for everyone, so today we’ll look at ways that businesses can start to close the gender pay gap.
Know where you stand
First, you need to know exactly how your business is performing in terms of the gender pay gap. If you’re one of the 14% paying women more or the 8% with no gender pay gap, then you should continue taking positive steps to ensure all staff are treated fairly. If you’re one of the 78% who pay men more than women, then you really need to start addressing the issue!
The picture for SMES
If your company employs less than 250 people and you’re therefore not legally required to report the figures, then you should still be looking at the gender pay gap picture in your company and seeking to address the findings. Even if you’re an SME, your aim should still be to ensure fairness even if you’re not required to report. It’s great to see that 238 companies who weren’t legally required to report did so voluntarily.
Look at childcare
A big issue that the gender pay gap highlighted was childcare commitments that primarily affect women—whether it’s taking time off for maternity leave that hinders women’s chance of promotion, or needing flexible hours to look after children. To improve this situation, consider offering true flexible working. Encourage the take-up of paternity and shared parental leave, so men can share the caring responsibilities. See whether you can offer better paternity and parental leave, or even offer childcare facilities. Perhaps you could offer training for women who have missed time due to maternity leave, or train line managers to better support their female staff.
Look at management roles
Childcare issues seem particularly prevalent when it comes to women applying for higher-level, senior, or management positions. Long or unsociable hours are often expected as part of these roles, preventing women from applying. When it comes to management roles, think about whether those hours and working patterns are really necessary or whether you can offer better flexibility so women can apply.
Improve your recruitment
One way to remove the gender pay gap is through better recruitment. Make sure your job adverts are clear about any offers of flexible working. Ensure the wording isn’t subconsciously biased towards men, such as asking for traditionally male traits, an issue identified recently in many job adverts. You might also want to set targets to increase the recruitment of women into senior roles and management positions.
Improve communication
Another way to improve the situation is through better communication across the board. Ensure transparency about pay and bonuses. Speak to your female employees and find out what’s stopping them from applying for promotions. Look at the company culture and the way promotion opportunities are communicated by line managers to their staff. If you work in a business where all of the managers are men, you may need to assure women that you welcome more females in management roles.
Be honest
A big part of transparency is being honest about the current gender pay gap in your business and telling employees exactly what you’re doing to remove it. Don’t just give them excuses for why the gender pay gap has occurred in your company. Tell them how you’re addressing it, the positive steps you’re putting in place, and how they can approach you with their concerns.
If you’re looking for advice on recruitment, or you need to fill temp or permanent PA jobs, office support staff, or manager vacancies for your business, get in touch with the team at Love Success today.
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