And as a reputable employer of female accountants, what can you practically do to play your part in addressing the problem?
Recent figures released by the Office for National Statistics showed that the gender pay gap has widened to 8.3% on average this year, up from 7.7% in April of 2021.
And in a world that is supposedly becoming fairer and more diverse, it comes as a bit of a shock to see that this last year we’ve actually moving backwards when it comes to gender salary parity in the workplace.
Perhaps it shouldn’t come as that much of a surprise, the pandemic had more of an impact on the salaries of women than it did men and the ONS itself has warned that the statistics may be distorted by the impact of COVID 19.
But regardless of mitigating circumstances, the difference between the salaries of men and women in the UK remain staggering and as an employer of choice, we know you’ll care enough to check that you’re doing all that you can to make sure your firm isn’t contributing to the gap.
The government’s most recent advice to employers on how they can help lessen the problem was published in 2017 ( a long time ago!) and it is based upon research from Iris Bohnet, Albert Pratt Professor of Business and Government and the co-director of the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard Kennedy School.
Professor Bohnet’s thought leadership is based upon the principle that:
“To move the dial on equalising pay, we need to debias systems, not people.”
So, in this article we want to consider the recommendations made following the evidence collected by Professor Bohnet with a slant on how they can be implemented in public practice.
1. We need to be shortlisting more women.
Simple as! If you’re sifting through a pile of applications and a female applicant is borderline, add that CV to the shortlist. It’s a basic necessary bias that will help solve the problem on the largest scale.
2. Use skills based assessments at interview.
To get a real feel for how skilled an applicant is, do more than just rely on how well they answer your questions and how well you might gel as people. Ask them to complete tasks and analyse the level of skill they demonstrate. This will help you make your recruitment decision based on competence regardless of all other mitigating factors.
3. But when you do ask interview questions, make them structured.
Of course every interview needs to allow space for conversation to flow naturally and interesting avenues to be explored. But on the whole the core questions should be the same for every applicant as this reduces the chance of unconscious bias being applied.
4. Publish your salary ranges when advertising for the role.
This will prevent an air of secrecy around what you pay and to who. It allows space for negotiation and thought prior to accepting a role and it will ensure all applicants have a reasonable expectation of pay.
5. Make sure your process for promotions, pay increases and rewards are transparent.
And work alongside published matrixes of achievements. Again this allows for a fair process where everyone knows the rewards that they can achieve.
6. Make space in your organisation for diversity.
Appoint a diversity champion or task force who can review all decisions and changes to make sure that they won’t impact one type of employee more or less than any other.
7. Improve flexibility for all.
It’s not just women that need it, but an employer that offers true flex will reap the rewards of a diverse, loyal and committed workforce.
8. Make your interview panels diverse.
Male, pale and stale is a term that is being used more and more to sum up boards who make decisions based on only the needs of the most well represented and rewarded group of people in the workplace. Make sure it doesn’t apply to your interview panels.
9. Support your leaders to recognise and value transparency and diversity.
It’s a big shift and some of your valued leaders will need help understanding and leading on it so invest in proper training.
10. Work with partners who also value true diversity.
At Public Practice Recruitment Ltd we always call out any bias that we see in the pairings we attempt to make between talented accountants and great employers. We won’t stand for it and we won’t allow the prospects of our talented female candidates to be any less than those of their male counterparts.
So choose carefully who you partner up with. Recruitment in particular is an area that you cannot afford to get wrong!
To work with the recruiters who are committed to doing their bit to lessen the gender pay gap and to become a fellow employer on a similar mission, contact us today – we’d be delighted to hear how these tips have helped you become a fairer firm.
