Hot on the heels of last week's Blog on The Gender Equation, this week we're going to look at some examples of organisations where both men and women in senior leadership positions have taken a definitive stand in supporting the promotion and equality of women in the workplace.
An article in Huffington Post earlier this year about Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff's commitment to equal pay for equal work, is illustrative of the type of positive impact men can have when they participate in bridging the gender gap.
Gender Pay Gap Statistics In The USA Are The Same As Australia
Not surprisingly, the statistics about the difference in salaries between men and women in the USA are similar to those reported for Australia. Nationwide, there’s a stubborn gulf between what men and women earn in the USA. In 2013, a woman working full time earned about 77 percent of what a man earned, according to census data.
However, under Benioff's direction, Saleforce is taking the radical step of reviewing employee salaries to ensure men and women are paid fairly. Benioff told The Huffington Post that he is methodically examining the pay of all 16,000 employees at his cloud-based software company to ensure pay equality. So far, Benioff said, he’s given some women raises. 'I expect to be giving a lot more,' he said, and anticipates that the process will take a couple of years to complete.
As part of the Women’s Surge initiative, Benioff is also trying to make sure that women make up at least 30 percent of the attendees at any meeting, from large-scale management meetings with 500 to 1,000 attendees to product reviews with just 10 to 20 executives.
Positive Measurement of Gender Impact
BP in Australia also takes gender pay parity seriously, according to CFO Brooke Miller. BP includes a reporting tool in its annual salary review process, which shows managers the ‘gender impact’ of their decisions. Another positive trend is the spread of gender pay audits, which shows that business leaders believe action can be taken to address the problem. Change has to start at the top, and leaders of businesses and organisations all have the capacity to take this single most important step in attracting and retaining top tier talent.
Other Australian organisations like Westpac, Telstra, Woolworths, ANZ, NAB and CSR have all taken steps to ensure pay parity for all employees.
Closing The Gap Is About Attracting and Retaining Top Tier Talent
Fortunately, the business case has never been clearer: closing the gap is about attracting and retaining the best talent and avoiding costly turnover.
As an example, Salesforce has also made women a priority when it comes to hiring and promotion. 'Not a single one of my execs hires or promotes without evaluating every woman candidate, said Benioff. This practice has led to more promotions for women working at Salesforce, and more women hires in recent years.
However, even with concerted effort from CEOs like Benioff, there is still a considerable distance to travel before equal pay and equal representation is reflected in the workforce. As of June 2014, men still made up 85 percent of the leadership team at Salesforce.
Benioff's move has been described as a 'radical step' and a 'brilliantly simple' way to close the gap. The results of Mercer's Gender Diversity Research indicates that behavioural change like Benioff's at Salesforce, is definitely effective at improving the overall ranks of women within an organisation, perhaps even more so than traditional benefits designed to attract and retain women.
In a study released in November, the consulting firm Mercer asked 164 companies about their benefits and human resources tactics. One of the big findings from its results was that companies with flexible work policies or maternity leave benefits were actually linked with a slower promotion of women into top ranks (though in many cases had higher current numbers of women). The explanation: such benefits can lead to a check-the-box mentality, in which companies think they've done enough to help women along.
The Mercer report also found two variables that appeared to have a positive impact on both current and future gender diversity - and they're just what Benioff is doing, providing evidence that reinforces he is definitely onto something. One variable was the involvement of company leaders and men in diversity programs; the other was having a team responsible for pay equity and a process that statistically examines any wage gaps they discover.
Just as Avril Henry advocates that 'senior male leaders sponsoring women will have the greatest immediate impact on the number of women in senior positions,' studies like those conducted by Mercer provide evidence that when put into action, such support really does have an impact.
To discover more about Avril's work around gender equality in the workpalce, download her paper on 'The Gender Equation.'
