ThePeopleAlchemist Edit: HR, Business, Gender Pay Gap and Transparency To Bridge The Gap

In my last blog, The Gender Pay Gap reporting, I discussed the usefulness of reporting Gender Pay Gap. Mainly so issues found can be fixed. Which is the all point. Last year companies with great records on diversity and inclusion had inequitable pay gaps. Unfortunately, all the noise around diversity rarely affects strategy. And/or decision-making. Whether or not women are being paid fairly. Or/and whether the company is a bias-less transparent meritocracy. There are many ways to tackle the Gender Pay Gap. Pay Transparency, e.g. openly discussing pay (policies) and progression, is one. Pay transparency, however, means different things to different people. Like:

• complete transparency. Everyone knows what their colleagues earn or
• an audit system. Individual salaries are kept confidential, but organisational pay equity is evaluated.

WHAT IS PAY TRANSPARENCY

In the public sector, pay, banding/scales are well-known practices. Everyone is on a pay scale. You receive annual increments. That is until you get on the top of the band. However, in the private sector is a different matter. I can understand, therefore, how the concept of complete pay transparency might be scary. However, firstly, openness makes it easier to discuss pay. Secondly, to explain. And thirdly to justify where people sit within the band/s. Finally, in work environments with more and more Millennials, the tendency is more towards sharing salary information with peers. As compared to baby boomers. However, there will always be people who are uncomfortable with others knowing their salary.

WHAT TO CONSIDER

There are some things to consider when looking at pay transparency. For example:

• many people have an exaggerated view of their own performance. For example, they believe their current pay is below what they deserve. And, even worse, some are underperformers.
• potential dissatisfaction of people discovering they are underpaid.
• in an environment with banding where people within the same grade are paid the same, some inevitably work harder than others. And therefore, there is a potential perception of inequity.
• in an environment with banding and identifiable ways to calculate increases, you can't really reward the highest performers. Especially if you want the system to poach key top employees from competitors consistently.

Whatever people might think about the above opinions, for me, the crucial point is straightforward. Any business which purports to have a culture of honesty and values committing to diversity and inclusion cannot have a muddled pay/reward. Or system/process. Secrecy is a no-no. Visions, Mission Statements, Values are meaningless pretty things. IF there are not embedded. In EVERY process and system the company has. Pay transparency makes you own up to those values. So own up, will you?