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Roundtable – Bridging the gender gap

Our Best Practice Award winners share the secrets of their success

The average pay for female employees in April 2020 was 14.9% less than men, and COVID-19 only increased the excessive burden of care on women, as well as their vulnerability in the labour market. We know from our research that, when looking for a new role, flexibility is as important as pay for women. So fundamental is flexibility in balancing caring responsibilities, that three in 10 UK parents are currently working in jobs below their skill level because their jobs offer greater flexibility. Not only is this a huge waste of talent, but it highlights the need for a different approach.

At our recent roundtable event we heard from organisations whose actions have made an impact in closing the gender pay gap, including SF Recruitment, who managed to eliminate a 23% pay gap in under 3 years. Here are the lessons they shared, as well as insights from other members that attended the session:

  • Recruiting flexibly will only take you so far if your business is not flexible at its core. A business needs a meaningful approach to flex before you can start to recruit more women at every level. So, flex-check your business before moving on to develop a recruitment process that reflects it.
  • Formalise flexible working to signal that women have the trust and autonomy to balance their caring responsibilities and workload as they see fit. Not only will this empower women but, as SF Recruitment can attest, it will improve performance and therefore business outcomes.
  • Unconscious bias training can be helpful to ensure recruitment avoids recruitment of people in their own image. Many companies are investing in decoders to avoid bias-triggering phrases in the recruitment process.
  • You have to see it to be it, that’s why role models are crucially important. Women in senior positions help women see themselves in positions of seniority. Senior leaders who share their experiences of imposter syndrome, which can be a real threat to success, can enable other women challenge their own negative thinking.
  • Confidence is one of the major hurdles in women progressing in careers and so mentoring and coaching helps women overcome the confidence gap and put themselves forward for promotions.
  • Parental leave coaching can empower women to articulate what they want and what they need, which is particularly helpful for the return to work after having a child. It also helps to reinforce the message that being a parent is valued and seen as being part of the whole person.
  • Having a generous maternity leave and pay package enables women to stay on after becoming mothers. This, alongside policies on fertility support, signals a positive attitude to having working mothers on the team.
  • Enhanced paternity leave and pay helps to shift the burden of care away from mothers.
  • Don’t overlook promotions for women who are on maternity leave. It is a huge vote of confidence and sends loud message that having children is not detrimental to your career.
  • Consider a fully paid phased return to work, for example 80% hours for 100% pay for 3 months. Not only does this recognise the difficulty of the initial transition period, but it can also work as a good trial period for changing work patterns by seeing what’s possible for both employee and the organisation.
  • Staggered returns can be good to help all mothers manage that transition back to work, but can also be especially useful for those at a senior level who may like to continue mentoring.
  • Returner programmes for those who have been out of work for an extended period can have a significant impact on facilitating a successful re-entry to work through helping them rebuild their confidence.
  • It can be helpful to regularly review the lifecycle of each employee to establish where they are at and how they can be supported, specifically around having a family, but also life events such as the menopause.
  • Training for managers on how to manage parental leave ensures support is consistent across an organisation and can transform an individual’s experience. It can be helpful to use checklists for preparation and to ensure someone feels supported at every stage. Working Families provide templates that can be used as a guide.
  • Provide an opportunity for parents and carers to connect with others in a similar situation. Internal support systems can take different forms, from a one-to-one mentoring or buddy scheme, to parents and carers networks that communicate in different ways, for example coffee mornings or Whatsapp chats. It can be helpful to have specific groups for different interests, such as teenagers or single parents.
  • Consider using metrics to assess fairness around salaries at senior level, some employers have adopted a ‘pay zoning’ approaching to drill down on this and assess where improvements are required.
  • Mental health training and mental health first aiders can support all staff and create a culture of understanding.
  • See this area as a way to constantly evolve. Check in with employees to see what’s working and what’s making an impact and develop as you go.