Before Equal Pay Day kicks off, Louisa Peacock is bombarded with press releases and studies showing the horrendous pay gap between men and women still stubbornly exists. We know. So what's anyone actually doing about it?
Equal Pay Day: The gender pay gap is depressingly wide - after 40 years of legislation
It's the day before Equal Pay Day, at the time of writing this. Not exactly a
household name Day (it's no Mothers' Day or Christmas Day, I
appreciate), but it's slowly catching on. Well, PRs are having a field day,
put it that way.
In the space of 24 hours, I've been bombarded with alerts, emails, studies and
and yet more emails, warning of the horrifying gender pay gap between men
and women.
A TUC report, perhaps the most tangible, shows men earn £5,000 more than women
on average. £16,000 more in some professions, like health care. Their
calculations, however, are based on official government figures – which came
out last year. Last November, to be precise. Anything new here? Not really.
Elsewhere, we have the "latest report" from the Cranfield School of
Management, which shows women make up only 19 per cent of FTSE 100 boardroom
posts. Up slightly from two years ago, when the government began
counting, but still
some way to go if the UK is to meet its 25 per cent target. These
figures are not new. They came out in October.
But there's more. We also have the Chartered Management Institute, which warns
about "sorry skirts" – the practise of women over-apologising –
which can lead to a lack of promotions in the workplace. If it feels a bit
gimmicky, that's because it is. Is this really anything new? Nope.
Hold on, in the political corner (who could forget them?) we have George
Osborne himself and Maria Miller, the women's minister, today eagerly
hosting a debate at Number 11 for FTSE 250 business executives on the "economic
case" for employing and promoting more women. Ooo, sounds exciting. But
the event follows on from a report on the same topic by Miller et al in
June, which showed women in work can contribute to the economy. Well duh.
Is anyone else losing the plot here? I've said before that everyone's getting bored of the gender pay gap problem. The thing is, none of the above "stop press" news requires stopping the press. There's nothing wrong with any of the above, but there's nothing new in it either. Except, of course, that women over-apologising has a term.
Depressingly, we've all known about the gender pay gap for far too long. 40 years and counting. And yet here, on this special annual Day, we're all still talking about the same old issues: one, we need a culture change; two, we need more flexible working; three, we need greater transparency; four, companies should publish their gender pay gaps; five, large and small businesses should understand the business case for employing more women ... I could go on.
The PRs might be getting excited (it's what they're paid to do, nonetheless), but I personally feel fatigued. And if I feel that way, what on earth must busy business leaders think?
There's only so many reports, recommendations and warnings the business world can stomach on 'how to solve the gender pay gap'. On the whole, I think they get it. The question is, how do they do it. We need a different approach to try and change workplace culture that isn't just releasing re-purposed reports and hosting Downing Street events on one day of the year.
Surely there's some practical, tangible examples out there that the good businesses can share, and other firms can learn from? Why don't we know about those? We don't care about businesses pledging support (it will be announced by Miller et al that over 130 firms have promised to be more transparent about pay) – we want to know how they've changed their culture, how they're attracting the best talent, men and women, and how they've boosted their bottom line in the process.
So please, to all those businesses that think you know what you're doing and have an excellent record on pay, come forward with the hows and how nots. Anything to stop yet another government-backed report telling us the issues we already know about.
Come on, CEOs, you've got a whole year to stop Equal Pay Day 2014 turning into an entirely predictable onslaught of problems and blame.
Is anyone else losing the plot here? I've said before that everyone's getting bored of the gender pay gap problem. The thing is, none of the above "stop press" news requires stopping the press. There's nothing wrong with any of the above, but there's nothing new in it either. Except, of course, that women over-apologising has a term.
Depressingly, we've all known about the gender pay gap for far too long. 40 years and counting. And yet here, on this special annual Day, we're all still talking about the same old issues: one, we need a culture change; two, we need more flexible working; three, we need greater transparency; four, companies should publish their gender pay gaps; five, large and small businesses should understand the business case for employing more women ... I could go on.
The PRs might be getting excited (it's what they're paid to do, nonetheless), but I personally feel fatigued. And if I feel that way, what on earth must busy business leaders think?
There's only so many reports, recommendations and warnings the business world can stomach on 'how to solve the gender pay gap'. On the whole, I think they get it. The question is, how do they do it. We need a different approach to try and change workplace culture that isn't just releasing re-purposed reports and hosting Downing Street events on one day of the year.
Surely there's some practical, tangible examples out there that the good businesses can share, and other firms can learn from? Why don't we know about those? We don't care about businesses pledging support (it will be announced by Miller et al that over 130 firms have promised to be more transparent about pay) – we want to know how they've changed their culture, how they're attracting the best talent, men and women, and how they've boosted their bottom line in the process.
So please, to all those businesses that think you know what you're doing and have an excellent record on pay, come forward with the hows and how nots. Anything to stop yet another government-backed report telling us the issues we already know about.
Come on, CEOs, you've got a whole year to stop Equal Pay Day 2014 turning into an entirely predictable onslaught of problems and blame.
