“The clock is quickly ticking down for large employers to report their gender pay gap data. With more than 2,000 companies still to report, all eyes will be on those that fail to make the midnight deadline. Reporting is the first step in tackling the gender pay gap, a priority business issue that is holding us all back. Gender-balanced companies outperform their peers, and equal representation in the workforce would add billions to the UK economy.
“The data so far tell the familiar story of the so-called ‘glass pyramid’ – women outnumbering men in the lower-paid quartiles, with far fewer at the top in higher-paid management and leadership roles. Our research shows that male managers are 40% more likely to be promoted than their female counterparts. Just one in four managers say that their fellow managers and senior leaders champion actively champion gender diversity initiatives.
“While we’re starting to see change, progress is stuttering. Employers have great intentions but as the pay gap data show, there’s still a yawning gap between the corporate rhetoric and the reality of work for too many women. Leaders and their managers need to fix the ‘broken windows’ – the range of everyday biased attitudes, actions and practices that make possible the bigger systemic problems, like the gender pay gap, that women face. Only then will organisations build inclusive cultures where both women and men can thrive.”
