February 2018 marks the centenary of women first being allowed to vote in the United Kingdom. Such a significant anniversary has prompted plenty of reflection about the steps we’ve taken so far towards gender equality. Society has certainly come a long way since 1918, but it’s still disappointing that with the deadline to publish Gender Pay Gap figures less than 6 weeks away, only around 10% of the approximately 8,000 employers who are required to publish have done so thus far.

The sense we’re getting from our network is that many organisations are nervous about being among the first in their sector to publish, and so making their figures a lightning rod for unfavourable media scrutiny and comment. It’s a concern validated by recent coverage of gender pay gaps at the BBC, Phase Eight, Easyjet and several banks.

However, hiding from the issue is no solution at all. In fact, putting off addressing the gender pay gap at your organisation may actively damage your chances of reducing it, and thereby cause more reputational damage in the long run.

Why, exactly? Well, it is likely that employers yet to publish fall into one of two camps:

· Those that have completed their analysis and narrative but are yet to publish

· Those that have yet to even start their analysis

The employers that make up the second group are not only putting themselves under unnecessary time pressure to complete their analysis and report but are also leaving an opportunity on the table. The snapshot date for 2019’s report is 5th April 2018 – the day after the deadline for publishing this year’s figures. So those companies who are leaving it all till the last minute are not allowing themselves much, if any, time to implement actions which will have a measurable effect on reducing their gender pay headlines by the time it comes to report next year.

By not allowing time to consider strategies to restructure pay – and likely more relevant, reviewing their Inclusion & Diversity strategy to encourage and support more women to move into senior roles – for these employers their 2018 gender pay gap is likely to be similar or even worse than the 2017 figure.

I don’t need to spell out how damaging lack of progress on reducing the gender pay gap would be. Evidence that your organisation does not value women’s contribution equally to men’s would negatively impact engagement among existing employees, your employer reputation for prospective recruits, and brand identity as a whole.

Even if your organisation is starting from a bad place, bear in mind that short-term pain means long-term gain. For example, for all the criticism of the BBC’s pay practices, by taking the pain now, confronting the issue head-on and taking positive action to reduce their gender pay gap, they are likely to be in a better position when the time comes to report their figures for this year.

Personally, my feeling is that in time the government will amend existing gender pay legislation and introduce targets for reducing the gap, with sanctions for those employers who cannot demonstrate how they are tackling it. Employers who have effectively wasted a year will be playing catch-up, and find the task of reducing their gender pay gap much more difficult than those who have already started the journey by reviewing their pay practices and I&D policies.

So whether you’re waiting to publish or still yet to start work, the advice is the same: ‘He who hesitates is lost.’

Innecto can provide help with external and internal gender pay narratives. We can also provide ‘deep dive’ insight into the pay practices which are driving your gender pay gap. For more information, see Deborah Rees-Frost’s recent blog ‘Beyond the Headlines – How to drive Gender Pay into Year 2’, or give us a call on 020 3457 0894.

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