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Gender Pay Gap Workshop: What will be your commitment?

AXIS Network were delighted to host Gender Pay Gap Workshop on Tuesday 9th July expertly chaired and led by Michelle Gyimah, Pay Gap Consultant, with industry specific insights from Christine Dodds, co-author of Accelerating Progress: Analysing the Gender Pay Gap in the Energy Industry.


The online lunchtime workshop was a fun interactive session using Slido polls to gauge opinions and gather suggestions to address fictitious pay gap scenarios, with a challenge at the end of ‘What will be your commitment?’ 



Michelle Gyimah, Pay Gap Consultant with Equality Pays, introduced the session with an overview of the gender pay reporting which was launched in 2017 and explained the difference between equal pay and the gender pay gap.  She gave some context on the gender pay gap today explaining that it has moved from niche to mainstream and moved from an optional problem to an expected problem to solve.  Everyone now has an opinion about the gender pay gap and it's everyone’s challenge to solve. 


Interestingly, Michelle flagged that 55% of women won’t hold a high pay gap against a company if they could communicate  and demonstrate how they are addressing the issues in closing it.


Christine Dodds, co-author of ‘Accelerating Progress: Analysing the Gender Pay Gap in the Energy Industry’, highlighted the link between companies that had signed the AXIS Pledge who tended to be those that had significantly improved their gender pay gap. AXIS Pledge was launched in 2019 and companies signed up to it with a  commitment to attracting, retaining and supporting a diverse workforce.  AXIS Network brings Pledge companies together to share the best practice, opportunities and ideas to drive better gender balance in business.


Christine shared why looking at the pay gap across quartiles is helpful in understanding the pay gap in each company in more detail. She also highlighted three key areas that she thinks the industry should be focused on, many of which are beneficial to the entire organisation:


Recruitment

  • Being intentional with recruitment in non-traditional avenues.

  • Wording and composition of job descriptions.

  • Ensuring hiring managers have training and support regarding unconscious bias.

  • Cognizant of the benefits of having a diverse team.


Retention

  • Parental leave: Supportive parental leave policies are vital for both attracting and retaining women and normalising career breaks which benefits everyone.

  • Good work-life balance: We know that companies that have programmes that promote a good work-life balance boost productivity, reduce turnover and improve employees’ mental and physical health.

  • Access to role models: You can’t be it if you can’t see it.

  • Access to meaningful work: Research shows that meaningfulness is more important than any other aspect of work, including pay and rewards. 


Progress

  • Normalisation of part-time working and flexibility.

  • Fair and unbiased performance management processes.

  • Being intentional about progression and development for employees and ensuing criteria to rate performance is objective and unambiguous.

  • Regular reviews of the data to identify, acknowledge and address issues.

  • Support access to role models, mentoring, sponsors to ensure women are building their skills and experience as fast as male peers are.


Christine also gave an introduction to Vision 2030. AXIS Network’s ambition is to cease to exist by 2030.  Vision 2030 is an invitation from AXIS to the energy industry to drive progress towards a fully inclusive environment.


This work is urgent and important to the energy transition, it cannot wait any longer.

Michelle led an interactive scenario session using Slido as a way for the audience to suggest solutions to a fictitious company's gender pay gap.  There was a high degree of engagement from the participants and suggestions showed the audience were well informed on what the potential solutions were out there and the breadth and of areas that these could be implemented in.  Michelle asked:


Barriers to Entry: What are the obstacles preventing women from entering and thriving in technical roles? 

Participants shared their views on the obstacles preventing women from entering and thriving in technical roles, such as unconscious bias, societal expectations, non-inclusive culture and unhelpful or biased feedback or an absence of feedback altogether.


Barriers to Entry: How can the company attract and retain more female talent in these positions?

Participants suggested various policies and programmes that could support women's career advancement, such as flexible working, mentoring, sponsorship, role models, returners programmes and childcare support.


Promotion and Pay Practices: How can we ensure fair and transparent promotion and pay practices?

Participants discussed the importance of fair and transparent promotion and pay practices, such as pay scales, pay bands, performance management, succession planning and removing the stigma around salary discussions.


Promotion and Pay Practices: What policies or programs could support women's career advancement?

Participants suggested sponsorship programmes, mentoring, creating a shadow board and clear progression routes helpful in supporting career advancement.


Work Culture: What steps can be taken to create a more inclusive and supportive work environment that encourages diversity and equality?

Participants identified the steps that could be taken to create a more inclusive and supportive work environment, such as psychological safety, diversity in decision making, zero tolerance on gender bias, leadership commitment and inclusive social events.


Driving and owning our own solutions is important in addressing the gender pay gap as an industry.


The session was completed with a Slido poll, asking attendees: What will be your commitment?


The audience were asked what micro-actions they would take back to their company to drive change. Ensure that rewards and promotions are fair came up top, closely followed by continue and build on remote and flexible working practices.


This lunchtime online workshop was a fun, accessible and interactive session.  The knowledge that Michelle brought to the table based on 20 years experience in supporting companies with addressing their gender pay gaps was key.  She skillfully set the scene to allow attendees to share ideas to drive change as an industry.  The final request of ‘What will be your commitment?’ embedded learnings with attendees and ensure the impact of this session will continue beyond our one hour lunch break.


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