It's time we talk about Pay Parity

Women don't earn as much as men. Shocker. I know. But this pay gap has long term consequences, not just for the women being short shifted, but for society at large.

People interested in humanistic management should to take pay equity seriously.  It is simply not acceptable for people doing the same job to be paid differently. 

One of the reasons I think this happens is because during the hiring process - part of the goal is to get hire labor at the least amount possible. This is why - the game of - not telling people what the position pays so it can be negotiated occurs.

And let's not kid ourselves. Paying as little as we can for labor - is the goal of the current system. The result  of that - is pay inequity.

So let's flip this upside down. And let's start assigning wages to the job - and not to the person doing the job.

This would eliminate all the game playing in hiring. People who need more - won't waste your time if the pay isn't what they want. All the stress of negotiation goes away. Everyone will be happier. If you can afford to pay a certain wage for a job - pay that wage for the job and stop playing salary games.

There are 2 resources I want to share with you.  First - is an interview with Marc Benioff of Salesforce regarding their efforts to create pay equity. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/salesforce-ceo-marc-benioff-leading-by-example-to-close-the-gender-pay-gap/

In order to make good on the promise of pay equity - they conducted a pay audit. Found out that they were not paying people equally - and equalized salaries up. Yes - up!   And then, they had to do it again - because pay inequity keeps creeping into their system. Why? Because the hiring and onboarding process - which is geared to getting labor and the lowest possible prices - doesn't lead to pay equity. It leads, by design, to pay inequality.

One way to solve this is to set a price for the position - not for the person. Oh look - I repeated myself. Let's say it again - set a price for the position - not for the person.  Figure out what a fair wage is - and pay it!

The next resource I want to share Paradigm for Parity -https://www.paradigm4parity.com/ - which is dedicated to creating gender parity at all levels of organizations.

Pay and gender parity isn't going to happen by magic. To make it happen - we have to take proactive steps to make it happen. So start having these conversations in your workplace and see if you can make things better - for all employees.

Gender Biases and Pay Raises

We all know there is a problem. Women aren't seeking advancement and aren't given pay raises in the same way as their male counterparts. And even companies who consider this a priority - still have problems.  I was recently asked what an HR manager can do to help close the gender and pay gap?

I teach how to use behavioral techniques to stop bullying and harassment. I also have a free course on implicit bias in the workplace. https://humanistlearning.com/controlling-our-unconscious-bias/

The first thing is to recognize – we all have biases and that our initial reaction to things – like a woman asking for a raise, might be more informed by our bias than by reason.  By stepping back – we are more likely to evaluate the request on it’s merits -than on instinct.

Yes – part of the job of HR is to keep employment costs down. But most businesses do have salary inequities – including ones that don’t think they do. One way to combat that is to proactively balance the salaries so that people in the same job – get paid the same. If a woman asks for a raise – do the research and find out if she is being paid equitably or not. The last thing you want is a good employee to leave because she doesn’t think she is being compensated fairly – so find out. Don’t assume – find out.  If she isn’t – give her the raise.

What a manager can do is validate the request. Thank the woman for having the courage to ask for the raise and – see what you can do to get a raise for her. Don’t just – I’ll see what I can do and then not do anything. Look into it. Verbally reward the effort and then – actively see if you can give her a raise.  If she is a good employee – advocate for her and fight for the raise for your people.