It's 2016: Ideas on Implementing Equal Pay

SPEAKING AT A BUSINESS BREAKFAST LAST WEEK, I fielded a few inquiries in a Q & A session regarding my last week’s blog posts on the issue of equal pay for equal work. Nothing really surprising there; the corporate community increasingly explores evolving issues like social good, living wage, environmental upgrades, and wage parity between the genders. One medium-sized business manager asked how best would a business go about implementing an equal pay strategy.Obviously I’m no expert (30-year firefighter), but some lessons gleaned from the equal pay movement have a clear and pressing sense to them.The first thing to remember if you’re thinking of evolving a business into an equal pay employer is that there a clear business case for it. Three important studies came out in the U.S. recently – McKinsey and Company, Ernst & Young, and PriceWaterhouseCoopers – confirming that companies with greater board diversity consistently outperformed competitors who hadn’t made that progression. Initial research has determined that achieving gender parity in the U.S. would initially boost the economy by $4.3 billion annually. These three reports derive from companies that are hardly slackers and their findings deserve some weight.Secondly, do some of your own internal research. An internal gender pay audit would reveal to more businesses than we can imagine that discrepancies exist between men and women tasked with the same work. Government audits in Canada, the U.S. and in the European Union, revealed cumulative gender biases that will eventually need to be dealt with. Understanding pay disparity is ultimately about learning and knowledge and the best way to move forward is take a deeper look within your own company.Third, speak with other leaders within your organization about their sense and the possibilities of implementation. It’s likely you’re not alone in wondering as to the responsibilities regarding equal pay for equal work. Put the concept on the table. Assess the likely costs, the ultimate financial benefits, and the place of your company within the community when it comes to leadership.Fourth, map out a possible map for implementation. It’s not urgent to accomplish something so significant overnight, but it is important to move forward in a timely fashion. The gender equality movement in Canada and elsewhere has taken on more importance in the public, private, and political consciousness – everyone is “in process” on issues of this magnitude and time should be taken to do it effectively.This last point is crucial in the operation of any business. The corporate world is clearly changing and being challenged by social movements that are increasingly based upon inclusion and law. Governments are progressively responding to citizen pressure and eventually laws will be passed guaranteeing equal pay for equal work between the genders. It’s best to get out ahead of that, or as the CEO of one of the most successful brands in the world put it recently:

“It is not good enough to do what the law says. We need to be in the forefront of those social responsibility issues” … Anders Dahlvig of IKEA

It’s not just about law but democracy, and the need for a better integration between business and citizenship. It’s coming and market share will slowly erode from those companies that refuse to undertake what the rest of the world is pressing for. It’s about leadership, community responsibility, and progress, and, ultimately for many, it is about better business. Or as Peter Robinson, SEO of Mountain Equipment Co-op plainly put it: “Ethics is the new competitive environment.” It is 2016, and time to catch up to consumers and the change they seek.