Last year, when we shared our Gender Pay Gap for the first time in line with new Government regulations, we were open about the fact that we aren’t where we want to be as an organisation. The story we’re able to share as part of this year’s declaration demonstrates we’re moving in the right direction.
The gender pay gap is the difference in the pay and bonuses of all men and all women across our business. This is identified by comparing the average (mean) and the mid-point levels (median) for each gender.
Our first declaration, based on data from April 2017, showed a 44% mean pay gap and a 38% median pay gap, and we shared our goal to meaningfully increase the representation of women at managerial level and above by April 2019.
While this year’s declaration, based on data from April 2018, shows a 44% mean gap it shows a slightly increased median gap of 41%, and therefore doesn’t yet formally represent the improvements we are making.
In the second half of 2017 we launched a number of initiatives to change culture and mindsets that we know will take time to gain traction. So, while we haven’t seen any change year on year from April 2017 to April 2018, we have seen a change across 2018 and we are encouraged by the fact that as of October 2018, we have closed the mean pay gap by 5% points to 39%.
As for progress towards our goal to meaningfully increase the representation of women at managerial level and above, we’ve seen a significant increase in our female manager population, and as of January 2018, we have a 49:51 female:male ratio at CUK level 7. We’ve ensured that our focus continues to be appointing the best person into the role, with many of our initiatives aimed at supporting females in ways that can create a more level playing field.
We know that having better gender balance, particularly at the more senior levels of our organisation, is critical to us creating a more inclusive culture and supports our organisational values of being better together. Research shows it will also have a positive impact on our ability to meet and exceed our Guests’ expectations, our colleague engagement and as a result, our financial performance.
While we are pleased with the progress we’ve made so far, clearly we still have quite a way to go. There’s been a sustained improvement throughout 2018 and so we’ll continue to focus on our three inclusion pillars; building an even more inclusive culture, developing inclusive leaders, and being more diverse in all dimensions to drive the change we need to see.
- To view the full report for shore, please click here, and for our fleet click here.
- To view the frequently asked questions, please click here