Why we are going further and faster to close the gender pay gap
Anne Shaw, Innovate UK’s HR Leader, shares her insights on the Gender Pay Gap, and the actions Innovate UK is taking to build a more inclusive and fairer workplace for all our people.
I am a passionate advocate for equality, diversity, and inclusion.
As HR leader for Innovate UK, I have been working closely with our CEO and executive team to address our gender pay gap. We have a challenge and a genuine opportunity. Our work to date has delivered some measurable improvement over the last few years. We continue to take action to close the gap.
By openly discussing our journey, actions and commitment to change, we are spotlighting the issue and creating a dialogue that will result in a more inclusive and fairer workplace for all our people, and one that enables us to harness the real breadth of talent and creativity.
Our median figures for the last two years have been 28.7% in 2020 and 25.9% in 2021 and our 2022 results will be reported later in March showing a further reduction.
But whilst it has decreased year on year, the change we want to see is not happening fast enough, and this is something we are tackling head on.
We have reviewed our learning and development opportunities for all colleagues, including a tailored leadership programme for women. We are supporting our diverse talent to make a difference in our senior teams. We have a mentoring scheme and have piloted peer learning. Our plans include refreshing and broadening these activities.
Our further work includes identifying and addressing structural barriers that may lead to underrepresentation of women and others in our senior and technical roles. This covers our policies, practices and systems and our recruitment and selection processes.
Innovate UK supports a range of flexible working arrangements and has excellent family leave policies. Such arrangements help colleagues balance work and caring responsibilities, whilst maintaining and developing their careers.
We are listening to the challenges and barriers our colleagues face in career progression, especially for those in under-represented groups. We are ensuring that we attract diverse talent into Innovate UK and develop the talent and potential that we have.
We must do better to enact positive, lasting changes to our organisation to address the gender pay gap.