MAJORITY of senior HR leaders believe that resolving pay disparity is a priority for their business, but nearly half of them find it difficult to get the essential data for pay equity research, revealed by new research.
According to XpertHR* and Executive Networks* research, 47 per cent of senior business executives and 45 per cent of HR leaders report having trouble obtaining the data they need to address wage inequality.
To discover any pay disparities amongst employees with various characteristics, 35 per cent of HR leaders said they lacked sufficient pay data, 50 per cent said they needed information on employee self-identification, and 59 per cent said they lacked information on employee demographics.
Six out of ten companies that carry out internal pay equity audits still rely heavily on spreadsheets, although most of them use external consultants to do the study.
Zara Nanu, CEO of Gapsquare, part of XpertHR, said: “Leaders know the importance of pay equity, but data gaps mean uncertainties persist and progress is slow. Establishing fair pay practices relies on a detailed analysis of data, which many either don’t have access to or have the skills to interpret, causing a lot of businesses to fall at the first hurdle.
“What’s needed are more robust employee workforce data and pay analytics that support leadership teams with actionable insights about how to close equity gaps across the entire workforce.”
For the 2023 pay equality and transparency research, 1,011 company and HR leaders from throughout the world as well as workers from different sectors and racial/ethnic groups were surveyed.
Pay audits were seldom carried out by organisations that did undertake them. Thirty per cent of HR leaders reported that they only inspected pay data once a year, and just 9 per cent indicated they evaluated their pay equity data frequently.
Only one-third of black and fifty percent of Asian respondents in the UK felt that their employer was successful in attaining pay parity. Half of respondents said that pay disparities existed in their businesses.
Only 42 per cent of employees agreed with HR leaders who claimed that pay fairness and transparency were top priorities for their company.
*XpertHR provides HR solutions.
*Executive Networks provides HR solutions.
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