International Women's Day and GPG reporting often create a little flurry of interest in equal pay audits.  Not surprising really as there's nothing like a bit of media attention to focus the mind on what's likely to land on your desk in the next few months.  Pre-empting the boss's "I was just thinking" moment is an occupational hazard in most HR teams (which is where we mostly get the interest from). 

Once we've undertaken the audit we meet with the client to discuss the outcomes.  Often the first thing the recipient says w is "I knew it!".  That's because they have a fair idea where the issues really lie, and who is making some potentially uncomfortable decisions.  The audit report is usually the proof they need to enable them to put a business case for resolving some of the issues.

Sometimes I see the light go out in someone's eyes.  It might be worse than they thought.  Or some of the gaps really seem insurmountable - especially when budgets are tight.  Or sometimes, it feels like all their hard work at keeping the business on track has somehow failed.  The worse outcome is that they know they are not going to get a remit to do anything to resolve the problem, but thankfully that's a rare outcome these days.

Whatever happens in that discussion, it usually gets taken forward to a senior management or leadership team meeting, or a working party, and agreement is given to whatever course of action is acceptable.

In my experience what makes a difference (and therefore what makes an equal pay audit work) is having recommendations and a defined action plane.  An action plan supports the business to work through the issues, which can help in the following ways: 

- it can sort out why a cohort are paid differently, business case it and/or change it. 

- it can help the managers understand the impact of their decisions and hopefully encourage them to make better decisions in future

- it can encourage ongoing efforts to monitor and review the data regularly to see what progress is being made

- it can encourage the business to publish their successes, tell people what they've achieved, show their staff it made a difference.

Of course, I'll be honest now and say - sometimes what makes the difference is the fact that someone external has looked at the data and created the report.  It's no longer HR harping on about it.  Sometimes we can go in and say the same thing HR have been saying for years, but because we are consultants everyone is suddenly listening.   But, I'm just glad that they are listening, and hopefully acting, on the outcomes.

Do equal pay audits work?  Yes, they really do.  If you want to find out more about what an equal pay audit entails, watch this space because I'll be writing a few more blogs on the subject over the next few weeks.  Or give me a call and we can talk it through.