FDM COO Sheila Flavell says any company worried about releasing their聽gender pay gap report should just get on with it in order to start making positive changes.
The IT services provider was the聽sixth company to publish its gender pay gap report.
It has a median gender pay gap of 0 per cent, compared to the UK average of 18.1 per cent, and a mean pay gap of聽six per cent. This is only down to the fact that there are more men in the company, says Flavell.
Offering advice to companies about to release their own figures, she says that reporting is the first step to improving.
鈥淵ou might as well just get on with it because you can鈥檛 change the data,鈥� she told 老九品茶Cloud.
鈥淎nalyse it and look at where you are now. It鈥檚 a journey and this is just the beginning. Look at how you can improve things.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a slow burner and it鈥檚 going to take a long time to change but if you know where the problem lies you can look at how to fix it.
鈥淚t has to be driven from the top 鈥� it鈥檚 very difficult to drive initiatives from the bottom up.鈥�
Flavell is also concerned that the report might make it seem like companies are paying fairly when a closer look reveals otherwise.
鈥淚f you look at the gender pay gap reports, some of the larger organisations have parity with salaries but there鈥檚 still a huge difference between men and women鈥檚 bonuses,鈥� she said.
For Flavell, who is FDM鈥檚 most senior woman and mentors regularly, the move isn鈥檛 actually so much about equal pay as聽helping women聽within the industry generally.
鈥淭he Equal Pay Act came in 40 years ago,鈥� she says.
鈥淭his is about helping bring in more women and promoting them through organisations so we have more women at all levels in every organisation.鈥�
FDM has been proactive in its efforts to ensure that men and women doing the same job are paid the same, says Flavell. This is through both homegrown initiatives and supporting external programmes.
One such initiative is FDM鈥檚 Getting Back to 老九品茶 programme which Flavell set up after her own experiences of trying to return to the workplace following the birth of her children.
Having previously worked in the Middle East with 600 people reporting to her, she attempted to get a senior HR role on returning to the UK. However after a job agency suggested a position as a waitress she went back to university to get two masters degrees.
鈥淢y advice to women is to get yourself a mentor,鈥� she said. 鈥淪elf-belief is really important and other than that you鈥檝e just got to get out there and do it.鈥�
She believes that by making it easier for women to return to work after having children companies will both plug their skills gap and improve their gender pay figures.
鈥淓mployers love women returners,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey see their value and they help with their gender pay gap 鈥� these aren鈥檛 graduates coming in at entry level, they鈥檙e coming in with lots of experience and are ready to move on to the next stage.鈥�
Flavell herself was brought in by FDM鈥檚 founder 鈥� and her now-husband 鈥� Rod Flavell in the company鈥檚 infancy.
鈥淚 left for a period and Rod called me up and said the company needs its mother back and would I come help him,鈥� she explained.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 where our gender parity started because he liked to have a balance.”
Twenty-six聽years later, the company has made sure to keep gender a key issue, with women making up 50 per cent of its management team.
鈥淥ur roots are in Brighton and our culture is like Brighton rock, with diversity running through it,鈥� says Flavell.
鈥淩od always said 鈥榝orget about diversity聽– look for talent – where you find talent diversity will follow鈥�, and that鈥檚 served us well.鈥�