The Black Lives Matter movement, spurred by the murder of George Floyd, has lead to the necessary conversations about racism across the globe, in everyday life as well as in the workplace. We’ve seen leading companies pledge their commitment to diversity and inclusion, and now they face scrutiny as to whether or not their statements are followed with action and success.
The call for change is being demanded from all angles. A survey by Deloitte revealed that 69% of Millennials and Gen Z are more likely to stay for 5 or more years if working for an employer perceived to have a diverse workforce. A petition in the UK for mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting received over 100,000 signatures, and is up for debate in parliament. Now is the time to learn, plan and emerge from the crisis with innovative strategies for change.
1 – Don’t Underestimate The Task
2 – Know The Causes, Turn Them Into An Action Plan

3 – Look at intersectionality
So, now that we’ve started to really talk about the ethnicity pay gap, we can sideline the issue of gender, right? Wrong. For those of you who have experience deep-diving into pay data, you will know that there are a range of influences and cross-overs in experiences of disadvantage and that we can’t look at ethnicity without breaking it down by other factors.
4 – Location Changes the Picture – Deep Dive & Build Context
Through the incredible range of data that Gapsquare has gathered and investigated over the years, we have been able to deduce that a lot can be learned by breaking down data by a variety of factors – including location. Your gender and ethnicity pay gap picture might be really different in your London office when compared to, say, your office in the Midlands. There is a lot to be learned, especially with ethnicity pay reporting, by looking at where your people are.
Of course this may not the easiest thing to publish, you have to be really conscious of not identifying an individual or small group of individuals in your workplace and outlining or sharing their specific experience, whilst still allowing exploration of location-based data to be useful – but it could redefine how you approach ending pay inequality for good.
5. Act now with these resources:
Action can’t wait. We at Gapsquare are already supporting companies to look at their pay disparities and improve BAME representation at work. We know that large scale changes to functions and systems take time, and that is why pay is the perfect place to start.
Take ownership of building an inclusive workplace today. Get ahead of the game and start developing a strategy for ethnicity pay gap analysis, and build a reputation as a truly progressive employer.
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