Tuesday 16 October 2018 10:55 am | Updated: Tuesday 21 May 2019 4:23 pm

Mind the ethnicity pay gap: Data is the key to a transparent and diverse society

NULL

To be human is to have bias – both conscious and unconscious.

If all our decisions were based on logic alone, carefully calculated and perfectly balanced, we would be robots.

The benefits of being human are the passion, empathy, and creativity we can inject into our decision-making and working lives. But there are downsides.

Our society – and therefore our workplaces – are not meritocratic. Equality of opportunity is a noble goal, but we’re not there yet. Where you were born, who your parents were, your ethnicity, and your gender can all impact on the opportunities on offer to you, and therefore your career.

This issue has for too long been ignored – pushed to the sidelines of conversations in favour of other priorities incorrectly deemed more pressing. A difficult topic, it has been one that many sidestep, often because of the fear of saying the wrong thing.

It has been a fight to change this conversation, but over the past few years there has been a noticeable shift – and I believe that legislation and the mandatory reporting of the gender pay gap has played a role in this.

Once considered a whispered “women’s issue”, the publication of pay data across organisations in Britain brought the question into the public spotlight, and more importantly raised it high on the agenda for businesses of all sectors.

For the first time, we have data and benchmarks across industries and the public sector – and it is in the public domain.

Now, we have the opportunity to make the same progress with the ethnicity pay gap. That’s why the government consultation launched last week on the publication of ethnicity pay data is critical. It will bring the issue to the forefront for business leaders, and help build on the changes already taking place in more progressive institutions.

As we have seen, raising awareness of gender pay gaps has not been the only benefit of the new reporting requirement. It has also given leaders more data and direction.

Any changes or decisions made by a business need to be strategic, on the basis of robust evidence. Now that this evidence exists, those leaders are publicly accountable for the way they respond to it.

For example, KPMG has been working to address our gender and ethnicity pay gaps for many years, taking steps such as banning all-male shortlists. But specific data allows for a more nuanced conversation – it has helped us identify key areas that need greater levels of action.

And once we know the roles and entry points which require particular attention, we can brief recruiters of the need for more diverse shortlists in those areas.

As our pay gap data shows for both gender and ethnicity, we’re still learning. Progress won’t happen overnight. But with a greater focus and more transparency, we are on the right path.

I truly believe that transparency will enable businesses to focus on ensuring more opportunities for all based on an individual’s skills and capabilities alone. We all have bias, but reliable data is the first step to confronting, challenging, and ultimately eliminating it.