All I want for Christmas: equal pay and more women in management

http://www.theguardian.com/women-in-leadership/2013/dec/17/equal-pay-women-in-management

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Dear Santa,

This year I've been very well behaved, so if you wouldn't mind there are just a couple of little things I'd like for 2014:

Equal rights and equal pay for all

A report out last week from the Office for National Statistics found that the gender pay gap widened for the first time since 2008, from 9.5% to 10% for full-time workers. According to statistics from the Fawcett Society, women still earn 14.9% less on average than men for the same job. In the private sector, the gap is even wider. The 2012 Gender Salary Survey from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) suggested that women can earn £423,000 less than a man over her career. The CMI report also concluded that women lose out when it comes to bonuses, receiving less than half the average £7,496 that men receive. Both businesses and women need to take responsibility to redress the balance, but more transparency on salaries in companies would help.

Focus on increasing women at all management levels

Women representation at board level is currently at 19%, and things are moving in the right direction. However, the real indicator of whether or not real progress is being made will be down to how organisations are addressing the female talent pipeline. If the focus is on simply hitting a number, it's a bit like pretending that you can go out and "shop" for more women for the board. While we know there is female talent out there, there's more to it than reaching a number. And what happens when board members inevitably move on? The business is no better equipped to bring women up from the organisation and the "shopping" process begins all over again. Until organisations address the pipeline at all levels, true progress toward gender parity will never be realised.

For every manager to understand the benefits of gender balance

When we're talking about the benefits of gender balance often the board understands but managers, who are the policy implementers, don't always appreciate the business imperative. Faced with short-term goals and incentives, it becomes all too easy to make decisions that don't support long-term goals. If businesses are to make true and lasting progress, managers need to be tasked as part of their objectives. They also need to be trained in areas such as understanding bias. We all have biases and therefore need to have personal strategies in place to recognise and remove bias in all its guises.

Recognition that there are more parents committed to careers than ever before

With the rise of female breadwinners and dual income couples, we need to be more open-minded about balancing working and family life for both men and women. Businesses can't afford to ignore this changing tide. Flexible working for men and women is the key to achieving balance between work and life, regardless of family situation/circumstances.

And lastly, an evening with Johnny Depp wouldn't go amiss.

It's not too much to ask really, is it?

Lyndsey Oliver is co-founder of gender balance consultancy Female Quotient

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