Why Addressing Pay Equity Concerns Matters

Pay equity has become a hot topic in today’s workplace. This is because the results (or lack thereof) of pay equity initiatives have a massive impact on people’s lives. 

At the most basic level, pay equity is the idea that all people should be paid the same for completing the equivalent work—assuming experience and other non-discriminatory factors are equal. This really isn’t a groundbreaking idea. All that’s being suggested is that people receive fair compensation for their work, regardless of race, gender, or other factors. While most will agree with this concept, the reality doesn’t meet these wishes. 

Even in today’s world, there are still huge disparities between how much women make versus men. There’s also still a massive gap between the pay of black and Hispanic/Latino workers in comparison to their white and Asian counterparts. These gaps have persisted for too long, and will only be closed once they have been identified and eliminated in a systematic fashion. 

While there has always been a moral imperative to fixing the pay gap, as it’s clearly an unfair practice to those who make less for doing the same work, this idea carries even more weight today. Let’s dig into why addressing pay equity concerns matters so much for modern enterprises. 

Why Is Addressing Pay Equity Concerns Important?

It doesn’t take a Mother Theresa type to know that paying some people more than others just because of their demographics is a gross practice. But the facts don’t lie. Despite there being ample data-based evidence to show the existence of these pay differences over time, they still exist. Clearly, the moral imperative hasn’t been enough to rein in unfair pay.

But in today’s world, the pay gap isn’t just about doing what’s right for employees. Enterprises that don’t pay their workers enough are waking up to the reality that people have other options and they’re willing to exercise them. 

Employee satisfaction, and ultimately, retainment, should also be seen as key drivers for ending pay disparities within your organization. Even those who aren’t personally affected by pay gaps in a negative way have started realizing that more diverse workplaces create a better culture, which in turns leads to happiness and success. Failure to provide fair pay will lead to your top employees looking for work elsewhere. 

While not exactly done due to demographic pay gaps, this concept can be seen in recent moves by big tech companies to retain their employees through highly competitive pay increases. Apple, for instance, recently gave many key employees share-based bonuses of up to $180,000, according to reports. This move was taken on specifically to stop employees from defecting to other companies who might offer more compelling compensation. 

The business world has become too competitive to play favorites. Future successful enterprises will harness this to their advantage, and lure in all the best talent, regardless of demographics. 

How Enterprises Should Address Pay Equity

Although it should be obvious by now that addressing pay equity is an essential task, the best path for accomplishing this might not be so obvious. There are many considerations that need to be accounted for when closing pay gaps. Many organizations will find this is too complex for them to solve on their own. 

This, however, doesn’t mean enterprises can give up on pay equity. It just implies that they might need to seek out some additional assistance in order to make it real. Finding a pay equity consulting partner is often the best choice. 

When you bring in an outside party to help jumpstart your pay equity aspirations, you’re going to immediately get industry-leading experts and cutting-edge technology to streamline the whole process. Going with an outside firm can also help with any legal or compliance issues that might arise from conducting a pay equity audit. Furthermore, many organizations don’t even realize they have a problem with pay equity until they bring in a third-party partner. Having unbiased eyes look over your practices is the best way to remediate issues in the most efficient way possible. 

Moving toward great pay equity is a non-negotiable part of doing business today. If you want to have sustained success, it’s essential you deliver pay equity to your employees.