The Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) is calling for the investment sector to follow its lead after it almost halved its gender pay gap over a one-year period.
Its mean pay gap has fallen from 28% in 2017 to 16.64% this year. Its median pay gap is less than a third of what it was in 2017, hitting 5.65%, compared with 18% last year.
The results follow a targeted action plan introduced in 2016 to address its gender pay gap issue. It has published that plan and its data to encourage others in the insurance and personal finance industry to follow suit.
The mean and median gender pay gap for the insurance sector are 29% and 24%, respectively, on average.
Walking the talk on gender pay
City Hive chief executive and founder Bev Shah (pictured) said the CII has shown that it is serious about addressing the gender pay gap.
“Others should take note because the time for talk is over and with six months to go until the next round of gender pay gap reporting, action needs to be taken as the numbers won’t lie,” Shah said.
In 2018, the UK government required all firms with more than 250 employees to publish figures on their gender pay gap with disappointing results for the investment industry.
Tali Shlomo, people engagement director of the CII, pointed out the industry body published its results despite not having 250 staff and urged other companies in the personal finance and insurance industries to do the same.
“Publishing our gender pay information is an opportunity to show that we recognise that we serve the whole of society, and we should take this opportunity,” she said.
Shlomo said the government requirement had marked a turning point for UK employers by shedding light on the problem.
CII’s pay gap action plan
The CII’s reduction in the gender pay gap is result of a programme of activity, including an in-depth organisational review of job levels, development of a knowledge framework supporting accountability and progression, and the introduction of a number of measures in the workplace to support colleagues.
These include agile working to support all colleagues to manage work and personal priorities and parental coaching for all colleagues to enable them to better manage returning to work.
Additionally, the CII also continues to ensure that all managers attend compulsory unconscious bias training and inclusive leadership training. It is also part of the 30% Club cross-country mentoring programme and provides access to informal mentoring for all colleagues.
No quick fix on structural inequalities
The CII ultimately said it aims to have zero pay gap for its employees.
Shah said: “No one is expecting the structural issues that have caused the gender pay gap to disappear overnight. This is something that will take time to fix.
“But there are short-term inequalities that can be corrected immediately. Policies can also be put in place that start to challenge biases that have created the structural imbalance.”
