CII successfully reduces gender pay gap
Following the introduction of the targeted action plan it announced in 2016, the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) in the UK has reported that it has reduced its gender pay gap.
The CII’s mean gender pay gap, which was 28 per cent in 2017, has been reduced to 16.64 per cent, below the sector average of 29 per cent. Its median gender pay gap, meanwhile, has fallen from 18 per cent in 2017 to 5.65 per cent this year (the sector average is 24 per cent). The CII has published this data voluntarily, as well as guidance for other employers in the sector, in the hope that it will encourage other entities to follow its example and improve parity across the board.
The CII, after carrying out an in-depth organisational review of job levels, developing a knowledge framework promoting accountability and progression, has introduced various measures to promote diversity in its workplace. These include the introduction of ‘agile working’, in order to enable employees to better manage their work/life balance, and the introduction of parental coaching to make it easier for employees when returning to work. All managers must also undergo mandatory unconscious bias training and inclusive leadership training.
“This year marked a turning point for UK employers as the pay gap between the genders is now out in the open,” commented the CII’s People Engagement Director Tali Shlomo. “Our own analysis of the published data revealed that the insurance and personal finance sector has a long way to go to close this gap but as the professional body for insurance and personal finance, we are committed to leading by example on this. We recognise we are on a journey and that we might go back before we can go forwards, but we are working towards a zero per-cent gap. I urge all those working in the insurance and personal finance profession to publish their data openly, even if like the CII, their headcount is lower than the threshold required by the rules. 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.”