Less than one-third of employees feel they are paid fairly, while just 34 percent of employees believe their pay is equitable, according to a survey by Gartner, Inc.
The Gartner survey of 3,523 employees in 2Q22 also found that employees who perceive their pay as inequitable have a 15 percent lower intent to stay with their employer.
They are also 13 percent less engaged at work than employees who perceive their pay as equitable.
“Employees’ sensitivity to perceived pay gaps is being exacerbated by today’s economic conditions, including rising inflation, and the hot labor market, which is causing a shift in compensation between tenured employees and new hires,” said Tony Guadagni, senior principal in the Gartner HR practice.
Most organizations are actively taking steps to close pay gaps; a July 2022 Gartner survey of 104 total rewards leaders found that 84 percent are conducting pay equity audits at least annually. While technical approaches are necessary, they do not address employee perceptions.
“Employee perceptions of pay equity aren’t rooted in compensation,” said Guadagni. “Instead, the main driver of perception is organizational trust – when employees don’t trust their employers, they don’t believe their pay is fair or equitable.”
Most employees’ perceptions around pay are attributable to general trust in the organization. Factors that erode organisational trust include poor culture and inclusivity, poor work-life harmonization and unfair experiences.
To increase employee perceptions of pay, HR must rebuild employees’ trust in the organization.
More communication
Employees receive little pay information directly from their organization. A Gartner survey of more than 3,200 employees in May 2022 found that nearly 43 percent of employees discuss their pay with colleagues in the same role, while 45 percent of employees consult third-party pay sites at least once a year. In fact, the same survey found that less than one-third of employees are aware that their organization is prioritizing pay equity.
Communicating about pay equity builds organizational trust and improves employee perceptions, as does education about pay processes.
“Only 38 percent of the employees we surveyed report that they understand how their pay is determined,” said Guadagni. “When organizations educate employees about how pay is determined, employee trust in the organization increases by 10 percent and pay equity perceptions increase by 11 percent.”
Broader accountability
Most actions that create pay equity issues occur outside of the HR function and are the result of management decisions. Most pay gaps arise from decisions surrounding hiring, promotion and performance assessment. Despite limited influence over these factors, pay equity processes are siloed within the HR function at most organizations.
In order to effectively address and sustain pay equity across the organization, HR leaders must broaden the scope of accountability for pay equity and ensure that managers consider pay equity implications when making critical staffing and compensation decisions.
“HR leaders need to equip managers with tools that will enable them to make equitable pay decisions while remaining responsive to the other demands on the business,” said Guadagni. “Managers should have access to dashboards that compare pay across their teams and be trained on the critical factors that should differentiate employees’ pay.”
Develop a pay equity team
According to Gartner’s July 2022 survey, 72 percent of total rewards leaders report that their organisation’s senior leadership believes that pay equity is a high or very high priority. Yet, decision-makers deprioritize pay equity in practice, particularly when hiring critical talent.
While total rewards leaders own pay equity, HR can construct a pay equity team that has broad insight into the factors that cause pay equity gaps and the authority to correct them.
“An ideal pay equity team consists of leaders and employees across levels, business units and functions with insight into the practices and processes that create pay equity gaps and a visible commitment to pay equity within the organization,” added Guadagni.
Amelia Brand is the Editor for HRreview, and host of the HR in Review podcast series. With a Master’s degree in Legal and Political Theory, her particular interests within HR include employment law, DE&I, and wellbeing within the workplace. Prior to working with HRreview, Amelia was Sub-Editor of a magazine, and Editor of the Environmental Justice Project at University College London, writing and overseeing articles into UCL’s weekly newsletter. Her previous academic work has focused on philosophy, politics and law, with a special focus on how artificial intelligence will feature in the future.
