​HRIT’s 13% Gender Pay Gap

According to our latest research, the HRIT industry has varying gender pay gaps between men and women at different experience levels. At junior levels, the pay gap favours women at 8%, whereas specialists with over eight years’ experience sees men earn more than women, with a pay gap of 13%. Men still dominate the c-suite, earning more than their female counterparts.

At junior levels, the gender pay gap is manageable. More and more women are undertaking HR courses and degrees, so they tend to join companies in similar roles at similar pay to their male counterparts after graduating. The key driver of the gender pay gap at senior levels starts as professionals climb the career ladder and businesses search for Executive Hires.

Fewer Women Advance To C-Suite Positions

Few women hold roles leading a brand, unit or business division. Professionals in these positions typically remain on track to secure a position at the top of a company where by more women remain in management roles.

Part of the reasoning behind women not stepping up and into new roles revolves around internal promotions. Promotions are usually based on subjective notions and unconscious opinions. Few evaluations on employee performance are formulated where anyone in the business can pick them up and it be clear that the employee deserves a promotion. Managers should provide enough evidence so that another person reading the performance evaluation can see the evidence upon which the manager bases the judgement. Reducing bias with evidence-based criteria will reduce the number of employees overlooked for promotions or a pay rise, closing the gap on pay discrepancies.

A Lack of Transparency

Within organizations, transparent pay discussions have the largest impact for individuals, supervisors and managers. While higher up on company organisation charts, female directors and executives still face discriminatory pay, the gender pay gap diminishes somewhat with transparent pay practices here, as well.

The 2022 German HRIT Salary Guide acts as an ice breaker to this conversation, and can be referenced to support conversations regarding pay. At Uniting Enterprise, our consultative process can help inform hiring strategies for diverse talent and recommend best practice when conducting a search. For more information on hiring and recruiting diverse talent, please download the 2022 German HRIT Salary Guide or contact us.