Marketing and pitch consultancy TrinityP3 is calling out adland management to do more to close the pay gap.
After Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) released, for the first time, figures on the gender pay gap for private sector employers with a workforce of 100 or more employees.
The data drop has revealed that there are pay gaps as large as 26% in some of Australia’s major media companies and a gap of anywhere between 13% and 18% for most of the big multinational advertising holding groups.
TrinityP3 has analysed the submissions of more than 30 media/adland employers and included their results in the charts below.
View the interactive charts here.
Lydia Feely, general manager at TrinityP3, said the data shines a real light of transparency on the pay gap.
“Today’s release of the employer gender pay data is an important moment in understanding the ongoing disparity of pay for women in the workforce," Feely said.
TrinityP3 noted the release of the WGEA data comes as the media and marketing industry continues to struggle with female representation in their senior ranks, particularly at the board and senior management level.
“This gap isn’t surprising when you look at both the senior management level and boards of major media and advertising companies, in particular in key roles like key management personnel, heads of business or general managers. The dominance of men in these roles remains startling,” said Feely.
“The reality is there is still a significant disparity. It has improved in recent decades but without a strong focus from the senior ranks the gap won’t close any further.
“This is about having tangible policies to support both men and women when it comes to things like parental leave, flexible working but also workplaces looking at their pay policies, value contribution and ensuring they aren’t systematically paying men more than women for the same level of work."
View the full interactive charts here.
TrinityP3 argues that companies need to look at activities like actively benchmarking themselves to ensure they aren’t slipping behind others.
“This is one important thing that corporations, regardless of industry, need to do,” said Feely.
“Once you establish where you are you also need to look at what other ‘like for like’ businesses are doing and if they are doing better than you, ask what they have done that you have not.”
Unsurprisingly companies that had clear policies on the gender pay gap and who undertook regular payroll analysis performed better when it came to the gender pay gaps they reported to WGEA.
Ensuring the workplace is safe and fair for all is an issue that TrinityP3 has campaigned on.
Two years ago the consultancy led the advertising industry in asking advertising agencies to sign statutory declarations around some of their key policies, especially in regards to workplace harassment and the use of non-disclosure agreements, as part of the pitching process for ad business.
Darren Woolley, CEO of TrinityP3, said the consultancy was really proud to lift the industry's bar on some of these key issues.
“This is a topic where we all have a stake and in the case of the statutory declarations it was a topic which drove important debate and discussion in adland," Woolley said.
“For us it was really interesting which agencies would and wouldn’t sign these documents and the result, two years in, has been that a lot of agencies, especially in the independent space, have gone away and significantly improved their processes and support in these areas. That’s been really great to see and shows progress can be achieved."
“This is an area that needs all of us to focus more on it,” said Feely.
“We all want a workplace where we are paid equitably and also feel included, supported and safe. Most business leaders want to do the right thing but it’s not always easy or simple and we have to support them in doing so. The new data today is a good first step that will hold business leaders accountable but there is also a lot more to do."
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.