North East firms are being advised how to close the gender pay gap and do more to boost women’s careers.
A toolkit for employers has been launched by the North East England Chamber of Commerce following work by its Women’s Leadership Forum with Newcastle housing association Home Group, which has won awards for its work in diversity.
The kit encourages businesses to have a fair working environment and salary scheme, as well as highlighting the economic benefits of having a diverse workforce.
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It also recommends prioritising training and mentoring for women to encourage them to go into leadership after Home Group’s Women into Leadership programme led to 32% of participants getting promotion within just six months.
Nusheen Hussain, executive director of business development at Home Group and a member of the Chamber’s Women’s Leadership Forum, said: “We urge every member of the North East business community to use our toolkit and build fairness into the very essence of their companies and organisations.
“If we are to recover quickly from the pandemic it is paramount everyone gets a wage that is appropriate to their efforts and all employees are not discriminated against in any way.
“At Home Group we believe our strong inclusive culture and leadership support has been fundamental to where we are today as an organisation that has embraced equality, diversity and inclusion. But we still have much work to do and continue with focussed attention, passion and effort towards gender parity within the workplace.”
The toolkit contains advice to business to consider flexible working policies to support women with caring responsibilities and to consider new recruitment policies to encourage a more diverse workforce.
