A new survey by Willis Towers Watson has shed light on gender pay gap in New Zealand.
The report, entitled 2018 Getting Compensation Right Survey, revealed that New Zealand’s gender pay gap is smaller than Australia’s, but more employers need a formal process for eliminating bias or inconsistency in hiring and pay decisions.
Twenty-seven percent of companies surveyed do not have formal processes to avoid bias in base pay, according to Willis Towers Watson talent and reward head Adam Hall. Alarmingly, he noted, 58% of companies do not have a formal process for ensuring no bias in long-term incentive eligibility and receivership, and 76% do not have processes for ad hoc monetary recognition.
The report also suggested organisations are missing opportunities to increase the incentive differentiation for top performers. It revealed that when actual funding differs from target funding, incentive payout differences are compressed at the top end.
“There is a significant threat that, if there is not enough differentiation in pay and through the use of incentives, we will see higher costs for New Zealand employers over the long term,” Hall said. “New Zealand companies may also want to look at how Australia’s Hayne Royal Commission influences the way they approach risk, culture and remuneration. Not addressing external changes on the rapidly-evolving work ecosystem can affect the ability of companies to attract and retain critical employees.”
The survey was conducted in April. A total of 1,949 global companies, including 707 employers in Asia Pacific, participated in the survey.
