Skip to main content
Contact Sales Support Careers
United States (English)
Americas
  • United States (English)
  • Canada (English)
  • Canada (Français)
  • Mexico (Español)
Europe, Middle East & Africa
  • United Kingdom (English)
  • France (Français)
  • Deutschland (Deutsch)
  • Nederland (Nederlands)
  • Other EMEA Locations
Asia/Pacific
  • India (English)
  • Australia (English)
UKG logo UKG logo
Search
Get started Get started
    • Solutions
      Solutions by Need
      People icon
      Human Resources
      Payroll icon
      Payroll
      Talent icon
      Talent
      People connected icon
      HR Service Delivery
      Clock with Person
      Time & Attendance
      Calendar day icon
      Scheduling
      Document check shield icon
      Compliance
      Chart bar statistics icon
      Reporting and Analytics
      Product Suites
      UKG Pro

      A culture-driven HCM suite designed to support your enterprise organization's needs.

      UKG Dimensions

      Workforce Management solution helping you redefine the work experience for your people.

      UKG Ready

      HR solution to help small and mid-size organizations focus on growth and making a difference for your people, every time.

      View all products
      Find the product that best fits your needs.
      Get started Get started
      get started
    • Customer Experience
      The UKG Promise

      With over 70 years of expertise with BOTH people systems and systems of work, no one knows people and how they work better than UKG.

      Our Promise
      Customer Experience

      We think you’re pretty special when you’re a UKG Customer. That’s why we build products designed to inspire your people — and your organization — to grow and thrive.

      Partner for Life
      Implementation
      Support Experience
      UKG Community
      Working Smarter Café
      Customer Stories
      Belle Tire

      UKG Pro streamlines and automates administrative and HR tasks, so that field teams and managers can spend more time with customers, and coach, train, and listen to their people.

      Eventide Senior Living Communities

      Eventide Senior Living Communities uses UKG to drive employee engagement and streamline workforce management and HCM, including cutting PBJ reporting time by 99%.

      See all customer stories
      Collaborate, learn, and get support for your UKG solution!
      Visit UKG Community Visit UKG Community
    • Resources
      • Research & Insights
        Research & Insights
        • By Business Need
        • By Type
        See all
        Growth icon
        Human Capital Management
        People icon
        Human Resources
        People connected icon
        HR Service Delivery
        Payroll icon
        Payroll
        Talent icon
        Talent
        Chart tree people icon
        Workforce Management
        Clock with Person
        Time & Attendance
        Calendar day icon
        Scheduling
        Document check shield icon
        Compliance
        Chart bar statistics icon
        Reporting and Analytics
        Lightbulb icon
        Product Info
        Video player icon
        Product Tour
        Article featured icon
        Analyst Report
        Document icon
        White Paper
        Book icon
        eBook
        Organization icon
        Industry Brief
        Chart bar icon
        Infographic
        News people icon
        Article
        Video player icon
        Webinar Replay
        Interactive
      Research & Insights
      • By Business Need
      • By Type
      See all
      Growth icon
      Human Capital Management
      People icon
      Human Resources
      People connected icon
      HR Service Delivery
      Payroll icon
      Payroll
      Talent icon
      Talent
      Chart tree people icon
      Workforce Management
      Clock with Person
      Time & Attendance
      Calendar day icon
      Scheduling
      Document check shield icon
      Compliance
      Chart bar statistics icon
      Reporting and Analytics
      Lightbulb icon
      Product Info
      Video player icon
      Product Tour
      Article featured icon
      Analyst Report
      Document icon
      White Paper
      Book icon
      eBook
      Organization icon
      Industry Brief
      Chart bar icon
      Infographic
      News people icon
      Article
      Video player icon
      Webinar Replay
      Interactive
      Events
      Tradeshows
      Conferences
      Webinars
      See all events
      Blogs
      The People Purpose Blog

      Your source for the latest life-work trends and ideas from UKG experts and leaders. Stay informed and put people first in all you do.

      Workforce Institute

      Think tank that helps organizations drive performance by addressing HCM and workforce management issues.

      Workplace Resources
      Great Place To Work
      Pay Equity Resources
      Human Insights
      UKG Developer Hub
      UKG Pro Ranks Highest in 2022 Gartner Critical Capabilities for Cloud HCM Suites for the North American Midmarket Use Case
      Get The Report
      Get The Report
      Reference Image
      UKG Ranks Highest in 2022 Gartner Critical Capabilities for Cloud HCM Suites

      Read the Gartner® Critical Capabilities analysis for UKG Pro®.

    • About Us
      About UKG

      Learn more about UKG and how our HR solutions inspire workforces and businesses around the world to drive people-focused results.

      About Us
      Why UKG
      UKG Leadership
      Newsroom
      Awards & Recognition
      UKG Ambassadors
      Culture
      Our ESG Program
      Partners
      UKG Marketplace
      Analyst Reports
      Careers

      Look to your future. If you're interested in working for a company that truly invests in their people to create a culture of belonging and innovation, we want you on our team.

      Careers at UKG
      Early Career & Internships
      Benefits
      Life at UKG
      Featured Locations
      FAQs
      Experience awesome at work.
      Search jobs at UKG Search jobs at UKG
    Contact Sales Support Careers
    United States (English)
    Americas
    • United States (English)
    • Canada (English)
    • Canada (Français)
    • Mexico (Español)
    Europe, Middle East & Africa
    • United Kingdom (English)
    • France (Français)
    • Deutschland (Deutsch)
    • Nederland (Nederlands)
    • Other EMEA Locations
    Asia/Pacific
    • India (English)
    • Australia (English)
    Find the product that best fits your needs.
    Get started Get started
    get started
    Search Get started Get started
    Talent icon
    Talent

    The impact of DEI&B inequities and wage gaps on retention and engagement

    December 3, 2021
    HR executives behind glass standing in conference room discussing pay equity
    • Share
    See all blog stories See all blog stories
    Stay up to date with The People Purpose Blog
    Subscribe via email Subscribe via email
    Subscribe via RSS

    Written By

    Erika Sandoval
    Erika Sandoval
    Global Senior Partner, HCM Strategic Advisory Group

    Erika is part of the HCM Strategic Advisory team at UKG. She is a multilingual advocate for equity in the workplace and has helped organizations navigate the complexities of intersectional cultural differences in global workplace environments.

    Topics

    Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging

    Without a doubt, the world of work is changing, and we are continuing to see disproportionate disparities among various groups across the workforce. We can't discuss the impact of absence in the workplace as we've been doing in this series, or the answers we have to address it throughout the employee life cycle, without discussing the effect pay has on employee retention and engagement, especially if it's not equitably balanced.

    The competitive labor market is further shaping these discussions around pay equity. Women, people of color, and other underrepresented groups are continuing to experience a significant persistent pay gap. As the world of work is continuing to change, pay equity is critical to any business imperative as it represents a $512 billion economic opportunity in the US. HR professionals and leaders play a critical role in helping to close the pay gap as it plays a significant role in the entire employee life cycle from recruitment, development, and retention of employees.

     

     

    The State of the HR Function in Small to Mid-Sized Businesses pay equity banner

     

    What we know about pay equity today

    While focusing on wellbeing and flexibility is critical for combatting recruiting issues, absenteeism, and turnover in the workforce, the reality is that 46 percent of women are looking for higher salaries and one in three women of color plan to leave their job by 2022. Women in general are not only wanting flexible work environments, but also to be paid and promoted at levels that reflect their true worth. The gender pay gap discussion had already been happening prior to the pandemic, but since COVID-19 there have been some unhealthy trends emerging. In fact, it's now looking like the pandemic is projected to widen the employment gap between men and women even further than before.

    Research continues to demonstrate that women continue to be paid less than men, which has significant impact on families and for mothers who may be the sole breadwinners and caretakers of their families. In 2020, women typically made 82 cents for every dollar of the average man. According to Pipeline Equity, the gender pay gap in the US widened by 5 percent in the first 11 months of the pandemic which wiped away 33 years of progress towards pay equity.  Economist are projecting that it will take more than 10 years for the wage gap to return to what it was before the pandemic.

    On top of this, a recent study by Deloitte shows that female employment has become smaller overall, largely because of job losses in low- and medium-wage occupations, while men employed in low- and medium-wage occupations suffered fewer job losses. This means that low-and middle-income occupations must recover among women, because the long-standing income disparity between men and women may widen even further. As far as education, women now exceed the number of men in the labor force with a bachelor’s degree, and they are still being paid less. This gap becomes wider the higher a woman’s level of educational achievement is, which is also true for people with disabilities whose earnings widen as their educational attainment increases.

    The discussion on pay inequity has historically focused predominantly on white women, while other identities have been left out of the discussion. The pandemic has also further exacerbated systemic inequities for BIPOC (black, indigenous, people of color) in the United States. According to recent earnings study, Black workers in the US earned 74.9 percent as much as white workers in the second quarter of 2021 at the median, and Hispanic workers 72.8 percent during the same period.  

    When discussing intersectional identities we also can't ignore intersectional gender equity, where even a greater pay gap exists. Women of Color (WOC) have especially been impacted in the workplace and continue to experience among the largest pay gaps in the workforce. Many of the in-person jobs that were lost at the beginning of the pandemic were also among the lowest paid, such as the service industry, retail, education, healthcare, and domestic work. Those exact same fields that we deemed essential impacted WOC significantly. For every dollar a White man made in 2021, Black women made 63 cents, Native American Women made 60 cents, and Latinas made 53 cents. Black and Latina women are also 2.5 times as likely as White men to make less than $15 hour. It is important to note that among the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, pay equity discussions often only show big picture statistics that focus on ‘model minority’ discussions without considering the larger group as whole that has over 50 subgroups. While some APPI populations are concentrated in higher-wage professions, others are heavily concentrated in lower-wage occupations—one in four AAPI women work a front-line job.

    Data collection for LGBTQ+ people, and particularly transgender people, is particularly vague in wage gap figures, and is something that must be captured to address pay equity. According to the Human Rights Campaign, 58 percent of transgender people of color reported that their work hours were reduced during the pandemic, which was the highest among the general LGBQT+ population who reported 23 percent and White LGBQT+ people reported 27 percent.

    That's an overwhelming amount of information, right? But just think — armed with all of these trends, we can more effectively change the direction of this issue for the better to support our people equitably and foster a stronger sense of inclusion and belonging in our workplaces. Let's see how we can get started with that.

    Advancing DEI&B and pay equity in your workplace

    Now more than ever is the time for us as HR leaders to shape the conversations for equitable pay in the workplace. As we know from the trends we're seeing with absence, the Great Resignation, and recruiting, the stakes are higher than ever. If we want to attract and retain the best talent, we have to create the best outcomes possible for all the talent we have, regardless of who they are.

    Data-driven conversations are especially important for understanding where specific inequalities exist. One of the first places to start is by performing a data analysis and pay audit in your HCM system to really understand the size of the pay gap and how it breaks down in promotions, attrition, performance, and job groups across intersections of gender, ethnicity, race, LGBQT+, and disability. Measuring diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEI&B) initiatives can tell you specific details into your pay equity plan as well. For example, looking at the success rates of who is getting promoted and whether underrepresented employees have equal access to mentorships, apprentice programs, training and development, high-visibility work, and special projects.

    Greater transparency and published salary ranges can help with biases that may show up. Transparency is critical for any foundation of trust. Employers should be able to provide their employees more transparency around pay in each role, qualifications needed for particular roles, and paths for advancement in the company. Frequently, upper management and senior leadership have discussions around pay, but those findings are not shared with the larger workforce. Research continues to show that having evidence of pay equity becomes a motivating driver to close any gaps that may exist.

    Discussing pay in the US is not common. Throughout my experiences, I've seen how discussing pay here can be a major taboo, while in other countries that I've worked and lived in there have been open discussions about pay even with senior executives. We need to encourage these discussions as HR professionals, and more importantly we must discuss the root cause of inequities that are embedded in biases, which come up during hiring practices, growth opportunities, compensation, promotions, and reviews. We have already seen certain states like Colorado put transparency laws in place that disclose targeted pay range for job postings. Other states and local governments have banned requesting salary history information. Consequently, it is critical to focus on the skills and experiences of the candidates and not focus on pay history. Discussions are also occurring on removing requirements on college degrees on job descriptions to get a broader selection of candidates, which you'll see more on as we continue this series.

    When speaking about high turnover, absence, and disengagement in the workforce, we can’t avoid discussing wage compressions. This requires careful planning and the use of HR technology tools that can also help you with compensation management. During one of my experiences, I witnessed how hourly workers’ pay was raised and no careful analysis was considered to see how this change would affect salaried managers. We quickly saw a disengaged management team with high turnover rates, and some of the hourly workers who witnessed this impact quickly became uninterested in applying for management positions. A proactive approach to wage compression and pay inequity is critical not only for the morale of the workforce but for the employer brand.

    Conclusion: Fair compensation is the path to future success

    Now more than ever is the time to review compensation policies and practices in our organizations with a DEI&B lens, which is important in attracting and retaining engaged employees during this critical time of work. Building pay equity into organizational culture, like any other DEI&B strategy, requires commitment from leadership, and ongoing policies and practices embedded throughout the entire organization. We as HR leaders play a fundamental role in creating a workplace where DEI&B efforts can thrive, where underrepresented identities want to work at, and are given equitable access to opportunities and pay.

    Of course, to have productive discussions with your leaders on these topics you need to present information in ways that resonate with them. If you need help getting these issues the visibility they deserve, I recommend you check out my colleague Julie Develin's recent webinar session on where to prioritize to move HR forward with your executive team.

    See the webinar

    • The People Purpose Blog
    • The impact of DEI&B inequities and wage gaps on retention and engagement

    Related Stories

    The public sector can help educational institutions and government agencies find and retain the best talent in the new world of work.
    The People Purpose Blog

    Why Creating Purpose at Work Is Key to Retaining Talent

    Job seekers and employees today are increasingly focused on finding purpose in what they do. Read how promoting the mission-driven nature of working in the public sector can help educational institutions and government agencies find and retain the best talent in this new world of work.

    How to Fix Work and Engage Employees
    The People Purpose Blog

    UKG Survey Findings: How to Fix Work and Engage Employees

    A UKG study shows that employees are disengaged and disillusioned with their jobs. But there’s hope: Here’s how we can fix work and re-engage employees today.

    Increase hiring efficiency and employee retention to reduce job interview lines
    The People Purpose Blog

    How to Increase Hiring Efficiency and Employee Retention

    Five strategies to consider during leaner times to increase hiring efficiency and prevent attrition.

    UKG logo

    Footer menu

    • Human Capital Management
      • Human Resources
      • Payroll
      • Talent
      • Reporting and Analytics
    • Workforce Management
      • Time & Attendance
      • Scheduling
      • Compliance
    • Product Suites
      • UKG Pro
      • UKG Dimensions
      • UKG Ready
    • Customer Experience
      • Implementation
      • Support Experience
      • UKG Community
      • Customer Stories
    • About Us
      • Why UKG
      • Culture
      • Our ESG Program
      • Leadership
      • Newsroom
      • Careers
      • Privacy and Security

    Sub Footer

    • Modern Slavery Statement
    • Accessibility
    • Cookie Choices
    • Cookie Notice
    • Terms of Use
    • Trademarks
    • CCPA Notice
    • Licenses
    • Privacy Notice
    © 2023 UKG Inc. All rights reserved.

    Kronos SaaShr, Inc., a UKG Company (NMLS ID#1698726) provides money transmission services on behalf of UKG Inc. customers and in connection with certain UKG products.