Savills plc

05/17/2021 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 05/17/2021 03:30

Savills reports shrinking of Gender Pay Gap in 2020

In addition, there has been a small improvement in the bonus pay gap which has reduced from 80 to 79 per cent and the proportion of women in the two upper-most pay quartiles increased over the course of 2020, with women now comprising 22% of the highest pay quartile, up from 18% from when Savills first reported this figure in 2018, and more men also present in the lower two pay quartiles. Savills says that this demonstrates that the momentum it has made over the past few years towards creating a better gender balance across all tiers of its business has continued.

Key initiatives/achievements undertaken by Savills in 2020 in support of reducing the pay gap and supporting staff across the business include:

  • Leadership training: Savills has continued to support EG's Future Leaders programme (formerly its Future Female Leaders programme) in the past year. In addition, it has commenced its own internal intensive female-focused leadership communications programme to give more women across all levels of the business the opportunity to develop their confidence in presenting and public speaking.
  • Shared parental leave: Savills has offered all employees, whatever their gender, the same enhanced shared parental leave (SPL), significantly above statutory requirements, for several years. It says that uptake among new fathers increased in the past year the benefits have been promoted, and as more men have seen their colleagues embrace the opportunity of sharing parental care they have been inspired to do so themselves.
  • Appointment of first female UK CFO: Having joined Savills in 1997, and worked her way up through the business, in 2020 Savills promoted Nicola McGinnis to the role of UK Chief Financial Officer. Nicola is also a Board Director and member of the UK Executive Board.
  • On-boarding process: To address the recruitment and on-boarding challenges of 2020, Savills adapted its screening, selection and on-boarding processes to work virtually, with the induction process including formal and informal sessions, to ensure crucial opportunities to network and build social bonds are not missed out in a new joiner's vital first few months.
  • Health & Well-being support: Savills rolled out additional support last year specifically focused on staff well-being and mental health, providing one-on-one access to trained healthcare professionals 24 hours a day when needed. In addition, it adapted and moved training programmes online, or adopted hybrid models, to ensure that all employees continued to have the opportunity to develop their skills and work towards promotion.

Siân Tunney, Savills UK Board Director and Chair of the firm's gender diversity group, comments: 'Despite the challenging circumstances of 2020 I'm pleased that we're reporting progress across many of the key metrics used to measure the gender pay gap, including increasing the number of women on the UK Board and narrowing the mean hourly pay gap. But the work continues: we have announced that as part of Savills wider corporate diversity targets we are setting an initial goal of increasing the percentage of female directors in our UK business from 20% to 25% by 2023 - a challenging target in a relatively short timeframe - but one I am confident we will achieve using many of the initiatives we've put in place over the last few years.'

Richard Rees, Savills UK Managing Director, adds: 'The positive figures Savills is reporting this year show that the groundwork and initiatives we've put in place continue to lead to tangible improvements in the gender balance across our business, although we know that much still needs to be done to eliminate the gap entirely. Ensuring everyone in Savills has the opportunity to progress, is happy, and feels valued is our top priority. We have adapted our processes and introduced new initiatives in the past year to make sure this is possible, with a particular emphasis on supporting all staff with the well-being and mental health needs and achieving a good work/life balance given the specific challenges of the last 12 months.'

Savills 2020 Gender Pay Gap Report can be downloaded here.