Canadian HR Reporter Weekly

2 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2018 CANADIAN HR REPORTER WEEKLY Growing pressure to improve pay-for-performance programs and ensure fair, transparent pay practices is prompting changes to employee compensation programs, according to a survey by Willis Towers Watson. Almost half of respondents (49 per cent) said they are planning on or considering increasing the level of transparency around pay decisions. "Getting compensation right is becoming increasingly important as employers look to drive higher levels of performance, attract and retain talent, and make fair pay decisions," said Sandra McLellan, North America business leader, rewards, at Willis Towers Watson in Toronto. ere are several driving forces behind the trend, and one is related to transparency more globally around the fairness of pay practices, she said. "ese questions come up specific to gender pay: 'What's our gender pay gap? As a company, what are some of our inclusion and diversity practices, and are we making that happen, are we helping to support that through pay?' So this is increasingly part of many organizations' social responsibility agenda; these are topics that have worked their way into their broader sense of their sustainability plans." A majority of employers believe in the concept of diversity, with nearly 57 per cent indicating fair pay is a priority for the next three years, found the survey of 1,949 employers worldwide, including 88 Canadian employers. And 82 per cent intend to conduct a gender pay or pay equity diagnostic. Some of the push is also coming from boards and HR committees taking an increased interest in the bigger picture, said McLellan, so "questions around gender pay equity and inclusion and diversity are coming up as part of the overall health of the company." Without a doubt, there is more interest in pay transparency, said Janet Salopek, president and senior consultant at Salopek & Associates in Calgary. And one of the reasons is the younger generations in the workplace. "Transparency is very, very important to them, and they will decide to stay with the company… if they sense and actually are experiencing higher degrees of transparency," she said. "ey grew up on and have come to expect information at their fingertips, so that means information about the company — who they work for, and how employers do their business with respect to how they pay their employees and all of that, as it relates to compensation. As such, they expect to understand it, and require… that employers be more transparent." People are also more open about their pay, said McLellan, especially with social media telling people what they might be worth in the marketplace. "People are just living in a world where we're more comfortable sharing that kind of information," she said. "If, as an employer, you're leaving the explanation of programs to people to figure out for themselves, then there'll be much more interpretation than if you're actually helping to make it easy and explain a bit the 'why' of the programs." Cost concerns e survey revealed several factors are prompting em- ployers to make or consider changes to their programs including manager feedback (78 per cent), employee feed- back (73 per cent), cost (69 per cent) and the changing marketplace (61 per cent). Pay transparency in spotlight Employers 'looking to drive higher levels of performance': Expert BY SARAH DOBSON Sign up for the Canadian HR Newswire today for free and enjoy great content from the publishers of Canadian HR Reporter. HR News at Your Fingertips THE LATEST NEWS THE BEST COMMENTARY DELIVERED WEEKLY FOR READING ON ANY DEVICE Visit www.hrreporter.com/ canadian-hr-newswire

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