6 Ways to Bridge the Gender Pay Gap

6 Ways to Bridge the Gender Pay Gap The latest data by the Office for National Statistics has found that, while the gender gap in the UK has fallen to its lowest ever level at 8.6%, the average woman in the workplace still earns 8.6% less than the average man with the gap even wider for women aged over 40 with 12.8%.  With this in mind,  Instant Offices  have investigated what forward-thinking steps can be taken to help bridge the gap. According to the World Economic Forum, it could take 170 years to close the gender pay gap on a global level completely. The ONS states that in the UK, some of the reasons for the wage disparity include women working in lower-paid jobs as well as being underrepresented in senior roles. Additionally, 41% of women work part-time compared to the 12% of men, which could mean a lower rate of pay. John Williams, Head of Marketing at The Instant Group, says: Due to the gap in male and female salaries, in theory, women start working for free in the UK from 10 November â€" a date that has  remained the same  since 2015. The good news, however, is that the gender pay gap among full-time workers in the UK has fallen to its lowest level in 20 years, but, according to the Trades Union Congress, the country still has a long way to go in terms of equal pay across the board. 1. Incentivize paternity leave Businesses can be made more female-friendly by incentivizing paternity leave for dads. If fathers have additional paternity leave, mothers can return to work sooner, work more hours and earn more money, while allowing fathers more bonding time with their newborns. Shared parental leave was introduced in the UK in 2015, although not all parents qualify. 2. Subsidize childcare The cost of childcare can be stressful for many families, with an average cost of part-time childcare being up to £6,000 a year. The UK government covers some of the costs of childcare once the child turns three, but with the nursery fees and travel costs, women on low wages often find going back to work to be a difficult and financially draining decision. That said, some businesses have been stepping in to provide female staff with childcare services. According to research, companies providing childcare services saw reductions in employee turnover, increased productivity, and improved quality in job applicants. 3. Introduce remote working In today’s digital world, remote working is becoming more acceptable and accessible to millennial workers, although parents can also enjoy the benefits of working from home. The Fawcett Society, an organization dedicated to gender equality, has called on employers to provide roles that are flexible, part-time or a job share. According to the TUC, flexible working has real benefits for businesses, with employees proving to be more dedicated and productive. There is a common misconception that mothers working from home are less ambitious than their colleagues are. On the contrary, according to a survey by Ernst and Young,  64% of working women who enjoyed flexible working hours claimed to have a clear career path compared to 10% of women who worked fixed hours. While flexible working conditions enable mothers to juggle work, childcare, and family commitments, it also allows more time for essential tasks. 4. Be transparent about pay Being open and transparent about how much you pay your staff, whether listed in the initial job description or the interview, is a good starting point. Businesses should research market rates for a role and offer a fair salary for the job they are hiring for. It is also a good idea to explain how your business determines salaries and pay increases up front so that the candidate can make an informed decision about joining your company or not. 5. Ensure that promotions and rewards are fair A disparity in pay can easily occur when employees are offered promotions, pay raises or bonuses. As a business owner, you must ensure that these are not in favor of male employees and that everyone has a fair chance of receiving a promotion, reward, or salary increase. Whether it is an outright or subconscious bias towards male employees, this can easily get out of hand, therefore putting in place clear and concise criteria for promotions, pay raises and bonuses will help keep things fair. 6. Give female employees a raise Giving female employees an increase can eliminate the gender pay gap in the most pain-free way. Not only are employees enjoying equal pay, but, as more companies are being scrutinized and being forced to publish their gender pay gap reports, it provides the best strategy for businesses to continue operations with minimal disruptions and additional pressure. You can find out more about bridging the gender gap in this infographic. About the author:  Established in 1999, The Instant Group is a global flexible workspace specialist. Underpinned by unrivaled expertise, Instant tailors unique solutions to help businesses of all sizes to grow, drive savings or gain invaluable insight.   With offices in London, Berlin, Dallas, New York, Hong Kong, and Sydney, The Instant Group employs more than 100 experts and has clients in 113 countries.

Making a Difference 9 questions to help you plan your career path.

Making a Difference 9 questions to help you plan your career path. If you want to ‘make a difference’ through your work but aren’t yet clear what shape this might take, answering the following questions may help you move from a gut feeling of wanting to do something worthwhile to a clearer goal and a plan. Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.  (Minor Myers Jr) At a recent ‘Start your Journey’ careers event in the SU, the Student Careers and Skills Service asked students to capture their career dreams and fears on a display wall. Many identified ‘making a difference’ as a career dream but some struggled to pin down what that might look like. Few students start out knowing what their ‘making a difference’ might be. You probably have one or two friends or relatives who might have known from an early age what they wanted to do. However you may need to get some experience before your ideas start to take shape. 1. Who do you want to help? Consider whose lives you want to improve. The young, the sick, the elderly, displaced citizens?   Or do you want to focus on animal welfare, the environment or the universe? 2. Why do you want to make a difference? Those things that make you really angry or upset may give you an indication of where you’re willing to invest your time and effort. Think about what presses your buttons and ask yourself: ‘why does that upset me/make me angry?’ 3. What will you be doing? Educating, organising, promoting, performing, persuading, counselling, advocating, mentoring, advising, caring, or researching? 4. What’s your personality type? Do you prefer to: Apply your skills and energy directly to the people you want to make a difference to… hands-on front line delivery of aid in war-torn countries, campaigning or fundraising, advocating for prisoners, politics, teaching. Use your practical skills to build sustainable housing or perhaps dig wells to provide water. Undertake research into the causes of poverty, conflict, unemployment; develop life-saving drugs, apply your professional skills to make a difference- an accountant working for a charity, a consultant working in the Education sector. Develop strategies by working for a policy unit or think tank, or analyse and interpret Big Data to shape the policy decisions of governments or NGOs. 5. What skills and strengths do you have? If you can identify what you’re good at and enjoy, it will be easier to identify where you may be able to apply your skills and strengths. You might want to build wells to provide water but if you’re not the least bit practical, your skills may better suited to project management. You might be better overseeing the process that leads to the digging of the wells. You’ll still have made a difference. 6. Where do you want to work? Try to visualise your work environment; do you see yourself working at home, outdoors, in an office, overseas, in a University, a hospital, the Civil Service, for a Non-Government Organisation (NGO), Local Government, from home? Fact: 16% of Warwick graduates can be found in the education and social care sectors six months after graduation. 7. How do you want to work? As part of a team, in a professional setting, in the public eye, with a high degree of autonomy, regular or irregular hours, under pressure, project-based, in one place, travelling, behind the scenes? 8. What do you do in your spare time? Your leisure activities may provide you with possible career directions. Volunteering or societies where you may already be making a difference, or activities you are involved in during vacation can help to point the way. 9. What do you read? Take a look at your bookshelves. What kinds of books do you tend to read most? Your books may hold the key to your interests and passions You may not instantly find your perfect job on graduation. However placing your foot on the first rung of the ladder may be the start of an exciting journey. Anne Wilson

A Guide to Working for Yourself

A Guide to Working for Yourself Working for yourself can be a wonderful thing. You get to decide when you work, where you work, and how you work. It gives you much more freedom than a typical nine to five, and it can be a more enjoyable experience. When you work for yourself, however, it means that you are responsible for every single thing in your work life. It can be difficult to juggle all the different aspects of your career, keep yourself motivated, and have a separate home life that your work doesn’t intrude on. If you are struggling to find that perfect balance, then these are some handy tips that will give you the guidance you need to succeed. Set Yourself Goals When you work for yourself, the only person you have to let down is yourself. There is no boss to whip you back into shape if you start slacking on your work, so you have to be the one to do this. At the beginning of every week, set yourself a handful of goals that you want to complete by Friday. This will give you something to strive towards and give you a better overall picture of how you and your business is performing. If you have nothing to work towards, it can be hard to stay motivated. You should also begin every day by noting down a to-do-list. This will give you a clear structure for how your day is going to go and what you need to achieve. Get out of the House While working from home gives you the comfort of your own space, you need to be careful that you don’t develop cabin fever. Two or three times a week, take your work into a café and spend a few hours there. Your productivity can be increased by a new environment, and you can create some separation between your work and home life. If you want to go even further, there are a number of offices to rent London based that allow you to take your business into its next step and help you have a healthier relationship with how and where you work. Take Breaks When you don’t have breaks structured into your day, you can easily forget to take them and burn yourself out. Make sure to factor in times for you to get a breather and grab some lunch so you can come back to your work refreshed. Minimise Distractions Working at home or in a public space means there will be distractions. Turn off personal social media notifications. Don’t be tempted by the TV. If you like working in cafés, find a quiet corner where you won’t be disturbed. Know Your Limits It can be tempting to go all out on your work when you have no restrictions from office colleagues or employers, but it’s important that you remember your own limits, physically and mentally. While you need to set yourself goals and a routine to succeed, make sure that these are achievable so that you can work happy.

How to know when you should apologize

How to know when you should apologize I saw a  graph about when anyone is most likely to have a birthday. My mom and ex-husband and now-husband all have a birthday in the first week of April. This is statistically unlikely and it makes me think there is something I should know about astrology. But I have cognitive dissonance to becoming an expert in astrology because I think youll think Im crazy and then I wont be able to blog about it, and there is no point in being an expert in something I cant blog about like when I battle with my editor where I write about my ovulation and my fascination with my mucus something and he cuts it. But I like graphs because they make numbers into pictures and numbers seem more true to me than hunches. Like, I had a hunch that Im working fifty-hour weeks, because Im always squeezing work in between other stuff, but then I graphed my time and it turned out I am working about thirty hours. When I was randomly clicking links to avoid facing the  problem of how much Im not working, I found a graph in the  New York Times about how you can estimate how many grades above average a kid will be by looking at the median income of their school district. On my education blog I write about how if you take a poor kid and put them in a rich school (busing, vouchers, whatever) the poor kid doesnt score any higher. So  its how rich your parents are, not how good the school is. (Which means there are no good schools because school doesnt impact a kids educationits only the parents income.) My brother sent me a link to IQuantNY  which shows a graph of how many tickets get issued in different parking spaces in New York City that are actually legal parking spaces.  The guy uses photos from Google maps and records of tickets issued to create a huge list of ill-gotten tickets. If you scroll down the page you see that the police department issued an apology. And a commitment to do better in the future.  I dont know which blew me away morethe ingenious use of data collection or the lovely apology letter the data analyst published. The graph at the top of this post is about how much different types of people like to read. Before we discuss the graph, let  me say that I think our society really overvalues reading and really undervalues doing (both in the name of learning). And its a joke that kinesthetic learners are forced to  sit in school for 18 years while told that if they do well they can get jobs where they sit in offices, as if the goal in life is to avoid all kinesthetic everything. It reminds me of how my clearly-left-handed mom was forced to learn to write with her right hand in 1950. The first thing I noticed about the graph is my older son is the personality type that reads the most, and my younger son is the personality type that reads the least. The next thing I noticed is this is a good example of how personality type is relative. For example, if you ask an INFP if they like to read, theyll say yes. But relative to all 16 types, INFPs are not readers, they are thinkers. INFPs like to be alone, staring into space, organizing their very complex brains. The biggest reasons we mistype ourselves is because we dont realize how we fit relative to the rest of the world. Did you think you were a big reader but you are not an INTJ or INFJ? Then probably you are not as big a reader as you think. Do you think you are good at sports but you are not an SP? Then probably you have other thoughts that interfere with being focused on the moment. (Professional athletes have fewer thoughts than normal people.) The problem Im talking about really, is getting caught up in  what other people care about instead of what you care about. It causes us to see ourselves in such a clouded way that we dont see ourselves accurately. So now I realize why I worry about not being at the top of my work game. Its not that my career is badmy career is great (I make good money and I do what I like to do) but I used to work at a higher level, years ago, when I was willing to give up all my time with kids. Back then was like being in a gifted program in school. And it brought up my game. And its hard to not be that now. Being in the gifted program is a lift to anyone. So I know Ive performed at a higher level in the past. I used to be good at meeting deadlines, picking up the phone, posting four days a week. And, people who are Aries really appreciate  those traits, which okay, maybe doesnt matter, but clearly I surround myself with people who care about punctuality and productivity. Then I decided I needed to homeschool.  I looked at the world and made choices that put my kids before work and now Ive disappointed pretty much everyone who works with me. I have missed so many deadlines that people are starting to think Im intentionally sabotaging. So Im going to be like the police department:   To all the people Ive wronged with my questionable working hours: Im sorry.

Anatomy of a Passive Candidates LinkedIn Profile - Career Pivot

Anatomy of a Passive Candidate's LinkedIn Profile - Career Pivot Anatomy of Your LinkedIn Profile as a Passive Candidate In my last post,Are You a Excellent Passive Candidate or a Turkey?,I discussed why you want to be a passive candidate.I am following it up with how to construct your LinkedIn profile into a recruiter magnet. Theinfographic below is providedAkken Cloud and has been used by multiple bloggers. I am going to explainhow this applies to being a passive candidate. I am going to break this down into two phases: Being found by a prospective employer Getting the prospective employer to contact you How to Be Found as a Passive Candidate This is all about job titles, keywords, and where they go within your LinkedIn profile. The first thing I want you to do is to start harvesting keywords from job descriptions and websites of your target companies. Use a word cloud for this endeavor. Please read the following post called, Finding Keywords to Manage Your Career. The post has a video that will demonstrate how to harvest keywords. Once you have a list of keywords, you will want to carefully place them in your LinkedIn headline. Next, you need to start thinking like a recruiter and configure the rest of your profile with recruiter search strategies in mind. Please read the following post, Why Are You Not Being Found? Try Thinking Like a Recruiter. If you follow these strategies, your profile should be found more frequently. However, this is just the first step. The recruiter is now looking at your profile, but how do we entice them to reach out and touch you? Enticing the Reader Remember, you are a passive candidate. As the infographic below states, you want to create a profile that is eye-catching. You want the reader to keep reading. HeaderImage All LinkedIn profiles now have a header image. The image is 1400×425 pixels. It should be eye-catching and incorporate your personal brand. Here are a few tips from my good friendViveka von Rosen. Listen to the most recent episode Incorporate a call to action. For most of you, you want to include a google voice number or an e-mail address. The great thing is header image is exactly that â€" it is an image. Trolls cannot screen scrape your profile to harvest your personal information. Show your personality â€" The image represents you. Provide value â€" Share a tip or answer a questionin the image. For more tips, read Viveka’s post on Social Media Examiner, How to Use the New LinkedIn Header Image for Profiles. The header image should encourage the reader to want more. Check outViveka von Rosen‘sheader image. Remember, you are a passive candidate! Your LinkedIn profile is an extension ofyou. LinkedIn Picture Your picture should align with your personal brand. You might want to use the website PhotoFeelerto find out what people think about your current picture. Plan your picture out. Check out my post, 3 Key Elements of your LinkedIn Photographwhich will help you plan the elements of your picture. LinkedIn Headline By default, your LinkedIn headline has your current job title and company. The headline should be keyword enabled. If you have a tagline, use it in the headline. The headline is 120 characters long. Use all of it. Check out my post, 1st Place to use Keywords is in your LinkedIn Headline. LinkedIn Summary Your LinkedIn summary should tell your brand story. Write it in 1st person. It is your story. Read my post, 3 Themes for Writing Your Brand Storyto give you an idea on how to write your story. You will probably want to get some help. Some of my best client brand stories have been written by adult daughters. For more on why you should get some help, readYour Brand Story â€" Who Should Write It? The LinkedIn summary is 2,000 characters which include spaces. Your story needs to bewritten concisely and to the point. I have found it is usually best to write it without consideration of length and edit it down so that it fits. Your brand story is key to getting the recruiter to want to reach out to you. The Anatomy of a Successful LinkedIn Profile Infographic Read carefully the following infographic from Akken Cloud. Click To Enlarge Great Content as a Passive Candidate As the infographic states, you need to create some great content. When you write LinkedIn Publisher posts, it is an opportunity to demonstrate that you know your stuff. It is not about telling me you know your stuff, it is about showing me you know your stuff. Make the content you create work for you. If you are lucky, your content may go viral like some of mine have done. Check out my post, Getting Noticed â€" LinkedIn Publisher and Shareability. Closing the Deal Once you get someone to look at your LinkedIn profile, you want to close the deal. It might be that you want them to connect with you. It might be that you want them to contact you. Either way, tell them what you want and make it easy for them to do so. You are a salesperson and the product isâ€"you. As a passive candidate, your LinkedIn profile is sales collateral. Make it work for you! What changes are you going to make? Marc Miller Like what you just read? Share it with your friends using the buttons above. Like What You Read? Get Career Pivot Insights! Check out the Repurpose Your Career Podcast Do You Need Help With ...

Happy at work in prisons - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Happy at work in prisons - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog Im back from the FutureCamp event with the Danish Prison Service and I am exhausted. After 48 gruelling but fun hours, the director of the service could take home an catalogue of a dozen ideas which had been fleshed out and about 50 more that were still hanging in the air. The theme was to make the prison service a great place to work. Currently, this is how they see themselves: People dont stay long in their jobs People feeling overworked and stressed Absenteeism is high There is little trust and communication between managers and employees Prison wardens dont talk to case workers, case workers dont talk to IT people and nobody talks to the central administration Which doesnt really seem too different from many other workplaces. Of course, working with prisoners does give this workplace some unique challenges, but it also give employees an incentive to stick together and support each other. The camp had 40 participants from the prison service, from many different departments and from all levels of the hierarchy. I was called in as an outside expert to participate in the process. Participants were divided into six groups, each of which focused on a specific topic, eg. leadership, relations with inmates, relations with colleagues. I was placed in the group that worked on IT in the prison service, probably because of my background in IT. The process itself was quite impressive with illustrators, facilitators, a camera man to film everything and produce movies on the fly and various suprises along the way. And what happened was the same things that always happens when you put people together in an inspiring process around an important topic: People got creative. And they got to talking. And they got fired up. I love it when that happens and its great to be a part of. My favorite part of the whole event happened on the morning of the second day, where they brought in a gospel singer and his keyboard to get everybody up and singing. Now, Im not much of a singer, but suddenly I found myself hollering with the best of them :o) That was great fun and energized the whole room. So what am I taking away from this event: Give people a chance to talk and magical stuff happens People ARE creative, anybody saying differently is lying A lot of ideas can be created and worked on in 48 hours Im also left with a lingering suspicion, that making the event such a huge production makes it more difficult to take home the spirit and the lessons of the event. If it had been more like real work-life, the results would be more easily transferable which is what were really after. *cough* Open Space Technology *cough*. Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related

CV and Resume Writing Tips - How to Write a CV & Resume

CV and Resume Writing Tips - How to Write a CV & ResumeThe art of writing a CV/resume for any kind of job, be it academic or not, is the same. There are certain things that you need to do in order to create a good impression with your employer that will allow you to get the job you want.First and foremost, make sure that your CV/resume has all the necessary details that will make a good impression with your employer. Try to incorporate the right information in your resume like your academic background, degrees and post-graduation information, work experiences, family background, hobbies, etc. This is an important aspect that will help you gain more credibility will also allow you to get jobs quicker.Next, research about the kinds of jobs that are available in your area of choice. If you can't get hired within one week, then it will be a waste of time to start the search on the Internet for jobs. There are various websites that will help you locate jobs and you should first check if there are any openings in your field before you start searching for one. It is advisable to first try out some positions before choosing the best job for you.Check out the applications that are already on display at recruitment agencies or employers like cVs, resumes and job applications. Do not forget to ask for opinions on your resume to see if it is what you want or if you should update it a bit and modify it.Ask for references from the job seeker who has interviewed for the job and ensure that they are in touch with you. This is a great way to build a good relationship with the company or employer that you have applied for. Make sure that you show your genuine interest and enthusiasm in your job.Make sure that you have attached any jobs that are interesting for you. You don't want to get a job at a company that is just so boring. Also make sure that your resume/CV has no mistakes and include any personal references that you have.Make sure that you have updated your CV/resume if any job has moved to another location. If you have left the position behind, it will make it hard for your employer to find you in the future.Look for the right company and the right employer. Apply to all the positions and get the job that you want.