Pay gap reporting isn’t just about numbers, it’s about accountability, trust, and driving real change, says Liisa Antola, manager of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and customer outcomes at the ABI
“What gets measured, can be managed,” is a saying we use often at the ABI.
It underscores our aim to make the insurance and long-term savings industry the most diverse, equitable and inclusive sector in the UK economy. It reflects our commitment to being transparent about our progress towards this aim and where we can improve along the way. It is also why we strongly support the government’s proposed mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting for large employers.
Transparency around this data is not just about compliance; it’s about trust. It signals to current and future colleagues that our industry is aware of disparities and willing to tackle them head on. It also helps us attract a diverse workforce, which is essential for firms to remain competitive and innovative.
While pay gap reporting is not a silver bullet for tackling inequity, it is a vital step in understanding where disparities exist and how to address them. In the last decade, we have seen an increase in awareness around the gender pay gap, with reporting becoming mandatory in 2017. Extending this to ethnicity and disability is a natural and necessary progression.
But without proper context, pay gap data can tell a fragmented story. Disability reporting is a prime example, as individuals may experience and report disability in different ways, leading to inconsistencies and misrepresentations in data collections.
Employers can avoid this by taking a thoughtful and transparent approach to collecting data. For example, employers could explain the purpose of data collection to colleagues and offer reassurances around confidentiality that help to build trust and improve disclosure rates. While individual-level data must remain confidential, sharing broader context such as workforce demographics alongside pay gap figures can help ensure the data is interpreted accurately and understood within the wider workforce experience.
Still, it’s not enough to simply collect and contextualise pay gap data – we also need to back it up with clear steps and objectives to tackle the disparities we find. The government’s proposal to mandate large employers to publish action plans alongside pay gap data will help firms make tangible change to improve equity in the workplace.
Action plans should also be grounded in the real experiences of employees, not just to add context, but to ensure that actions taken are targeted, proportionate, and likely to succeed. Without this, reporting risks becoming a box-ticking exercise rather than a tool for meaningful change.
The insurance and long-term savings industry may still have a long way to go to become the most diverse, equitable and inclusive sector in the UK economy, but our members have made significant steps towards this goal. Through our DEI Blueprint and annual data collection, we are already helping firms understand where they stand and how to improve.
We are also investing in cultural change through initiatives such as our Allyship Awareness training, which encourages open conversation to help colleagues of all backgrounds feel safe and supported in the workplace.
Ultimately, we want firms to have clear and consistent ways to measure their DEI progress whilst prioritising fairness, dignity and opportunity for all. Mandatory reporting, done well, can help us achieve that.
