The Gender Pay Gap In Business: Implications For IHRM
Gender Inequality and the Business World
Gender inequality is one of the most important problems that the world has been facing since the traditional times and in majority in cases it is seen that it has adversely affected the female section of the society in a significant manner (Bratton and Gold 2017). Gender inequality denotes the commonly held opinion by the various individuals that the women are not equal to the men of the society, be it in terms of physical strength, intelligence level or any other attributes (Bratton and Gold 2017). It is pertinent to note that this particular opinion has dominated the human society since the traditional times and even in the 21st this opinion is being held by many individuals (Leslie, Manchester and Dahm 2017). The adverse effect of the usage of this particular concept is widely seen not only in the society or the educational sector but in the business world as well (Leslie, Manchester and Dahm 2017). One of the most common examples of the usage of this particular thought process in the business world becomes evident in the gender pay gap which exists even in the present times in the business world. This essay will discuss about the concept of gender pay gap which exists within the business world even in the present and the implication of this particular aspects for the international management of the human resources.
In the 21st century it is seen that the workplaces of the diverse organizations of the world have become much more diversified than the ones of the earlier times and thus it is seen that the women along with the men form an integral part of the workplaces of the diverse organizations (Woodhams et al. 2015). Furthermore, at the same time it is seen that the various famous business enterprises of the world like Apple, Microsoft and others not only encourage the women to work within the framework of their workplaces but at the same time try to offer equal kind of job as well as growth opportunities to them (Abraham 2017). However, at the same time it needs to be mentioned that within the organization Apple only 27% of women hold top managerial positions within the framework of their workplaces (Abraham 2017). In addition to this, one of the harsh effects of the gender inequality which is seen within the framework of the diverse famous organizations of the modern times is the factor of unequal gender pay. As matter fact it is seen that the gender pay gap between the two sexes is more 2.7% in the majority of the organizations from the diverse nations of the world (Glass Ceiling 2018). Moreover, it is also seen that the women earn only 78 cents in comparison to one dollar earned by the men members of the organization (Glass Ceiling 2018). Another pertinent effect of this particular factor is the financial growth options which are being able to the women in comparison to the men members of the organization (Glass Ceiling 2018). For example, it is seen that the annual salaries of the men employees are being incremented till the age of 55 years whereas for the women age limit is only 45 years (Glass Ceiling 2018). However, at the same time it is interesting to note that there is no significant amount of pay gap between the single men as well as single women yet there exists a pay gap between the married women and married men (Glass Ceiling 2018).
The Gender Pay Gap in the Modern Workplaces
The gender pay gap which exists between the men and the women within the framework of even some of the largest as well as the most famous organizations of the world not only acts as a stigma for them but at the same time hampers their performance at the same time in an adverse manner (Woodhams et al. 2015). For example, psychologies are of the viewpoint that equal amount of pay directly affects the performance of the employees and this is one of the main reasons why the organizations and the HRM within its framework should try to offer equal kind of payment or salaries to the individuals or the employees (Greene and Kirton 2015). The precepts of Adam’s Equity Payment theory becomes significant to note in this particular context which states that when the employees or the workers are paid equal amount of salary or wages then they are more likely to get motivated or influenced in a much effective manner to work in a much better manner for the cause of the organization of which they are a part of (Connelly et al. 2016). The pay gap which exists between the men and the women in the business world is not only contrary to this particular theory but at the same time is one of the major reasons for the unequal performances of the men and the women in the various organizations (Connelly et al. 2016). Furthermore, in this particular context the various dictums of the United Nations and the national legislations of the diverse nations of the world like the “U.S. Equal Pay Act of 1963”, “UK’s Equality Act of 2010” and others are important to note and almost all of these regulations or legislation state that the women should be paid the same kind of salary or wage that the men employees normally for doing the same kind of work (Greene and Kirton 2015).
The existence of the gender pay gap not only acts as a challenge for the HRM teams of the diverse organizations but at the same time means that the HRM teams of these organizations are unable to dispense the job roles that they are supposed to perform in an effective manner (Shields et al. 2015). The job role of the HRM is not only to effectively manage the diverse employees of a particular organization but at the same time to ensure the fact that each employee of the organization is entitled to the same kind of remuneration as well as compensation irrespective of their gender, culture, social or ethnic background and others factors (Shields et al. 2015). The inadequacy of the HRM to address this particular issue is not only degrading for the women employees but at the same time acts as a de-motivation for the female employees and thereby reduces their performance and this in turn limits their growth options (Mihaila 2016). This in turn also adversely affects the overall productivity of the concerned organization since the overall performance of a particular organization depends on the individual performances of each of the employees of the concerned organization (Popescu 2016).
Implications of the Gender Pay Gap on Business Performance
The resolution of this particular issue is likely to require the IHRM teams of the various famous organizations of the world take the help of various kinds of policies as well as practices which will help them to reduce the gender pay gap. Firstly, the HRM teams of the diverse organizations of the world for the process of the obliteration of the gender pay gap need to take the help of the policy of the “Equal Work, Equal Pay” which will require to pay equal amount of compensation or salary to the employees or the workers doing the same kind of tasks or jobs (Joshi, Son and Roh 2015). Furthermore, the HRM teams need to devise make the fact very clear to the various employees of the organization that for them men and the female employees hold the same kind of status and thus there should not be any kind of discrimination on the basis of gender (Marchington et al. 2016). In addition to these, the HRM team at the same time needs to ensure the fact that the differences in the salary or the wage provided to the various employees should be made strictly on the basis of the qualifications, work experience, the kind of work that the concerned individual does with the concerned organization and others and not on the basis of the gender of the concerned individual (Marchington et al. 2016). Furthermore, the female employees of the organization at the same time should be encouraged to perform in a much better manner and compete on equal terms with the male employees of the organization. These in short are some of the strategies that the HRM teams of the various organizations can follow to reduce and obliterate the gender pay gap.
To conclude, the evil of gender inequality has been a part of the human society for a very long time and it at the same time is destroying the essence of the human society itself. One of the most adverse effects of the process of gender inequality is pertinent in the concept of gender pay gap which is a common problem faced by the majority of the women employees within the business world. This difference in the salary or the wage between the male and the female employees not only de-motivates the female employees but at the same time hampers their performance level in a significant manner. It thus becomes important for the HRM teams of the diverse organizations to take the help of various kinds of policies and strategies for the mitigation of this particular problem.
References
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