EOWA Pay Equity Case Study Lend Lease

Women systematically approach salary equity at Lend Lease

Company:	Lend Lease Corporation Pty Ltd
Industry:	Property Services
No of Employees:	2423

When an in-house networking group was formed at Lend Lease, female employees discovered that this provided a forum in which issues such as pay equity could be raised.

The networking group, called the Women In Property Advisory Committee (WIPAC), met monthly to network and provide mutual support for women. Activities of the group included documenting experiences and hosting events such as debates. One outcome of the meetings was a request for a salary parity review, which management willingly undertook.

Salary review results
Initial analysis showed that it was difficult to compare like with like, as certain job categories were dominated by women and others by men. Engineers were selected as a relevant peer group with sufficient women represented to give statistically valid conclusions.

A detailed analysis was undertaken, reviewing compensation, performance bonus rewards and career progression amongst engineers. It was felt that in a male-dominated organisation, this professional group was most likely to demonstrate whether there were any differences for women in terms of pay.

The review found that women remained longer in each role than their male counterparts, and were remunerated at a lower level, for the same number of years in the industry. Women did get better pay increases than men in this professional group but men were consistently better rewarded through performance bonuses.

As well as the above discrepancies, men were presented with challenges earlier in their career by getting higher-profile job placements on bigger, more complicated projects, which they were rapidly cycled through, exposing them to complex managerial and leadership tasks as well as to the more senior project staff in the company.

It was concluded that the opportunity to succeed or excel was more available to men within the company than it was to women.

Actions
As a result of this review, succession planning, talent management and project resource selection were identified as priorities. Significantly, identified pay discrepancies were addressed in some cases by a one-off salary adjustment.

Going forward, processes for the comparison of salaries and bonuses have been improved across the whole company.

Other initiatives have also been introduced, such as a gender inclusive language policy; development programs for women in the workplace, now in their third year; gender awareness programs for male managers, now in their second year; debates; and other initiatives.

Line managers are not only encouraged but are required to ensure that they are well acquainted with the professional circumstances of their direct reports, including their experience, skills and aspirations, to ensure that they are fully informed when allocating people to projects. Accordingly, the activities of WIPAC have now been largely replaced by management practice, supported by human resource processes.

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