Startup CEOs Name Gender Pay Equity a Top Priority but Their Teams Lack Resources to Act

In recognition of Equal Pay Day, OpenComp, a leading provider in compensation intelligence solutions, today revealed survey results that uncover a significant tension in the way of pay progress. While gender pay equity is a top priority for 78 percent of CEOs, they are out of tune with the majority of their teams who say they lack resources to address it.

Leaders cite access to data as the leading barrier to moving pay equity forward in their organizations, followed by leadership buy-in and time.

The urgency to pay competitively and fairly is high amongst CEOs of high-growth companies. This is true even while they manage the realities of cash burn and equity dilution. However, a new OpenComp survey reveals the realities that continue to hinder large-scale pay equity action in the pre-IPO marketplace. 

According to 500 CEOs, CFOs and HR executives at high-growth companies of less than 500 employees: 

• Gender pay equity matters to most high-growth executives, especially CEOs. The majority (74 percent) of high-growth executives say pay equity is important, especially CEOs (78 percent). Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) believe pay equity is a top priority at their organization. CEOs are nine percent more likely to strongly agree.
• Pay equity greatly influences recruiting and retaining the best talent. More than two-thirds (67 percent) agree with this statement. CEOs are six percent more likely to strongly agree.
• CEOs are out of tune that the majority of their teams lack resources to address pay equity. Despite CEOs’ stated priorities, most of their teams (61 percent) lack adequate resources to address pay equity. In fact, CEOs are 15 percent more likely to be unaware of this fact than HR leaders.
• Company leaders were asked what top barriers in their organizations prevent pay-equity action: access to compensation data (19 percent), leadership buy-in (15 percent), time (13 percent), prioritization (12 percent), money/funding (12 percent), insufficient internal knowledge (10 percent).
• Leaders would like the following resources/actions to better manage pay equity within their organizations: set pay ranges to aid in consistent pay decisions (41 percent); information on best practices (36 percent); more transparent pay conversations (32 percent); software to measure/track progress (31 percent); automated reports on employee compensation data (31 percent); training for HR teams, recruiters and leadership (30 percent); automated reports on employee compensation data (31 percent).
• Organizations that prioritize pay use a range of best practices to drive equity: set and publish pay ranges (38 percent); share pay ranges during the interview process (32 percent); document and communicate criteria for bonuses, promotions, benefits with employees (31 percent); don’t ask for salary history during hiring (28 percent); conduct pay audits (27 percent); budget for pay discrepancies (27 percent); conduct informal internal discussions around pay (26 percent)

The OPEN Imperative

In order to address these barriers and close gender pay gaps, OpenComp also announced today the launch of a new coalition, Organizations for Pay Equity Now. OPEN Imperative brings together hundreds of high-growth employers, investors and influencers committed to eliminating gender pay disparity in their organizations via data-driven action. No group is better positioned to solve this crisis than companies building the future, as business leaders must be involved to enact institutional change from the top down. 

In its debut, OPEN Imperative set an Equal Pay Moonshot to close the gender pay gap among startups in the next five years.

To learn more about OPEN Imperative and be part of the change, sign up here: https://openimperative.org.

To learn more about OpenComp and compensation intelligence, please visit http://www.opencomp.com.

Read OPEN Imperative Sets Equal Pay Moonshot to Close the Gender Gap Among Startups.

About OpenComp

OpenComp empowers high-growth companies to confidently make the best business and career decisions with compensation intelligence. With reliable market data and benchmarks, next-generation tools, predictive analytics and an expert services team, OpenComp delivers compensation clarity. Founded in San Francisco in 2021 by Thanh Nguyen and Nancy Connery, more than 2,000 companies use OpenComp to drive pay progress including Calm, DataRobot, Discord, DrChrono, Figma, Medium, Mosaic, Mux and Reddit.

OpenComp is available for free for early-stage and non-profit organizations up to 50 employees, with tiered pricing and services for other organizations based on size and needs. Sign up for free at www.opencomp.com. Get connected to our company and hear compensation stories at https://www.linkedin.com/company/opencomp-llc.