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On Tuesday April 4th, the US celebrated Equal Pay Day. But when you learn that this date was picked because it is how far into the year that women need to work to earn the same as men did the year before, it doesn’t feel like a celebration.

At Salesforce, we have found a great way to turn it into a celebration. And that’s by delivering on the promise of equal pay.

To coincide with Equal Pay Day, our EVP, Global Employee Success, Cindy Robbins, announced at the Salesforce World Tour in Washington D.C. that Salesforce has spent $3 million to address unexplained differences in pay.

This involved undertaking an audit of our pay practices globally. We grouped employees in comparable roles, and analysed compensation of those groups to determine whether there were unexplained differences in pay. It wasn’t just salaries that were assessed – bonuses were counted, too.

Armed with the results of the assessment, 11% of Salesforce employees have received adjustments to their pay to achieve greater equality.

It’s a big move. But it makes perfect sense for Salesforce. Equality is one of our core values; and this encompasses not just equal pay, but equal opportunity, equal education and equal rights, too.

This year’s assessment wasn’t our first. And it certainly won’t be our last. Pay equity is a moving target, especially for growing companies in competitive industries. It must be consistently monitored and addressed.

Beyond our own boardroom

 

It isn’t enough for large companies like Salesforce to fix things in-house. We have the reach and responsibility to make changes beyond our own company to help others enact change too.

In Australia, Salesforce is striving to redress the imbalance in the technology and communications sector – in which women make up only 27% of the workforce. To help eliminate unconscious bias and improve diversity in hiring, we have formed a partnership with UN Women National Committee for Australia and its HeForShe program.

HeforShe is a solidarity campaign which aims to engage men and boys as agents of change for the achievement of gender equality and women’s rights. The UN Women National Committee has also partnered with organisations such as the Commonwealth Bank, PwC and DHL on a number of other initiatives and with more companies joining us, we’re more likely to deliver effective and lasting change.

As Cindy Robbins said this week, “Salesforce will continue to focus on equality, diversity and inclusion at all levels, and we plan to review employee compensation on an ongoing basis. I’m proud of the strong stance we’re taking as a company and of the hard work that has gone into building our approach to equal pay.”

I am proud too. It is an honour and a privilege to work for a company that holds equality as a core value.

Read more about what we're doing at Salesforce to advance equality here.