Posted by Harry Hertz, the Baldrige Cheermudgeon
Okay, this is a serious topic, but I think the discourse of late has gotten out of hand. Two people with the same skills, training, and job responsibilities should receive the same pay. It should not depend on their gender, ethnicity, or any similar factors. Why can't we agree to that and focus our energy on proactively bringing that
about, rather than debating the inequities and are they justified or real? There is a new White House report on the gender pay gap. Last week I read a blog post why the gender pay gap is a myth because, among other things, men work longer hours (according to the blog post). Then I read the results of a recent research study about the effect of weight on pay gap and its relationship to gender. According to that study thin women earn considerably more than their average-sized female colleagues and thin men, on the other hand, earn less than their average-sized male colleagues. As a matter of fact (according to the study) thin women earn $16,000 more per year and thin men about $8,000 less than their counterparts. Why can't we focus on what is important to doing the job?
In a 2007-2008 credit industry salary survey, gender was the fourth highest correlate with salary, beaten out by budgetary authority, size of subordinate staff, education level, and number of invoices generated per day. Interestingly right below gender was time spent in internal meetings. Could we have focused the level of effort for this and other studies on proactive studies to truly pay all people for the value they add, independent of any gender or other bias?
So how does this relate to the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence? A great deal. It starts right at the beginning of the Criteria with the setting of organizational values and promoting ethical behavior. It is critical to the way senior leaders create a high performing organizational culture that is characterized by open communication, engagement of the entire workforce, and benefiting from the diverse ideas, cultures and thinking of that workforce. So why can't we all set our sights on the future and use these parameters from the Baldrige Criteria as our guiding principles?
But in case you disagree, here are the set of values for my former employer, the Gone-Wrong Company:
1. Higher salaries for balding, aging males (in the spirit of transparency and self-interest)
2. Live in the past
3. The CEO has the ideas, workers carry them out.
Oh yes, one last point, despite being on the brink of total failure, Gone-Wrong has just turned down a lucrative take-over bid from a woman-owned company.
Please accept this tongue-in-cheek post in the spirit it was written. Hopefully, I have not offended anyone. The point is we need to focus on equity, high performance, and the future not on debating the past. The Baldrige Criteria can point us in the right direction.
Okay, this is a serious topic, but I think the discourse of late has gotten out of hand. Two people with the same skills, training, and job responsibilities should receive the same pay. It should not depend on their gender, ethnicity, or any similar factors. Why can't we agree to that and focus our energy on proactively bringing that
about, rather than debating the inequities and are they justified or real? There is a new White House report on the gender pay gap. Last week I read a blog post why the gender pay gap is a myth because, among other things, men work longer hours (according to the blog post). Then I read the results of a recent research study about the effect of weight on pay gap and its relationship to gender. According to that study thin women earn considerably more than their average-sized female colleagues and thin men, on the other hand, earn less than their average-sized male colleagues. As a matter of fact (according to the study) thin women earn $16,000 more per year and thin men about $8,000 less than their counterparts. Why can't we focus on what is important to doing the job?In a 2007-2008 credit industry salary survey, gender was the fourth highest correlate with salary, beaten out by budgetary authority, size of subordinate staff, education level, and number of invoices generated per day. Interestingly right below gender was time spent in internal meetings. Could we have focused the level of effort for this and other studies on proactive studies to truly pay all people for the value they add, independent of any gender or other bias?
So how does this relate to the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence? A great deal. It starts right at the beginning of the Criteria with the setting of organizational values and promoting ethical behavior. It is critical to the way senior leaders create a high performing organizational culture that is characterized by open communication, engagement of the entire workforce, and benefiting from the diverse ideas, cultures and thinking of that workforce. So why can't we all set our sights on the future and use these parameters from the Baldrige Criteria as our guiding principles?
But in case you disagree, here are the set of values for my former employer, the Gone-Wrong Company:
1. Higher salaries for balding, aging males (in the spirit of transparency and self-interest)
2. Live in the past
3. The CEO has the ideas, workers carry them out.
Oh yes, one last point, despite being on the brink of total failure, Gone-Wrong has just turned down a lucrative take-over bid from a woman-owned company.
Please accept this tongue-in-cheek post in the spirit it was written. Hopefully, I have not offended anyone. The point is we need to focus on equity, high performance, and the future not on debating the past. The Baldrige Criteria can point us in the right direction.
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