Savills has narrowed its average hourly gender pay gap from 39% to 36%, according to its 2020 Gender Pay Gap report.
The gap has been steadily falling over the past three years, having been 45% in 2017. The agent’s bonus gap has also reduced from 82% in 2017 and 80% in 2019 to 79% in 2020.
Over the year, the firm has also seen the percentage of women sitting on its UK board rise to 27% from 23%.
Siân Tunney, Savills UK board director and chair of the firm’s gender diversity group, said: “Despite the challenging circumstances of 2020 I am pleased that we are reporting progress across many of the key metrics used to measure the gender pay gap, including increasing the number of women on the UK board and narrowing the mean hourly pay gap.
“But the work continues: we have announced that as part of Savills wider corporate diversity targets we are setting an initial goal of increasing the percentage of female directors in our UK business from 20% to 25% by 2023 – a challenging target in a relatively short time frame, but one I am confident we will achieve using many of the initiatives we have put in place over the last few years.”
Women make up some 52% of Savills’ total workforce, but only 22% of its top earners.
Savills UK managing director Richard Rees said: “The positive figures Savills is reporting this year show that the groundwork and initiatives we have put in place continue to lead to tangible improvements in the gender balance across our business, although we know that much still needs to be done to eliminate the gap entirely.
“Ensuring everyone in Savills has the opportunity to progress, is happy and feels valued is our top priority. We have adapted our processes and introduced new initiatives in the past year to make sure this is possible, with a particular emphasis on supporting all staff with their wellbeing and mental health needs and achieving a good work/life balance given the specific challenges of the last 12 months.”
Savills said it had undertaken a number of key initiatives during 2020 to help close its gender pay gap, including continuing to support EG’s Future Leaders programme (formerly its Future Female Leaders programme); starting its own internal intensive female-focused leadership communications programme to give more women across all levels of the business the opportunity to develop their confidence in presenting and public speaking; offering enhanced shared parental leave to all employees; and appointing its first female UK chief financial officer. Having joined Savills in 1997, and worked her way up through the business, last year the firm promoted Nicola McGinnis to UK CFO. McGinnis is also a board director and member of the UK executive board.
Read Savills’ Gender Pay Gap report >>
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