Projects

Duncan Brown from IES was commissioned to help run a two-day reward strategy masterclass for senior HR and reward professionals working in universities and colleges. The masterclass focused on how to develop reward strategy, exploring the issues, challenges and solutions.

This project comprised a literature review on the effectiveness of interventions to close the gender, ethnicity and disability pay gaps plus the design and facilitation of three workshops with employers and stakeholders to identify key challenges and ‘what works’ in reducing pay gaps. This research was published as Tackling gender, disability and ethnicity pay gaps: a progress review

IES was commissioned to carry out a third staff salary survey for the Architects Registration Board, based on a search of data sources and a bespoke survey of similar organisations.

Following a Pay and Benefits Review in 2013 the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute decided it wanted to introduce a contribution framework to provide structure for the annual individual pay review. This was seen as necessary given the withdrawal of a general pay increase and the additional responsibility this placed on managers for determining pay decisions. Moreover, there was a clear wish among staff for greater transparency in pay decisions and to have a more direct link between appraisal and pay. IES assisted this project in a number of ways: holding focus groups to obtain staff opinions on key aspects of how the contribution framework would operate inputting to the discussions of a staff ‘reference group’ set up for management to test ideas with advising the HR design team on different ways to construct the contribution framework modelling the relationship between managerial assessments and costs offering a way to evaluate the effectiveness of the process. A draft contribution framework was signed off by the Board of Management for use with non faculty employees. It was then piloted in appropriate areas of the Institute. Having received a positive reaction, the approach will be rolled out more generally in 2015/16.

The Ministry of Justice and the National Offender Management Service consider total reward to be an important factor influencing staff motivation and they seek to build it into their total reward strategies. The organisations also want to have more meaningful conversations with staff about reward based on an understanding of what they want and need, and how this might differ between groups, within the context of what their organisations can realistically offer. IES was commissioned to conduct research on the subject that would inform progress towards this goal. The research was carried out by: conducting a literature review on reward and motivation running focus groups to inform a staff survey and to understand its results briefing trade union representatives in NOMS designing staff surveys (with slightly different emphases for the two organisations) and analysing the responses reporting on the outcomes of the research. The two reports were circulated internally but were also used, in the case of NOMS, to help inform a presentation to the Pay Review Body.

This study, undertaken for the Government Equalities Office, aims to understand transparency on gender pay gaps and workforce diversity in organisations with between 150 and 249 employees. It investigates both the propensity of organisations of this size to be open about pay and diversity in their organisation, and explores what information they gather, analyse and report on. The study has included a survey of organisations and in-depth interviews with companies.

For the Architects’ Registration Board (ARB), we carried out two pieces of work: pay and reward benchmarking, and a staff survey with associated focus groups. The ARB’s activities are specialised, so it is not directly comparable to most private, public or third sector organisations. IES worked closely with the ARB to ensure that our services were customised to its unique needs. As this was the second time we had carried out work of this nature for the ARB, we were able to make trend comparisons over time.

IES co-ordinated an international comparative study on wage formation, commissioned by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, Dublin. The study examined a range of issues, including wage formation and wage developments in the EU27 member states, multi-employer and single-employer bargaining, wage drift, minimum wages, and pay in the IT sector. The aim of this study was to increase comparative knowledge and understanding of wage formation systems around Europe and to identify the main themes influencing the composition of pay and pay movements at multi-employer and single employer level. The report will be of interest to EU social partners, employers, trade unions and anybody else with an interest in comparative pay.

In 2009, average female pay remained stubbornly around 20% behind the average for males. IES conducted research into gender pay reporting on behalf of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). The Commission was working to develop the most appropriate, effective and least burdensome ways for organisations to voluntarily measure and report on their gender pay gaps, as a means of encouraging them to identify and address the gap. IES surveyed and met with a range of employer to gather their views on the best means of reporting. The formal consultation considered seven main alternatives. The findings of the work fed into Parliament’s consideration of this issue as the Equality Bill was discussed.

IES jointly undertook a project with Incomes Data Services (IDS) on behalf of the Office of Manpower Economics (OME) to examine practice on pay progression and quantify the extent to which progression takes place in the private sector. Pay progression (defined as the mechanism by which an individual moves up their pay range/broad band or spot levels) in the public sector was under reform and the OME required further research and evidence on progression practice in the private sector in order to support the work of the seven Pay Review Bodies in being able to put forward recommendations for progression arrangements covering key public sector groups. IES research used a survey and case study approach to help contribute to a detailed picture on how progression operates in the private sector, covering a range of different pay progression systems, and attempt to understand: the reasons employers operate different progression systems how particular progression systems operate recent developments/changes in pay systems and progression arrangements benefits and pitfalls of particular progression schemes employer and employee views on the scheme, its effectiveness and value for money plans for future developments, addressing any areas of weakness in the systems.