Racial Pay Equity
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Pay equity is one of the most frequent recommendations from racial climate research. Like all of RRS's work, the pay equity analysis is firmly rooted in critical race theory and feminist geography. As such, it acknowledges racism as an everyday phenomenon and meritocracy as a myth, explores intersecting racialized oppressions, and centers storytelling by people of color.
Every analysis must be guided by the organization's racial equity values and therefore starts by answering the following two questions:
The answers to these two questions create the variables in the regression equation, directly connecting the analysis to the organization's values. The end report tells the organization how much influence, if any, undesired staff characteristics (e.g. racial identity) are having on compensation, holding all desired characteristics constant. The organization uses this information to make adjustments to staff salaries in service of improving pay equity.
For an overview of RRS's pay equity analysis process, please watch our Explainer video: What is a Racial Pay Equity Analysis? And Are You Ready for It?
Every analysis must be guided by the organization's racial equity values and therefore starts by answering the following two questions:
- Given your values, what staff characteristics should count toward compensation?
- Given your values, what staff characteristics should not count toward compensation?
The answers to these two questions create the variables in the regression equation, directly connecting the analysis to the organization's values. The end report tells the organization how much influence, if any, undesired staff characteristics (e.g. racial identity) are having on compensation, holding all desired characteristics constant. The organization uses this information to make adjustments to staff salaries in service of improving pay equity.
For an overview of RRS's pay equity analysis process, please watch our Explainer video: What is a Racial Pay Equity Analysis? And Are You Ready for It?
Case Study
RRS was approached to run a pay equity analysis for a foundation client. As a first step, the client ran a series of focus groups with staff of multiple levels to ask what characteristics should and should not count toward compensation. This list of criteria was synthesized and refined by the leadership team. These criteria were also updated in the compensation philosophy, which was shared with all staff.
The pay equity analysis revealed an issue and the organization used that information to make salary adjustments. The analysis also showed that the organization does not yet have a way to measure a key criterion for pay: the level of relevant skills. As a next step, the organization will be looking into modifying its hiring process to better quantify those skills as they directly relate to the job description. This step will both decrease bias in the hiring process as well as provide better data for the next round of pay equity analysis.
The pay equity analysis revealed an issue and the organization used that information to make salary adjustments. The analysis also showed that the organization does not yet have a way to measure a key criterion for pay: the level of relevant skills. As a next step, the organization will be looking into modifying its hiring process to better quantify those skills as they directly relate to the job description. This step will both decrease bias in the hiring process as well as provide better data for the next round of pay equity analysis.