Foreword
SS&C FSI is a better place when we have a diverse workforce and an inclusive culture that attracts and retains great people, supports them to develop and allows them to be the best they can be. Creating and maintaining this culture is a key focus for us and as such, developing our approach to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion is an ongoing priority. An important part of this work is monitoring our gender pay gap and taking steps to close it.
Our 2021 mean gender pay gap has decreased slightly (as at the snapshot date of 5th April 2021), but our median gender pay gap has increased by a similar amount. We remain committed to narrowing this gap.
It is worth acknowledging the challenges and changes that all businesses have experienced over the last 2 years. However, these changes have also opened up opportunities that were not in place before. We have seen more flexibility on working patterns and locations than we ever thought was possible and we are in the process of exploring a Hybrid working model that will keep some of this flexibility in place.
We will keep learning from and responding to the data to make improvements that add to our momentum. But not only this, we are currently talking to our employees to find out how they feel about our approach to Inclusivity at work and we have plans underway to implement a bigger programme that will develop our Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion strategy. Gender will be a key stream of that work and so I am confident that in coming years, we will make positive changes to our gender pay gap as an organisation.
Nick Wright
Chief Executive Officer, SS&C Financial Services International & Europe and Head of Global Investor and Distribution Solutions
Background
In 2018 the UK government introduced a legal requirement for UK employers with over 250 employees to annually disclose their gender pay gap data. This must be based on figures taken on the 5th of April each year. The specific information we are required to publish for SS&C Financial Services International Limited needs to include:
- Mean and median gender pay gap (based on an hourly rate of pay at 5th April 2021)
- Mean and median bonus gender pay gap (considers bonus pay received in the 12 months leading up to 5th April 2021)
- Proportion of men and women receiving a bonus payment
- Proportion of men and women in each quartile pay band (looking at the proportion in 4 pay bands when we divide our workforce into four equal parts) The gender pay gap is expressed as a percentage of male earnings (e.g. women earn x% less than men).
Gender pay gap vs equal pay
A gender pay gap is a measure of the difference between the average earnings of men and women (irrespective of roles or seniority). Equal pay is our legal obligation as an employer to give men and women equal pay for equal work.
Our gender pay gap is not a result of equal pay issues, as we have a gender-neutral approach to pay across all levels of the organisation. We regularly monitor this to make sure we meet this legal and moral obligation.
Understanding our Pay Gap
Gender pay analyses the difference in the average pay between men and women across an organisation, regardless of the jobs they do. It does not take into account differences in role performance, individual experience, full-time vs part-time salaries or other factors which may impact the way different employees are paid. A gender pay gap is therefore a result of many factors and a company can have a gender pay gap without breaching equal pay provisions. A gender pay gap is predominately the result of differences in seniority between male and female employees. At SS&C FSI men continue to hold two thirds of the company’s senior and highest paying roles while women tend to hold the more junior roles.
The below shows our gender balance and the split of full-time v’s part-time roles at each level as at 5th April 2021, our gender pay gap results will only significantly change as a result of changing the shape of our employee population, this takes time.
There are many reasons for the proportion of males and females at each level. SS&C FSI operates within both the technological and financial administration sectors. Whilst there are more female staff than male currently employed at SS&C FSI, traditionally more men are likely to enter the industries in which we operate. In addition, a large portion of the SS&C FSI female population work in administrative roles and opt for part time work over full time work.
By understanding our gender pay gap, SS&C FSI can identify what needs to be done to improve inclusivity across the whole company and make further strides to close differences that exist. We know the shift will take time. There is a need for wider societal change as well and SS&C FSI wants to play a role in achieving inclusive cultures in the broader community.
2021 results – based on the snap shot date of 5th April 2021
What is our gender pay gap?
The mean pay difference between men and women is 18.9% compared to last year’s 20.1% and to 24.4% in the first report as at the 5th April 2017 snap shot date. The median pay difference is 11.3% compared to last year’s 10.4% and to 12.8% as at the 5th April 2017 snap shot date.
Compared to the previous year’s data, we have seen an improvement in our mean pay gap, and a worsening in our median pay gap.
What is our bonus gap?
The mean bonus gap difference between men and women is 46.09% compared to last year’s 46.08% and to 54.63% in the first report as at the 5th April 2017 snap shot date. The median bonus gap difference is 25% compared to last year’s 34.88% and to 27.8% as at the 5th April 2017 snap shot date.
Compared to the previous year’s data, our mean bonus gap is virtually the same whilst our median bonus gap has improved.
When considering our employees, out of the total male population 49.7% receive a bonus, whereas only 34.9% of women receive a bonus.
Our bonus gap is a function of greater variable pay at more senior levels (primarily occupied by men), although it is also impacted by the bonus calculation for part-time workers (who are mainly women) being pro-rated.
When considering our pay gap in comparison to both the industries in which we operate, SS&C FSI is better than average, but does leave us with room for further improvement.
How are we addressing the gender pay and bonus gaps?
SS&C FSI are committed to taking a series of measures now and in the longer term to promote a diverse and inclusive workforce:
- Analyse our gender pay and bonus gap by team and grade
Although we have always reviewed this data annually, following our last report, we made the commitment to analyse this regularly and to share at a team/grade level, that would allow our divisional leaders to action plan against the data. We recognise that the Company level data does not give us a true picture and that, to make changes happen, we need to look at a more localised level. This has been successful in highlighting areas for improvement and our HR team will work with divisional leaders during 2022 to create specific action plans that are appropriate for the gender challenges that each team faces.
- Focus on raising awareness of the Gender Pay gap during our annual cyclical people processes
During our 2022 merit and bonus reviews, we have specifically included gender pay and bonus gap as an area of focus within the manager guidance published. Our HR team ensured that business leaders had relevant information to support them to make decisions so that they could address unnecessary gaps. This is the first year we have addressed this issue in this way, and we plan to keep this activity in place for future reviews.
During our bonus cycle, our HR team also did an independent review of the proposed bonus submissions and provided a live analysis of gender gaps in the proposed amounts, prior to finalising bonus payments. This allowed us the opportunity to make changes where needed, whilst also giving us the confidence that the gender bonus gap was being addressed.
We will continue to build gender gap awareness into all our cyclical people activities as we move through 2022, for example, performance appraisal calibration, talent and succession planning and career development conversations. By doing this, we are committing to keeping a focus on this throughout the year.
- Expanding on knowledge and awareness across the business
SS&C has an ‘Inclusion in the workplace’ course for all staff that includes awareness of gender-based bias. In addition to this, we are currently reviewing/refreshing our manager buzz sessions with a view to relaunching a mandatory session on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.
Our ‘Be Inspired’ group is now well embedded in the organisation. This group is chaired by Senior Directors from across the organisation and its key objective is to develop a programme of events and produce topics of focus, unique to the group needs, to promote awareness and inspire the organisation. Since it started, this group has arranged various events including seminars and guest speakers. However, it has also focused on people within our organisation, giving people the opportunity to learn about other roles and responsibilities in other teams, discussing job sharing, mentoring, creating the right culture, being a working parent and having confidence within the organisation.
We have conducted several focused activities, led by our Be Inspired group, to continue to raise awareness across the business. For example, as part of International Women’s Day activity we launched a blog to all employees which highlighted the use of gendered language in every day conversations. We published a series of Break the Bias photos and also provided a variety of resources to increase awareness and expand knowledge of this subject across the business.
Our Be Inspired group, in conjunction with the Mental Health initiative group, have also focused on raising awareness of the menopause and the impact it can have on women. Menopausal women are the fastest growing group of workers; however the effects of the menopause often lead to women in senior roles feeling a need to step down or choosing not to take a step up into a senior role in the first place. This lack of progression of women into senior roles can impact the gender pay gap. We have offered training to managers; information sessions to all employees and a dedicated section on the intranet site to increase awareness and support to employees experiencing symptoms, their peers and their managers.
The Be Inspired group have several activities planned for 2022 which will continue to raise awareness of gender bias/gaps and work to support in breaking these barriers down.
- Create a specific focus on career development for females in our organisation and continue to ensure there is equal access to our leadership and development programmes
We recognise that one of the key areas we need to address is to get more females in our senior roles. This is a key focus for us during 2022 and we have kicked off this activity by running a survey across all UK and Ireland employees to understand the barriers they feel may be in place. We are in the process of analysing these results so that we can identify ways to break down barriers that we identify and will be able to update on this activity further during our next report. However, in the meantime, we initiated our first “Lean in” circle on International Women’s Day with a view to developing a network of targeted development support to further enhance the opportunities of women in the organisation.
In addition to this targeted work, it is worth nothing that all our employees are encouraged to participate in a career conversation with their manager ensuring they have the opportunity to discuss their career aspirations and what development they need to achieve these. In general, all learning and development content is open to be accessed by all employees regardless of gender.
- Continue to ensure our recruitment and promotions processes have the best candidates from all backgrounds
The talent acquisition team continue to review job adverts to ensure they are as gender neutral as possible. Shortlisting of candidates focuses on selecting candidates who most closely match the requirements of the role, regardless of gender (or any other discriminatory criteria). As part of our 2022 goals, we are looking to further review our approach to recruitment to ensure it is not only gender neutral and generally inclusive, but to also ensure it encourages female applicants.
We also plan to review our HR policies and practices during 2022/23 to ensure they are all supporting and driving a diverse and inclusive culture.
- Create an overarching Equity, Diversity and Inclusion programme
As well as continuing to progress the above, our Be Inspired group, Culture committee and HR team are collaborating to create an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion programme of activity for 2022. Gender will be one of the key streams within this activity and we are already building actions within this stream, such as the career progression survey and focus.
I confirm that SS&C FSI’s gender pay gap calculations are accurate and meet the requirements of the Regulations.
Nick Wright
Chief Executive Officer, SS&C Financial Services International & Europe and Head of Global Investor and Distribution Solutions