FEBRUARY 2020

WEPs IN ACTION
PRINCIPLE 2Treat all women and men
fairly at work – respect andsupport human rights
and nondiscrimination

Contents
1.

Context

2.

Actions

3.

Challenges

4.

Results

5.

Recommendations

CASE STUDY: SWEDBANK
CLOSING THE GENDER PAY GAPLESSONS LEARNED• Tackling the gender pay gap in a serious and concerted way
requires visible and senior leadership.

• Putting in place a job evaluation system that systematically• Making equal pay part of the organization’s scorecard andkey performance indicators ensures that the goal to continually make progress on closing the pay gap is not lost.

and regularly evaluates the content of each job is critical tounderstanding what makes roles comparable and how equalpay can be measured.

• Integrating equal pay policies and measures into all business• Setting an ambitious agenda of zero pay gap is important,• Ensuring extensive training for HR managers to speak knowl-

while having more realistic midpoints to achieve that goal.

• Having a dedicated budget to close extraordinary historical
pay gaps is essential.

processes and business areas gives ownership and accountability to managers across the organization.

edgeably on equal pay issues, and unconscious bias training
for managers is critical for advancing the equal pay agenda.

• Regularly measuring progress in closing the pay gaps andcommunicating updates helps companies accelerate progress.

CONTEXTFor Swedbank, one of Sweden’s largest financial institutions based
in a country where the law requires equal pay analysis, working towards eradicating the equal pay gap* was not entirely unfamiliar.

In 2014, Swedbank’s leadership team decided to go above and beyond the law. Frustrated with persistent gender pay gaps which
always returned even after they had been tackled, the leadershipmade a firm decision: women and men are equal and should be paid
the same.

Case Study: SWEDBANK | 1

A new plan aiming to correct the gender pay gap in a more systematic,targeted and integrated manner was adopted across the organization.
It also included a plan to put more focus on diversity in the bank andgender balance in management positions.

The bank’s commitment to tackling the equal pay gap moved from
simply being a legal requirement to something that has become afundamental part of its culture and operations.

In 2014, Swedbank began to tackle the gender pay gap for all 16,000
employees in the four countries it operates in: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Sweden.

ACTIONSThe plan to close the equal pay gap started by setting an ambitious
target: to bring the pay gap to zero by 2017 for all employees in every
part of the bank, and to maintain that figure.
One of the prerequisites for eliminating the pay gap was putting inplace a job evaluation system. This was critical to understanding whatmakes roles comparable to others and how equal pay can be measured.
A detailed definition of every job in the organization was developed
using the Hay Job Evaluation Method, a readily available method used
to map out roles. It provides guidance on how to systematically evaluate the content of each job, avoiding biased thoughts and consideration of unfair or irrelevant factors that should not affect salaries.
This was a significant step forward for the bank, moving beyond looking just at job titles towards a more comprehensive exercise which
captured each job’s complexity and level of responsibility. This job
evaluation is now updated regularly.
Having been defined, each job was assigned a level that reflected
how much responsibility came with it. The next step was to ensurethat employees doing the same type of work were receiving the samesalary. If gaps were found, immediate corrective measures were takenwith the help of a special budget set aside for this purpose.
The bank’s HR Compensations and Benefits team drives work to close
the pay gap and works closely with managers to make sure that fairand equal salary and benefits practices are maintained.
The team conduct a pay gap assessment for each part of the organization three times a year and shares the findings with each businessarea to make sure that no pay gap has been created. This assessment
prevents pay gaps returning once they have been eradicated.
HR also works with managers throughout the annual salary review
process, making sure that equal pay is considered at every step. It
again provides a checkpoint, calculating the impact on equal pay ifsalaries are raised as proposed by the managers. If the calculation
reveals that a gap will be created, managers are asked to modify theirsalary review proposals.
Many factors can lead to fluctuations in salary and potentially cause
pay gaps, which is why eradicating the pay gap is an ongoing job.

2 | Case Study: SWEDBANKPay differences between genders can be caused by unconscious bias, economic factors in the job market that impact
salaries, different levels of performance, employees enteringand leaving the company, among other factors.
In the Baltics for instance, Swedbank found that a gender pay gap
was being created when women take parental leave and miss out onannual salary increases.
This regular analysis of salaries allows Swedbank to control differentials that should not affect pay or benefits, making sure that discrimination cannot creep in.
Initially, a special budget was set aside to close any historical pay gaps,
particularly in the Baltics. This was not needed beyond 2017 and now
managers plan their annual salary budget to ensure that no paygaps occur.
Education and training for HR professionals, who were leading thedrive for equal pay, was crucial to the programme’s success. This allowed them to effectively support managers and competently tackle
questions on equal pay from staff. As the experts on equal pay, theCompensations and Benefits team prepares training material and runs
workshops, seminars and other events to ensure that HR staff can deal
with any concerns.
The other target group for learning is managers, who are trained on
both equal pay and on broader topics of gender equality and diversity. Since 2014, a typical manager at Swedbank will have participatedin around five gender equality and diversity courses. In the Baltics,
for instance, in just 18 months 700 managers took part in a in full-day,face-to-face course, covering 95 per cent of the management inthat region.
Equality and diversity training happens right up to the highest levelsof management, with separate workshops for their teams. It is part ofevery new manager’s induction and each year before the annual
salary review, managers attend seminars on equal pay. Training thoroughly covers the topic of bias, helping managers to make fair decisions during performance assessments or when setting salaries for
new employees.
Over time, equal pay has become a deeply embedded norm in theculture of the organization. It is part of the bank’s scorecard and a
key performance indicator for the whole organization, demonstrating
how integrated it is within the company.

TIMELINE
2014

2015

2017

Equal pay gap is calculated at 1.7 per cent.

Target set to achieve zero pay gap by 2017 in Sweden
and by 2018 for the Baltic countries. A special budget
is reserved for closing historical pay gaps in Balticcountries and job grading begins.

The zero pay gap target is achieved
in Sweden with work ongoing inother countries.

CHALLENGES
The largest challenge at the start of the journey was to make managers see the relevance and importance of equal pay. According toMare Heinluht, Head of Gender Equality & Diversity, it needs to beclear that the drive comes from and is the priority of the CEO.
Closing the gender pay gap in four countries with different salarycultures was another challenge. The bank used the Swedish legal
requirement as a starting point, but decided to take it even further.
In the Baltic countries where larger and more widespread gender pay
gaps were discovered, extra budget was needed initially. Those historical gaps were closed by 2017 and additional budget has not beenrequired since.
Not all companies will be able to allocate additional funds to close thegender pay gap, but for Swedbank it was an option and a conscious
decision. Prioritizing spending on closing the gap was a useful exercise in itself and demonstrated that the leadership team recognized
and were serious about tackling the problem.

on the other hand, has met the goals set for her but has not broughtin large business deals. The manager’s bias then directly leads to apay gap.
Managers are encouraged to consider the specific needs and constraints of each employee. For example, are they consistently rewarding the employee who is able to work long hours because s/he does
not have caring responsibilities?
To help mitigate the inherent difference in expectations of womenand men during salary negotiations, HR supports managers in setting
the salary of new recruits in a way that does not create a pay gap. And
as a final check, the bank promotes an open culture that encourages
employees who feel they have been incorrectly evaluated by their
manager to raise it and ask HR to intervene if necessary.

When it comes to implementing the equal pay agenda at managerial
level, biased thinking can be a real challenge. Deeply entrenchedperceptions that discriminate against women can inform performanceappraisals and a person’s individual subjectivity can directly contribute to a gender pay gap. This is why Swedbank’s training sessions have
had a strong focus on unconscious bias.
More than a hundred such workshops have taken place with management teams since 2014 and they include practical exercises to help
people gain insights about themselves and whether bias exists intheir thought processes. One such topic is the way performance goals
are set differently for women and men. A manager might, for example,
set business-focused goals for a man and more value-based or teamwork-oriented goals for women. In this example, the manager may
consider it unfair not to rank the man higher in his performance assessment, as he brought in a lot of business. The female employee,

Case Study: SWEDBANK | 3Ensured that everyone understand from the outset thatthe equal pay agenda is a commitment by the company’s
top leadership.

Closing the pay gap in four countries withdifferent salary cultures.

Leveraged the Swedish legal requirements andallocated special budgets for countries requiringextraordinary adjustments.

Overcoming bias in performance evaluations
and differences in expectations of womencompared to men.

Held extensive and regular training on bias andgender equality topics.

HOW IT WAS ADDRESSEDCHALLENGE

Setting up a cultural norm where every manager
understands the significance of equal pay.

RESULTS
Swedbank set a target of achieving a zero pay gap in Sweden by 2017 and the result was 0.003 per cent. The gender pay gap in total for all four countries
in 2017 was approximately 0.4 per cent.

ACHIE VING A ZERO PAY GAPPAY GAP

0.4%

2015

since 2017

1.7%

4 | Case Study: SWEDBANKPAY GAPRECOMMENDATIONS
A successful equal pay programme needs to be visibly led by the mostsenior leaders. It also requires a clear target, a timeline to achieve thetarget and specific resources to be set aside. While the target should
be aiming towards a zero pay gap, it is important to have realistic
benchmarks and midpoints on the way to reaching that end goal.

Both HR and senior leaders need expert training to become skilled
advocates for equal pay. This enables them to demand the same fromthe managers reporting to them. There also needs to be extensive
training on bias, which has been the most important part of the training for managers at Swedbank.

A dedicated team must have overall responsibility for delivering a paygap programme, but the whole organization should feel a sense ofownership. Reducing the gender pay gap therefore needs to be an
integrated effort across the company’s core business processes, rather
than a project implemented within one department.

Close monitoring and reporting of the programme is essential. For
Swedbank that meant producing reports on a regular basis and distributing to the management teams. This allows for early intervention
if a gap starts to emerge.

Although senior leaders need to be fully engaged and actively seen
to lead, they must also empower the team leading the programme todesign and run it, and provide the resources to make it a reality.

THE ROLE OF WEPs
Swedbank was eager to commit to the Women’s Empowerment Principles in May 2019, hoping to show solidarity by
joining a global community of like-minded companies.

It seemed like a natural progression for the bank and they are
keen to contribute to the network, share valuable experienceand practices, learn from others, and advance gender equality
together in the world of work.

Case Study: SWEDBANK | 5Funded by:

Principle 1

Establish high-level corporate leadershipfor gender equality.

Principle 2

Treat all women and men fairly at work– respect andsupport human rights and nondiscrimination.

Principle 3

Ensure the health, safety and well-being of
all women and men workers.

Principle 4

Promote education, training and professional
development for women.

Principle 5

Implement enterprise development, supply chain
and marketing practices that empower women.

Principle 6

Promote equality through community initiatives
and advocacy.

Principle 7

Measure and publicly report on progressto achieve gender equality.

weps.org@WEPrinciples

weps@unwomen.org@Empower_Women

Produced by:

In support of:

DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the European Union, UN Women, International Labour Organization or the United Nations