In late 2016 I shared Pivotal’s approach to pay transparency, as part of our journey and vision for creating a workplace where pay is equitable and our policies and pay practices transparent to our employees. Our values to “do what works”, “do the right thing”, and “be kind” have served as fitting guideposts to this approach.
Since then, Pivotal has implemented practices across our US offices to help ensure that job candidates are not asked about their current pay during the interview and offer process. While a handful of US states and cities—including, recently, California—have made this law, this has been our approach across the US. In addition, we recently rolled out this practice in Canada and will continue to look at where and when we can extend this practice outside of North America.
The goal here is to extend job offers that align to market pay rates, rather than a candidate's historical pay. Evaluating a candidate against what a position is worth in relation to their fit for that position can help erase disparities based on historical pay. Further, greater pay parity at the onset of one’s career at Pivotal helps set up new hires to get paid more fairly throughout their employment.
In addition, managers now have access to the pay ranges for each of their employees’ roles. The goal is to provide managers with the tools and skills to have effective career conversations with their teams. The goal over the next year will be that all employees know where they fall within their own pay range, promoting pay equity and helping each Pivot grow and develop in their career.
Pivotal also believes it is important to establish processes and systems to support equitable compensation. To prevent the emergence of unintentional patterns and drift that could eventually lead to pay gaps, we regularly analyze our pay data and processes and make changes when appropriate.
How are we doing?
For Pivotal employees in similar roles and circumstances in the US, women earn, on average, 99 cents for every dollar that men earn.
We found that employees of color at Pivotal earn, on average, $1.01 for every dollar white employees earn. More specifically, Asians earn $1.01, Blacks earn $1.00 ( parity) and Hispanics earn $1.01 for every dollar white employees earn.
While we haven’t reached local office population levels in other countries to perform the same type of analysis, we’re applying similar pay practices globally to ensure that all Pivots are paid equitably.
Pivotal employees and the leadership team care deeply about this journey, and our commitment to equitable pay. We'll continue to be mindful to balance openness with confidentiality: being transparent on overall compensation practices, philosophies, and decisions, while protecting the confidentiality of an individual's compensation.
The tech industry as a whole has some ways to go in creating the practices and perceptions of being as inclusive as it is dynamic, and equitable pay is one step in that direction.
