Last week, we had the chance to host our first EQUAL-SALARY webinar together with Unjela Kaleem, a Strategic & Shared Value Communications expert and trainer. The topic was all about how to maximise your communication as an EQUAL-SALARY Certified organization. Here is the video of the Webinar, and below we outlined the main outcomes for you. Enjoy the viewing and reading!
The EQUAL-SALARY label is a matter of reputation management – not just through press release, social media posts and careers page.
Use your communication team from the beginning, look at how you can enhance the reputation of your organization with the certificate. Effective messaging is built when communication departments are included sooner. You may not issue anything before the process is over, but the process will be understood, planned and the team will be better equipped to develop the communication giving more robust stories linked to appropriate timing.
Repeat. Extend the communication life period over a few months. Any topic related to equal pay, sustainability, any project that impacts gender equality or help to communities as part of your CSR, is a good opportunity to repeat that you are EQUAL-SALARY certified. EQUAL-SALARY should always be part of your narrative for CSR.
Showcase that you contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Tell how you are engaging, what are the numbers, nuance how much you are impacting gender equality (SDG5), reducing inequalities in the world (SDG10), help decent work and economic growth (SDG8), and build sustainable communities (SDG11). Your customers and stakeholders might not be reading your sustainability report. Think of opportunities to reach your stakeholders in different ways. Also, when opportunity is given to the organization to give an interview in the media about sustainability, think of including EQUAL-SALARY.
Identify your target audience and communicate with adapted channels. It’s not only an HR and legal matter. If you mention your certification on the home page or landing page, you get more visibility and better reputation not only to people who want to apply in your organization. Showing the ES label only in the careers page confines communication towards people that are already interested in your organization.
Give more details, think of how the ES certification appeals to your consumer base. Women are decision-makers and have the purchasing power, think how to connect creatively with your female consumers without “blablabla”. Take your employees through what you have done so that they will see, in their own fields of action, how they can use the ES certification to engage with their stakeholders (media, customer, suppliers, governments, …) Do it in small groups, to give more opportunity to ask questions. Each employee is your ambassador to the outside world.
