Pay equality toolkit: Ensure equitable access to professional development

Most employees welcome regular feedback when it demonstrates an understanding of the requirements of their role, how the role contributes to the goals of the organisation and an acknowledgement of the effort they have made.  Feedback should be both ways, with employees encouraged to bring up issues. Regular opportunities for feedback could include: surveys, feedback portals and weekly or fortnightly 1:1 meetings with direct reports that have a set list of questions.  These strategies create a culture of transparency and trust, where individuals feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and concerns. 

Create a schedule for regular feedback with a simple agreed agenda that relates to each employee’s role. 

In small business, many roles may not have a logical upward pathway because they might require a specialised skill or there may only be the need for one such role within the organisation. It may work to consider competency within roles or an extension of skills (such as decision-making responsibilities) rather than structured promotional pathways. 

Consider your vision and objectives in the growth of your organisation and what knowledge and skills are necessary for you to achieve these. Create a capability matrix tailored for your organisation to determine the skills required for each role. This will help to remove gendered, stereotypical attributes from each role and highlight the skills required.  Work with your employees to look at where their professional growth can contribute to the desired growth of the business.  

Ensure more senior roles and those with greater responsibility in your organisation are inclusive of flexible work arrangements.  

Professional learning should be part of every employee’s engagement. It demonstrates an organisation’s investment in employee’s career and can lead to improved job satisfaction.  

Consider what professional learning your employees may need to enable performance improvement or professional growth. This might be a whole of business professional learning opportunity (especially if it is skill-based) or it might be individualised. Allocate a fair and proportionate budget for professional development opportunities across your organisation.  

Assess a variety of professional learning opportunities, including workshops, training sessions, online courses, mentorship programs, and conferences and ensure that all employees have access to the necessary technology for online learning and virtual professional development opportunities. Ensure all learning opportunities are equally available and accessible to all staff including those with flexible work arrangements.  

Ensure that participation in professional development activities is recognised and considered in performance evaluations and career advancement opportunities.  

Your commitment to the professional development of your staff should be documented in a way that explains why it supports your beliefs around equal pay and describes your performance development steps and processes. 

You could create a strategy document for performance development or include equitable access to professional development in your equal pay policy. Visit our Create an equal pay policy tool for a policy template so you can document your beliefs, aims and objectives in providing equitable access to professional development.  

Create a time for each employee to engage in a performance review. This is usually completed annually and is often linked to salary reviews. Our Guide for Conducting Gender Neutral Job Evaluations <link> provides a suggested strategy and template to help you complete these with a skills and knowledge-based focus rather than personal attributes. 

Many organisations find the use of a simple Professional Development Plan to help guide the performance review. This provides employees with an opportunity to set goals for professional development and track the achievement of these goals together.  An example of this can be found at Business Victoria’s Professional development plan template. 

Ensure your strategy for professional development is reviewed regularly and adapted to suit the needs of your organisation and employees.