Purpose & perspective

Purpose is one of my favourite questions in business life - what are we doing this for?

The same rationale applies for running a business as much as it does for projects and campaigns, and with each there comes a need for responsibility.

Process soon follows - the methodology to be employed, and then the need to decide upon how and what measurables to put in place in order to demonstrate outcomes and to determine whether everything is delivering. - These are broadly the metrics by which leaders are judged - on successes, be they quantitative or qualitative.

The same should apply in public life and politics, and yet all too often there are headlines, sensationalism, doom and gloom and half-told stories.

Yesterday the local paper boldly reported ‘12% gender pay gap ‘not acceptable’. - This comes on the back of a recent survey reporting statistics that show that the disparity between male and female earnings rose by 2% in the year to June 2022.

There is no reason to doubt the information, and yet statistics alone don’t tell the whole story. What roles do people of different gender hold? What are each person’s responsibility, level of experience and expertise? - This is where the perspective part comes in.

‘The Voice of the JEP’ challenged the narrative with three succinct paragraphs under the title of ‘Statistics that raise questions’:

‘When it comes to the gender pay gap, the stats raise a host of issues. Are there enough opportunities for mothers who take time out or go part-time to maintain careers and continue contributing to the economy and service provision? Is the Island suffering from a brain drain when women have developed expertise and experience in the middle of their careers?”

“How much is this down to the cost of childcare forcing parents - and predominantly women - to give up work because it makes financial sense rather than pay nursery fees?”

‘And should companies be forced to publish pay figures for men and women so that women can assess employers and have the information to argue for greater pay if there are discrepencies?”

All of the above are perfectly logical questions and the answers would put the whole report into proper perspective, thus delivering purpose.

So without the complete picture what is the purpose of the report and story? - Is it to grab headlines, give a platform for the Assistant Home Affairs Minister to speak out, win popularity and potentially votes?

There is of course value to understand where there is variation in earnings between genders and different nationalities, but surely the report should be the basis for further research?

The world is currently transfixed with diversity and inequality and there is evidence to support that. But Jersey is a free economy that is well-represented at senior level, and certainly in public life with a female Chief Minister, a female Chair of the IoD, female Chair and CEO of Visit Jersey, a female President of The Law Society of Jersey vs a male President and CEO of Chamber, a male Chief Executive of Jersey Finance and a male President of the Jersey Farmers Union.

Ther’re maybe areas of concern, and some industries have traditionally attracted more of one gender than another, but let’s have the full story. - Define the purpose of the study and put things in perspective.