WiPA Publishes Employer Guide to Support Women’s Pay and Progression

Women in Public Affairs (WiPA) has today published the second guide in its Pay and Progression Toolkit aimed at supporting employers to create more inclusive and transparent workplaces that better advance women’s pay, career development and retention across the public affairs sector. Read the guide here.

 

The new guide offers practical ideas and best practice recommendations for employers, covering inclusive hiring, transparent pay policies, and practical steps to help retain and promote more women into senior roles. It draws on insights from WiPA’s employer roundtable and includes case studies shared by senior leaders across the industry and from WiPA’s Advisory Committee.

 

Key recommendations in the guide include:

  • Using inclusive language and structured interviews in recruitment

  • Publishing job adverts with salary bands and clearly defined roles

  • Building consistent competency frameworks to guide progression

  • Providing tailored support for mid-level women aspiring to leadership

  • Being transparent about family leave policies and flexible working

  • Promoting inclusive workplace cultures through allyship and ‘loud parenting’

 

The Toolkit continues WiPA’s campaign for greater pay transparency and progression for women in public affairs. While this year’s WiPA survey, conducted by Opinium, showed progress on salary transparency in job adverts, with 60% of firms including pay, only 29% of women said their company published salary bands, highlighting the gap this guide is designed to close with practical steps for employers.

 

Lizzy Tomlin, Chair of Women in Public Affairs, said:

“This guide is an important next step in WiPA’s campaign to improve pay and progression for women in public affairs. It builds on the foundations of our first guide by turning to employers with practical ideas and real-world examples to help create more supportive workplaces. From transparent pay structures to inclusive progression policies, we hope it encourages organisations to reflect and take action so more women can thrive and lead in our sector.”


Lucy Warren, Head of Campaigns, said:

"We heard directly from employers in our sector that they wanted to do more to support and retain female talent in their businesses, but didn't know quite where to start. This guide aims to answer some of those questions and provide a framework for reflection. We recognise that every business is different, and we hope the guide offers something for everyone — whether that’s making small changes to the language in job descriptions or taking more transformative steps like reshaping family leave policies."