AkzoNobel 2023 Gender Pay Report (ICI)

Foreword

“AkzoNobel strive for a workplace where managers are enthusiastic about building and sustaining diverse teams and are equipped with the tools to do so. This includes empowering our Talent Acquisition teams to tap into a wide array of talent pools, while also educating hiring managers about the benefits of cultivating diverse teams within a respectful and trustworthy environment. We also included Diversity, Equity and Inclusion as a specific driver of our employee engagement platform, Voices. This supports people managers in understanding what requires their attention in their journey towards creating an even more diverse, inclusive and respectful environment for their teams. We're determined to enhance the diverse representation throughout our organization, particularly at executive and leadership level. For more information on DE&I at executive and leadership level, see our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Policy for the executive level, Board of Management and Supervisory Board. We consider that the promotion and mobilization of internal talent are fundamental, which is why we’ve thoroughly assessed the pipeline leading to the executive level and
have embarked on a journey that will enable us to provide growth opportunities for identified talent. Gender representation remains at the core of our diversity efforts and we're fully aware of the impact of female representation. We're rigorously working towards improving our gender representation, while offering interesting and challenging prospects to our talent. We acknowledge that diversity goes beyond gender, and we strive for diversity in all its forms.

(excerpt from AkzoNobel Position Statement on ‘Diversity, Equity & Inclusion’).

As in previous years, the historical gender imbalance which exists within some business areas continues to be a key area of focus for all UK Management Teams. The recruitment initiatives implemented over the last few years are now fully embedded but we acknowledge that real and long-term difference to the current gender pay gap will take time and as a company, we remain committed to continuing this journey.

Approach Taken

Under the requirements specified by UK legislation, we are required to report on the legal entities within our Group which have over 250 ‘UK employees’ (as defined in accordance with that legislation). The data provided in this report is based upon the snapshot date of 5 April 2023, and the 12-month reference period up to 5 April 2023 for the purpose of bonus analysis.

Statutory Disclosure

There are three legal entities within the AkzoNobel Group of companies which have over 250 UK employees (as defined in the legislation). These entities are Imperial Chemical Industries Limited (trading as ICI Paints AkzoNobel) (ICI), International Paint Limited (IPL) and J.P. McDougall & Co. Limited (JPM). The figures for ICI Limited are as follows:

Mean Gender Pay Gap

ICI                    -6.16%                    (2022 : -5.22%)

Median Gender Pay Gap

ICI                    -8.7%                    (2022 : -11.6%)

Mean Gender Bonus Pay Gap

ICI                    23.5%                    (2022 : 11.2%)

Median Gender Bonus Pay Gap

ICI                    44.2%                    (2022 : 19.8%)

Proportion of employees receiving a bonus payment

	Female	Male		Female	Male
ICI	98.3%	97.6%	2022	96.6%	95.8%

Proportion of employees within each pay quartile

	Q1	Q1	Q2	Q2	Q3	Q3	Q4	Q4
	F	M	F	M	F	M	F	M
ICI	34%	66%	23%	77%	34%	66%	38%	62%

Gender Pay Gap – Hourly Rate and Bonus

Across ICI, the gender pay gap remains below 0% and this demonstrates the continued efforts to maintain a gender balanced approach to recruitment and career development.

With regards to the current bonus gender pay gap, as in previous years, it continues to be driven by the increased bonus opportunity as employees move into more senior positions – so as with most gender pay gap challenges the Company face, increasing the number of women in senior management levels will have the most positive impact on reducing the current differential.

As referred to previously, a number of Talent Acquisition initiatives continue to focus on increasing the number of women across all levels of the business, with a specific focus on middle management, senior leaders and executive level positions. The UK HR Leadership Team undertake a quarterly review of both internal and external hiring practices to assess our progress against our gender diversity ambitions.

Whilst we understand that internal and external recruitment remains an important area of focus, alongside this, we also need to develop talent pipelines for the longer term  to ensure that we have strong engagement programs to retain female talent.

Alongside the existing activities, a number of other initiatives have also commenced:

Going Places

Going Places is our strategy to engage and inspire young people, especially young women, to learn more about both AkzoNobel as an employer and the career pathways we offer, especially within STEM.. 

Additionally, as part of our Going Places Strategy, we also engage with educational partners to talk about the skills and capabilities which we see as vital to enable our industry to grow and develop in the long term.

‘Integrate ‘ Engagement Initiatives

These initiatives are targeted at making our Manufacturing Sites more accessible to female colleagues, with investments into areas such as improved female changing rooms as well as focus on female specific protective clothing. 

We fully recognise that we have a much higher proportion of males than females at our Manufacturing Sites and as a result, the Integrate Initiative has been introduced to encourage more females to join our Company and feel more comfortable and confident within their working environment.

AkzoNobel 2022 Gender Pay Report

Foreword

AkzoNobel is proud to be building a diverse and inclusive company where we can all perform at our best and support others in their success. By becoming a more inclusive employer, great people will want to work here who can help drive us forward and understand and anticipate the changing needs and expectations of our customers. “We are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where employees are rewarded equally, regardless of their gender – in addition to improving female representation, especially at senior levels in the organisation. To prevent a gender pay gap, we follow a rewards philosophy of globally structured compensation based on market references and performance.” (excerpt from 2022 Annual Report)

The historical gender imbalance which exists within some business areas continues to be an area of focus for all UK Management Teams. We have implemented initiatives to seek to address these imbalances where they exist. Equally, we acknowledge that real and long-term difference to the current gender pay gap will take time and as a company, we remain committed to continuing this journey.

Approach Taken

Under the requirements specified by UK legislation, we are required to report on the legal entities within our Group which have over 250 ‘UK employees’ (as defined in accordance with that legislation). The data provided in this report is based upon the snapshot date of 5 April 2022, and the 12-month reference period up to 5 April 2022 for the purpose of bonus analysis.

Statutory Disclosure

There are three legal entities within the AkzoNobel Group of companies which have over 250 UK employees (as defined in the legislation). These entities are Imperial Chemical  Industries Limited (trading as ICI Paints AkzoNobel) (ICI), International Paint Limited (IPL) and J.P. McDougall & Co. Limited (JPM) The figures for ICI are as follows:

Mean Gender Pay Gap

ICI                   -5.22%                                    (2021 : 1.36%)

 

Median Gender Pay Gap

ICI                   -11.6%                                    (2021 : -5.9%)

                                      

Mean Gender Bonus Pay Gap

ICI                   11.2%                                     (2021 : 31.5%)

 

Median Gender Bonus Pay Gap

ICI                   19.8%                                     (2021 : 25.9%)

 

Proportion of employees receiving a bonus payment

	Female	Male		Female	Male
ICI	96.6%	95.8%	2021	97.8%	97%

 

Proportion of employees within each pay quartile

 

	Q1	Q1	Q2	Q2	Q3	Q3	Q4	Q4
	F	M	F	M	F	M	F	M
ICI	36%	64%	21%	79%	36%	64%	39%	61%

Gender Pay Gap – Hourly Rate and Bonus

Across ICI, the 2022 gender pay gap is now below zero which highlights the gender diversity across the more senior positions.

Although the bonus gender pay gaps have reduced, we fully acknowledge that there is still work required to reduce it further. The emphasis continues to be a focus on increasing the proportion of females across both senior management and executive positions.

At a UK level, Talent Acquisition initiatives continue to focus on increasing the proportion of females who we attract and recruit across all levels of the business. These include:

• Ensuring job adverts are worded to be gender neutral.
• Investing in advertising our vacancies on female focused job sites
• Investing in our Women’s Inspired Network to develop, support and empower our female colleagues
• Promoting our flexible and hybrid working offerings
• Ensuring interview panels are gender balanced
• Educating hiring managers on unconscious bias

In addition to the steps above, the UK HR Leadership Team also review the exit interview and recruitment data on a quarterly basis to assess how our recruitment practices and work environment are contributing to our overall objective to increase female representation across the organisation.

I confirm that the gender pay gap calculations for Imperial Chemical Industries Limited are accurate and meet the requirements of the Regulations. 

2021 Gender Pay Report

Foreword

‘We’re experts in making coatings, although that hardly begins to tell the whole story. We use passion for paint to make a difference – both big and small. The things our products can do may surprise you, whether they’re applied to boats, buildings, cars, planes, phones, walls or wood.’ 

‘We’re developing an increasingly engaged, diverse and capable workforce, with a focus on ensuring that management teams reflect the diversity of our workforce’₁

The historical gender imbalance which exists within some business areas continues to form an area of focus for all UK management teams. We have implemented a number of initiatives to seek to address these imbalances, where they exist. Equally, we acknowledge that real and long-term difference to the current gender pay gap will take time and as a company, we remain committed to continuing this journey.

Approach Taken

Under the requirements specified by UK legislation, we are required to report on the legal entities within our Group which have over 250 ‘UK employees’ (as defined in accordance with that legislation). The data provided in this report is based upon the snapshot date of 5 April 2021, and the 12-month reference period up to 5 April 2021 for the purpose of bonus analysis.

Statutory Disclosure

There are three legal entities within the AkzoNobel Group of companies which have over 250 UK employees (as defined in the legislation). These entities are Imperial Chemical  Industries Limited (trading as ICI Paints AkzoNobel) (ICI), International Paint Limited and J.P. McDougall & Co. Limited.  The figures for ICI are as follows:

Mean Gender Pay Gap

ICI                   1.36%                         (2020 : 3.38%)

 

Median Gender Pay Gap

ICI                   -5.9%                          (2020 : -4.8%)

                                      

Mean Gender Bonus Pay Gap

ICI                   31.5%                         (2020 : 31.4%)

 

Median Gender Bonus Pay Gap

ICI                   25.9%                         (2020 : 19.8%)

 

Proportion of employees receiving a bonus payment

	Female	Male		Female	Male
ICI	97.8%	97%	2020	100%	99%

 

Proportion of employees within each pay quartile

 

	Q1	Q1	Q2	Q2	Q3	Q3	Q4	Q4
	F	M	F	M	F	M	F	M
ICI	37%	63%	25%	75%	34%	66%	36%	64%

Gender Pay Gap – Hourly Rate and Bonus

Across ICI, the gender pay gap is now below 1.5% and this demonstrates the continued efforts to maintain a gender balanced approach to recruitment and career development.

With regards to the current bonus gender pay gap, it’s driven by the increased bonus opportunity as employees move into more senior positions – so as with most gender pay gap challenges the Company face, increasing the number of women in executive levels will have the most positive impact on reducing the current differential.

At a corporate level, AkzoNobel has launched a program to strengthen the senior female leadership pipeline with a target of reaching 30% of female leaders by 2025.

At a UK level, we have implemented a number of recruitment practices to support gender diversity including: Female positive wording in our job adverts with a focus on considering flexible working, investing in advertising vacancies on diversity positive job sites and introducing gender balanced interview panels. We continue to regularly review our recruitment and selection practices as a company to assess the impact that these practices are having, with a commitment to adjusting our approach where required.

We have implemented a number of important initiatives such as the ‘Women’s Inspired Network’ which aims to drive awareness, to educate, inspire and connect our colleagues, as well as our Mentorship Scheme for women taking maternity / adoptive leave which continues to have high visibility across the business, and we are hopeful that these types of initiatives have a longer-term impact on both attracting and retaining women as their careers develop.

Taking a holistic view of AkzoNobel across the UK, whilst we have business areas where the gender pay gap is not an issue, we fully acknowledge that this does not justify the differences which exist in other areas, and the local and global management teams will continue to take every opportunity to ensure that gender diversity and the associated pay gaps remains at the forefront of decisions taken within the business.

Reference

1          Taken from 2020 AkzoNobel Annual Report

I confirm that the gender pay gap calculations for Imperial Chemical Industries Limited are accurate and meet the requirements of the Regulations.