Salesforce's Chief People Officer explains how and why the company has spent $8.7 million to close its gender pay gap

Nick BastoneDec 5, 2018, 00:48 IST

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On Tuesday at Business Insider's IGNITION conference, Salesforce Chief People Officer Cindy Robbins shared the story of how her company became committed to equal pay for its employees.
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff was initially surprised by Robbins' request, but ultimately he agreed.
Over the last three years, Salesforce has paid around $8.7 million to close its gender pay gap.
"Unless you have flawless systems and flawless processes, you're going to have to run the audit every single year," Robbins explained. "This was not a one-and-done thing."
Robbins says Salesforce's effort around equal pay is a call to action for other companies to start doing the same.

On Tuesday at Business Insider's IGNITION conference, Salesforce President and Chief People Officer Cindy Robbins shared the story of how the cloud software company became committed to equal pay for its employees. It's a story that she first brought to the public's attention on 60 minutes earlier this year.

Robbins said it started around 2014, when CEO Marc Benioff held his quarterly meeting with 60 to 70 top executives at Salesforce - and realized there were hardly any women in the room. Benioff knew there were strong female leaders within the company, and decided that moving forward. at least 30% of attendees to that meeting would be women.

"He gave us a seat at the table," Robbins remembers. "Our job was to stay invited to those meetings - which we did."

Robbins rose the ranks at Salesforce and became the head of human relations - or officially, Chief People Officer. Soon after the promotion she starting thinking: "Why isn't easier for women to elevate at Salesforce?"

Here's the story of how Salesforce became a company committed to equal pay, as shared at Business Insider's IGNITION conference:

See Salesforce's Chief People Officer explains how and why the company has spent $8.7 million to close its gender pay gap >>

Benioff was surprised at the request given the efforts he and his team had made to make Salesforce a place of equal opportunity and benefits. But ultimately he agreed and supported the initiative.

Salesforce acquires lots of companies, Robbins explains. In 2017, it acquired 14 companies. And, as she points out: "When you acquire 14 companies, you acquire not just their technology and their people, but also their pay practices."

Also, Robbins says the audit is a continuous learning process, and their methodology wasn't perfect from the start.

One of the most significant process changes Salesforce made was during the recruitment process. Instead of asking candidates about their current compensation, Salesforce recruiters and hiring managers now ask: "What is the compensation you expect?"

Otherwise, Robbins explained, new employees are simply bringing in their pay gap from their previous employer.

Salesforce has also increased the number of women employees by 2,000 in the last year and increased the number of female in leadership roles by 34% since instituting the assessment.

She also reiterated that the equal pay initiative couldn't have happened without the buy-in from their CEO, Marc Benioff.

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Salesforce's Chief People Officer explains how and why the company has spent $8.7 million to close its gender pay gap