Closing statement from our Director of People & CR

Closing statement

At Ricoh UK our people are at the core of our business and for them to be empowered, supported and able to develop to their full potential, they need access to a workplace where they can bring their whole selves to work and feel that they are valued, cared for, can be their best and make a difference.

With this in mind, addressing the gender pay gap is a key focus area for both my strategy as Director of People & CR, and for the wider business on a global scale. Our heritage as a print technology company means historically the sector has attracted largely male employees; this has begun to shift slowly, although our data shows that we have a long way still to go. We will need to continue with our focus and commitment to addressing the gender pay gap especially after the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.

It should also be noted that the Covid-19 pandemic has made reporting and accurate interpretation of the data challenging over the last two years. We are aware that the 2020 and 2021 reports have skewed our data, due to business impacts during the time period data has been collected. We have also taken into consideration longer term trends in our data to inform our strategy on closing the gender pay gap.

The proactive steps we are currently taking include:

Activities to encourage more external female applicants to Ricoh UK
Development and learning opportunities for our internal female employees
Education and empowerment to develop advocacy and allyship from our male employees
Champions at a senior and board level to help drive both the importance and urgency of gender parity

Visibility at events and participation in awards specifically aimed at females, their progression, contributions and successes
Investment in technology and process to enable gender parity
Partnership with organisations to strengthen our approach to closing the gender pay gap
Continue to review our pay review process to ensure we are addressing any pay disparities which in turn will help close our gender pay gap.

I am personally dedicated to gender parity and will continue to ensure it is high on the agenda for Ricoh UK throughout the coming year and beyond. I look forward to continuing our commitment and the steps already in place, and to introducing new initiatives, activities and most importantly enabling female and male colleagues to participate in proactive steps to closing the gender pay gap further.

Rebekah Wallis
Director - People & Corporate Responsibility, Ricoh UK & Ireland