Earlier this month Salesforce found a simple solution to the gender pay gap. It conducted a review of its staff’s salaries, and then adjusted them accordingly so that men and women in similar roles were earning similar amounts. The review came about after Cindy Robbins, senior vice president of Employee Success, and Leyla Seka, senior vice president of Desk.com, pointed out CEO Marc Benioff that female staff were probably being paid less. Initially sceptical, when Benioff realised what they were saying was true he went out of his way to fix it. But the company isn’t stopping there, it wants to create one of the most female-friendly cultures in tech.

Only 30% of Salesforce employees are women and few of those women are in influential positions. In 2013 The Women’s Surge programme was put into place by Benioff to force an increase of women in decision-making and influencer roles. Women must now make up at least 30% of the attendees at leadership and product strategy and investment meetings; a 50:50 split is the ultimate goal. Having women in the room is one thing; getting women to be seen and heard is another, especially in a culture where male voices are the norm. The key seems to be in numbers, the more women in the room, the more likely they are to talk.

“We see women stepping up and speaking up in our internal strategy meetings with Marc. They are banding together, and gaining confidence in bringing forward some great ideas,” says Robbins. “Leyla and I just look at each other and say: ‘it’s working’”.

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