The CEO of the social enterprise founded by renowned equality campaigner Eleanor Rathbone a century ago has said society is still unequal - and that employers should recruit based on skills, not gender.
Lesley Dixon heads up PSS, which is celebrating its 100th year in 2019, and says her "rebel with a cause" organisation is bucking the trend of equality in 海角视频 workplaces.
For decades, the Liverpool firm has been plugging the gaps in social care left by the government, aiming to make a "huge impact" on people's lives up and down the country.
Tireless women's rights campaigner Ms Rathbone's legacy lives on, not least because the organisation's Vauxhall home is named after the ex-MP. PSS was the first organisation to introduce social workers to hospitals and work placements for social work students, also starting up well-known causes such as Age 海角视频, Legal Aid, Riverside Housing and the Citizens’ Advice Bureau on Merseyside.
But despite the progress society has made since 1919, Ms Dixon said equality has still not been achieved, and that employers continue to fail at hiring people based on their skills, with the gender pay gap still prevalent across the country.
PSS, Ms Dixon explained, has a rather different outlook to many organisations.
She told BusinessLive: "A major report showed recently that most men are paid significantly more than women, even those doing the same jobs.
"But we have got 150 employees, and ours is the other way round - we have a leadership team that is entirely female, for the simple fact that the people employed were the best people for the job."
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She said when she joined back in 2010, the board of trustees was made up of "90%" men - a situation which now has "much greater balance".
"By not recruiting enough women to leadership teams, society loses out because you won't have that greater diversity of views and background around the table.
"Research shows you will make better decisions. Things have certainly moved on, but the idea we are at a stage where the argument has been won is far from reality."
She said even in an outward-looking, diverse city like Liverpool, there is still not enough female representation in top business roles.
PSS now has around 20 different services, from mental health and rehabilitation for women in the criminal justice system, to care for people with learning and physical disabilities.
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Speaking about the social enterprise's story, Ms Dixon said: “Our history is profound, and the influence that PSS has had over the last 100 years in shaping social care in this country has been formidable, yet still we are probably Liverpool's best untold story.
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"As for Eleanor Rathbone, we think she is up there with The Beatles as being iconically Liverpool, but not many people know that she was the woman behind PSS. Our birthday celebration provides the perfect opportunity for us to tell our story - to shout about the amazing things we have done over the decades and give a voice to the incredible people who use our services.
"Importantly, we will also set out our plans for the next 100 years - continuing to be innovative, pioneering and changing people’s lives for the better.”
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