At RSM, building a diverse workforce and fostering an inclusive culture are not just values we uphold, they’re integral to our strategy for innovation, growth and resilience. We believe that when people feel valued, respected and empowered to be themselves, they thrive and so does our business. Diversity of thought, background and experience enables us to better serve our clients, support our communities, and create a workplace where everyone can succeed.

Transparency is central to our inclusion journey. That’s why we continue to publish our gender and ethnicity pay gap data. To meet regulatory requirements, to hold ourselves accountable and to drive meaningful change. We recognise that pay gaps are a symptom of wider structural inequalities and while they don’t reflect equal pay for equal work, they do highlight where representation is not yet equitable.

We’re proud of the progress we’ve made, but we know there’s more to do. This year’s data shows areas of improvement and where we must go further. We remain committed to understanding the lived experiences behind the numbers and to taking action that supports equity at every level of our organisation.

Our progress

Addressing our pay gaps is central to our broader commitment to fostering inclusion and creating pathways for underrepresented groups to progress. This commitment is reflected in the initiatives we’ve developed to support equity and advancement.

Employee networks

We have seven diversity employee networks. They support us in our commitment to: cultivating environments where people feel empowered to express themselves; strengthen community connections; and integrate inclusion into all aspects of our work. They run events that inspire and educate, marking key dates in the calendar and raising awareness of important issues. They also play a crucial role in representing colleagues and sharing lived experiences, providing valuable feedback and insight to the firm that helps shape our approach to inclusion.

Inclusive leadership

Leadership plays a vital role in shaping an inclusive culture and we’ve seen this commitment in action throughout the year. Our leaders have actively participated in initiatives including: fasting during Ramadan to deepen understanding; sharing personal stories to break the taboo around menopause; and standing up as allies during Black History Month. In this way, leaders make it clear that inclusion is a shared responsibility and core to how we work.

Reverse mentoring

Our reverse mentoring programme has been a powerful tool to drive cultural change and deepen understanding. Pairing partners with more junior colleagues from an array of backgrounds created space for honest conversations that challenged assumptions, surfaced lived experiences and generated ideas.

Inclusive recruitment

We’re committed to fair, transparent and inclusive recruitment practices. This means seeking diverse talent, removing barriers to entry and creating opportunities so that everyone has the chance to thrive. From inclusive job descriptions and diverse interview panels to outreach programmes and internships, we’re embedding equity at every stage of the recruitment journey.

Strengthening our data insights

To ensure our inclusion efforts are informed and impactful, we’re enhancing how we analyse our people data. This includes deepening our review of outcomes from promotion, bonus and salary processes to identify patterns and address disparities. We’re also refreshing our analysis of exit interview data to better understand why people leave and expanding our focus on those joining the firm. This includes tracking how they progress and where support may be needed. These insights are vital to helping us shape fairer, more inclusive practices across the employee lifecycle.

RSM’s gender pay gaps have continued to narrow for the sixth consecutive year. Our mean bonus gap has also reduced, but we have seen a small increase in our median bonus gap.

While we’re proud of the progress we’ve made, we recognise that our gender pay and bonus gaps persist - largely due to the higher proportion of men in our most senior roles. Increasing female representation at these senior levels remains a focus. We know meaningful change requires a long-term strategy, not quick fixes, which is why we’re driving progress through targeted initiatives and sustained effort. We have a strong pipeline of female talent and we’re committed to supporting their development and advancement.

RSM’s ethnicity pay gaps have reduced this year. Our median bonus gap has also reduced while the mean bonus gap has marginally increased.

We know that seniority mix plays a critical role in influencing pay gaps. While not yet represented across our most senior roles, our early careers pipeline has greatly diversified in recent years. Our priority is to continue retaining and progressing this talent, ensuring that all our people have the opportunities and support they need to thrive. We are already beginning to see the positive impact of these efforts, with progression and development across our diverse talent pipeline.

We are pleased to see that our Partner gender pay gaps have reduced. Our Partner gender bonus gaps continue to trend in favour of women. The mean bonus gap has reduced this year, whilst the median bonus gap has widened.

The pay gap is different to equal pay.

A gender and ethnicity pay gap is a measure of the difference between the average pay rates for men and women, and for ethnically diverse and White employees.

Our methodology

We are required to report our gender pay gap data for each separate legal entity that has at least 250 employees. We have therefore reported data for RSM UK Tax and Accounting Ltd and RSM UK Management Ltd. It’s important that we consider all our people, so figures in this report combine the data of both entities.

In addition to our employee pay gaps, we voluntarily report our partner pay gaps.

Current statutory pay gap calculations require us to exclude undisclosed ethnicities and declarations of gender identity that are not binary, i.e. it includes only ‘men’ and ‘women’. Therefore, while we recognise and celebrate colleagues of all gender identities at RSM, we have had to exclude the following:

17% for non-disclosure of ethnicity.

0.1% of employees because of their non-binary or undisclosed gender identity.

Calculating the mean

We add up the rates of pay of all men and the rates of pay of all women, and then divide these figures by the total number in each group. We then report the percentage difference between these two figures as our mean gender pay gap.

We repeat this process for ethnically diverse employees, reporting the percentage difference as our mean ethnicity pay gap. The same methodology is applied in this report to show the difference between Black/Black British, Asian/Asian British, Mixed/Multiple heritage and Other ethnic groups and all White employees.

Calculating the median

We list rates of pay for every man and every woman and report the middle point of each list as the median. The percentage difference between these two figures is then reported as our median gender pay gap. This process is repeated for ethnically diverse employees, White employees and for each specific ethnic group. The percentage difference is reported as our median ethnicity pay gap. Our bonus mean and median pay gaps are calculated the same way.