Study on non-legislative initiatives for companies to promote gender ...

Gender equality initiatives 11
These pros have to be contrasted with the obstacles and challenges for the
initiatives:
• Diversity of participating enterprises: Initiatives promoting gender equality
are well known among companies which are aware of the importance of
corporate social responsibility. Thus, participation rates are high among the
“usually suspects” which are also active in initiatives with another CSR or
diversity focus. This entails two questions: How could other enterprises be
motivated to bring new principles into the company’s organisation? And how
can a “distortion of competition” be avoided so that new participants have a real
chance to compete?
• Participation of SMEs: Many responsible organisations report on the
difficulties to recruit SMEs as they often lack a systematic HR policy and thus,
do not see themselves as a target group of the initiatives.
• Participation in times of economic crisis: Gender equality and social
responsibility is often seen as an additional target which can be aimed at if the
company’s results are satisfactory. In times of economic crisis and negative
business performance these additional targets are often sacrificed for the core
business issues.
• Balance between quality and accessibility: Non-legislative initiatives rely on
the voluntary participation of companies and therefore must orient their
organising principles to the requirements of the companies. However, the
initiatives will only be assessed as valuable in societal terms if the requirements
for participation are sufficiently demanding, if standards and practices address
crucial areas and induce sustainable change, and if this is actually evaluated so
that the companies can serve as real role models.
Benefits and challenges from an enterprise perspective
Although more and more enterprises commit themselves to corporate social responsibility,
a responsible management will only implement voluntary measures if the
enterprise itself can benefit from this, i. e. if it can be seen as a business case. Positive
impacts of participating in a non-legislative gender equality initiative include:
• Recognition for the company: The participation in such initiatives often does
not initiate totally new processes in the company but puts spotlight on actions
already existing. As large enterprises are nowadays requested by customers
and business partners to show engagement in CSR/diversity the signing of a
charter, a label or being awarded is an external “proof” of the engagement.
• Tool for internal communication: The external proof is a perfect tool for
internal communication as it is a symbol for the managements’ principles and
can support the internal marketing. The participation in (well-)known initiatives
can make commitments within the staff clear.
• Positive internal effects on employees: The communicated social responsibility
taken by the employer leads to a positive attitude of the employees
towards the enterprise as it shows the esteem of the management towards its
staff. Motivated and loyal staff will lead to a decrease in fluctuation.