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

12 Gender equality initiatives
• Tool for external communication: The visible signs of the commitment to
gender equality via awards or labels or the signing of a charter is one important
instrument to develop a positive public image of the company. Such symbols
represent a comparative advantage for the company.
• Recruitment of key personnel: Key personnel are attracted by a company with
a positive corporate image. The participation in non-legislative initiatives
enhances the chance of an enterprise to be the employer of choice, an
advantage in the “war for talents”.
• Innovation and creativity: The recruitment of key personnel is a prerequisite to
become and stay innovative and create innovative products. The increase of
women within the team means the insertion of different perspectives into the
production and management process. As more and more women take the
buying decisions in households it seems logical that a female perspective is
integrated when creating new products and services.
• Revision of HR management: The assessment process often represents the
possibility of reviewing the HR policy based on and with the help of external
expertise.
• Networking: The participation in an awarding or labelling process, the signing
of a charter etc. represents the entry into a “community of companies”, a
network aiming at tackling gender inequalities at the workplace and the
possibility of exchanging experiences.
However, there are several challenges to overcome in order to fully utilise the
advantages connected with engaging in a non-legislative initiative:
• Gender equality as a top-down strategy: Gender equality assumes a climatic
change in the enterprise’s culture. Regardless of which quality the implemented
measures are, they require the unrestricted commitment of the management.
• Internal communication: The manager’s commitment and the specific
measures have to be communicated accurately. Although gender equality is a
top-down strategy it takes shape in the interaction of the whole staff. Thus,
internal communication offering the possibility for an open discussion between
the management and staff is important.
• Costs: Measures fostering gender equality entail costs. There are direct costs
such as the investment for childcare services, but also indirect costs as e.g. a
person will dedicate his/her working time for the co-ordination of gender equality
measures. The costs seem to be much more visible and occur immediately
while, in contrary, the benefits of gender equality initiatives are more difficult to
be assessed in terms of figures and are only visible in a long-term perspective.
• Clear responsibility: The successful implementation of measures often relies
on the creation of clear responsibilities. The best designed measures will fail if
nobody is in charge of the implementation and evaluation and would assess
whether targets are achieved or not. Such a person must have time to manage
the process and the power to intervene.