Gender equality has been a strategic objective of many organisations for the last decade with the aim to achieve equal opportunities and outcomes for all people in the workplace. With significant progress already made in several countries, many organisations are continuing to include steps to achieving gender equity into their policies.
The Gender at Work Framework (Gender at Work, 2018) is a useful tool to draw on when conceptualising your gender equality change strategies. It highlights four quadrants intersecting at the individual, systemic, formal and informal dimensions and allows gender equality changemakers to map out their gender equality strategy, whilst also being able to highlight barriers and opportunities.
Figure 1: The Gender at Work Framework highlights the interrelationship between gender equality, organisational change and institutions (2018).
Often, the quadrant intersecting formal and systemic initiatives are seen as the “low-hanging fruit” in this framework and it is quite commonly the place where many gender equality changemakers start their gender equality work.
However, it is very necessary to remember that policy changes at an organisational level are systemic in nature, and so, the way the organisational system is currently constructed in terms of its unwritten rules and organisational culture (i.e. its deep structure) will impact the way in which these policies are written. Therefore, we need to be careful about how we write these policies, as they may unintentionally still reinforce gender inequalities.
To ensure that our gender intentional policies are in fact inclusive and systemic in nature, there are a few change management tricks that can be relied upon:
- Ensure that the policy writers are representative of all genders, especially the under-represented genders. Creating a policy writing group of three or four gender representative employees is an important practicality to consider.
- Obtain as many voices as you can – there is no better way to understand how to create an inclusive policy than by including those who will be affected by it. Before you write the policy, run focus groups with women and other under-represented genders to ensure that their voices are heard. You will be surprised at the ideas that they produce!
- Pilot the policy rollout – another option to consider prior to formalising and rolling out the policy is to pilot its implementation and what that means —practically — to those who are affected by and who will make use of the policy. Piloting it against a sample of employees that are gender representative will reap benefits. It also allows you to make amendments to the policy before rollout to ensure it makes sense for everyone.
- Identify a sponsor – like many gender inclusive initiatives, we need to ensure that we have a senior and influential person backing our policy, so that the policy changes are voiced at the right levels of seniority, especially if the system is not very gender inclusive.
- Remember the systemic impact of the policy change – what will it mean for the organisation once the policy has been implemented? What types of initiatives need to be put into place to be able to support the successful implementation of the policy? Refer back to the Gender at Work Framework to identify these support mechanisms and remember to include these types of questions in your initial focus groups too.
Whilst these tips may seem straightforward, the deep structures of our organisations allow us to easily forget these particularly important steps when implementing formal systemic change.
As a partner to the development sector, Digital Frontiers (DF) is committed to being part of this change as we work towards a future where 20% of all future jobs will be dedicated to solving the world’s greatest challenges where gender equality — one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of the United Nations (UN) —is one of these challenges. DF has built, and continues to build, capabilities and human connections across thousands of organisations in nearly 200 countries with significant strides in gender equity, among other areas of expertise. Digital Frontiers, through Digital Frontiers Institute’s Gender Equality Changemakers (GEC) programme has positively contributed to achieving SDG 5 through the GEC Capstone Projects and Action Plans students have implemented, and are currently implementing, globally for organisational impact.
If you would like to learn more about how to be gender intentional when leading gender equality strategies, contact Digital Frontiers for GEC consulting here.
Written by Lisa Ferraz (Head: Corporate Services, Digital Frontiers. Registered Industrial Psychologist and Certified Gender Equality Changemaker)
