Gender equity in workplaces
Despite intentions and efforts to the contrary, gender inequality in workplaces still exists as a significant problem for businesses – and for the people who work within them. Gender inequality can have a serious psychological impact on those who experience and witness it, causing both distraction and reduced morale, so it stands to reason that it also often leads to higher staff turnover and absenteeism, both of which can have a direct and indirect affect on profits.
The challenge for businesses with a commitment to equity in their workplace is that inequality can be tremendously difficult to spot (akin to marking your own homework), but according to the International Labour Organisation actually undertaking a gender audit with full participation of employees can be so much more effective than an independent approach, offering a learning experience as well as ensuring that staff take ownership for addressing any of the challenges that may be unearthed.
Free Guide to Creating a Gender-Sensitive Workplace
As part of an intervention conducted by the Investment Climate Reform (ICR) Facility for the Employers’ Consultative Association of Malawi (ECAM), ICE has developed a ground-breaking guide to enable employees to develop a solid understanding of the concepts of gender equality, to get to grips with the rationale for eliminating gender discrimination, sexual harassment and abuse in the workplace, and, critically, to provide a practical step by step guide to implementing their own gender audit to provide a starting point for creating change.
The guide, Gender Auditing: Creating a Gender-Sensitive Workplace, draws on approaches from current best practice on gender auditing, including the respected ILO Participatory Gender Audit Methodology, The European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) and other cited reports and frameworks. It provides answers to fundamental questions such as ‘Why should a workplace conduct a gender audit?’ and ‘What does a gender-just workplace look like?’, through to techniques for analysis and evaluation of findings, and a framework for taking action.
Content has been structured as an easy to follow series of eight short training sessions, twelve hours in total. All of the sessions are relevant to human resources professionals and gender audit teams, and the guide highlights sessions that would be of particular benefit to CEOs, boards, managers, and staff from across the organisation as well as specific areas such as marketing and procurement.
The guide is free to use, and can be downloaded here
