Our pioneering Gender Benchmark launched at the start of summer 2024. Based around seven goals, WE+ is a transformative framework that will help organisations get closer to achieving gender equality
Organisations are increasingly focused on creating more inclusive and equitable workplaces. Often old systems, antiquated approaches and embedded cultures sit at odds with these intentions. We know, from our own research, from external studies and analysis, and from anecdotal evidence, that bias still exists in key areas that create barriers for women to advance – fairly – in the workplace.
That’s why the second goal under the One Loud Voice (1LV) WE+ Measure is to Minimise Bias in Recruitment, Promotion and Reward. An unbiased approach in all these areas would be to concentrate only on skills and competencies. But there is a lot of work still to do.
Gender bias can start even before a candidate is hired with the wording used in advertising decreasing the likelihood of applications from female candidates. But it is during the hiring process that bias is most evident.
A recent study by the University of Minnesota’s Gender Policy Report looked at Algorithmic Bias in Job Hiring. It found that ‘women were more likely to prefer the algorithm if the alternative was a male’ rather than female recruiter. The conclusion was that women do not inherently have more faith in AI, but that they believe the alternative of having men rate their job application is detrimental. It’s one small study. But it makes an important point: women would rather have their fates determined by a machine than a man.
Reducing bias in recruiting
The use of AI tools to screen resumes and CVs can reduce unconscious bias because they can be trained to ignore irrelevant factors such as gender, age and ethnicity. Another way to tackle bias at recruitment stage is blind recruitment – anonymising CVs and conducting ‘blind interviews’, where a candidate’s name, age, gender and other personal details are not known. At a later stage in the process, introducing diverse interview panels is a very human way to break the bias.
At 1LV we help women in the workplace at every point in their career journey. We have a particular focus on the lack of a healthy pipeline in middle management, which is impacting senior leadership opportunities. We see many examples of this lack of advancement by well-qualified, able, ambitious women. It is not just the recruitment process where bias is blocking the progress of women in the workplace – a lack of fairness in promotion and reward can also hold them back.
Promotion and reward
Tackling bias in the areas of reward and promotion includes educating managers, creating a culture of inclusivity, and putting in place diverse decision-making panels in the same way they are used in the hiring process.
The seven WE+ goals clearly focus on key areas where we know organisations can make meaningful differences to their overall gender equality. They are separate goals that also work together. For example, by normalising flexible working practices – one of our other goals – and putting in place measures to ensure remote workers are not disadvantaged, organisations can create the right conditions to fairly evaluate people for promotion and reward. Such measures can sit alongside data-driven decision making, which can then identify any potential biases in promotion and reward decisions.
A fairer future
Measures to assess an organisation’s commitment to gender equality include: the current representation of women across all roles; whether specific gender targets exist; whether there is a target for the percentage of women in middle management positions; whether there is a target for including women in the pipeline for senior management roles; whether the board has committed to achieving gender equality targets. Key measures are the gender equity actions that achieve the gender equality targets.
Organisations will receive an initial rating as well as specific feedback and leaders will see where and how they can make changes. By using the WE+ Measure, organisations will be showing teams, future employees, suppliers and customers that they are on a clear path to gender equality.
Our aim is for systemic change to ensure women are fairly represented and promoted at all stages of their careers, with a particular focus on middle management roles. We know that the talent pipeline in these roles is lacking, and it is impacting career progression to senior management roles and beyond. With the help of the benchmark, organisations will be able to set their own standards for achieving equal and appropriate representation of females and to ensure women have an equal chance of making it through the talent pipeline to senior roles.
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Notes
About WE+ The One Loud Voice (1LV) WE+ Measure was always designed with ‘all of us’ in mind. The gender benchmark was launched in June 2024 with a simple aim: to help women in the workplace at every point in their career by working with organisations and helping fix the structural imbalances in the system.
Structured around seven strategic goals WE+ gives organisations a foundation from where they can articulate their commitment to both equity and equality in the workplace.
Goal 1: Commitment to gender equality
Goal 2: Minimise bias in recruitment, promotion and reward
Goal 3: Resolve structural issue around working patterns and benefits
Goal 4: Create psychological safety and an inclusive culture
Goal 5: Genuine partnership approach between genders
Goal 6: End gender discrimination and harassment
Goal 7: End gender pay gap
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