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Gender equality: the IMPACT solution
Like all battles for greater social justice, professional equality between women and men has a long history! In 1945, the era was one of fairness, with the abolition of the notion of women’s wages. The phrase “equal pay for equal work” was enshrined in French law, and society moved towards greater gender equality. But this was not enough, as time progressed and consciences opened up. The following year saw the notion of gender equality enshrined in law to prevent discrimination. The law of 1972 took up the preamble to the 1946 Constitution: ” The law guarantees women, in all areas, equal rights with men” , and transposed it into law with the principle of equal pay, ” for the same work or work of equal value “.
Further legislation will follow in 2006, 2014 and 2022 to reinforce equality and reduce the pay gap. In 2021, women’s salaries were still on average 28.5% lower than men’s. Professional equality between women and men is a major challenge for today’s society. The AFNOR Group offers you its expertise through the IMPACT method, supported by its subsidiary AFNOR Compétences, to help you create the conditions for equal treatment within your company.
Gender equality: a question of definition
The Council of Europe’s definition is:“The equal visibility, autonomy, responsibility and participation of both sexes in / all spheres of private and public life“. In a professional environment, this means equal treatment of women and men at different levels, concerning access to employment, training, mobility, promotion and also in terms of salary policy. It is vital that all the company’s stakeholders are involved in the process, from the board of directors to the employees, including senior management and social partners. By approaching gender equality as a matter of corporate culture, the IMPACT approach goes in this direction, with the following objectives:
- Increase the attractiveness of your organization when recruiting by guaranteeing equality between men and women.
- Retain talent over time by integrating an inclusive, gender-balanced policy into your business.
- Define an objective policy of equal treatment to promote serenity and cooperation.
- Get all teams on board and improve professional practices.
IMPACT support objectives
- Detect your organization’s strengths and identify real areas for improvement.
- Identify professional practices that require rapid change.
- Define, prioritize and prioritize actions to be taken to achieve objectives.
- Involve all teams in understanding professional developments.
- Improve and apply your gender equality policy to increase the attractiveness of your organization.
To meet your needs and objectives, the Impact methodology is broken down into 6 stages. Each stage depends on your maturity with regard to the subject and enables you to respond to the different components of the problem. The method aims to involve the various stakeholders at different times, and to provide practical, concrete cases to facilitate ownership.
I to IMPLY :
- Commit management to implementing a policy of professional equality
- Raising employee awareness of the challenges of professional equality (digital tools, e-learning)
M for MEASURE :
- Investigating practices and collecting data
- Take stock of HR issues and map the associated HR risks
P for PROJECT :
- Define professional equality objectives in line with identified challenges, HR and CSR policies
- Identify stakeholders
- Formalize a roadmap
- Participative and committed governance
A for ACT :
- Implement concrete actions in close collaboration with employees, managers and social partners
- Addressing key professional equality issues
C to COMMUNICATE :
- Communicating with stakeholders on actions taken (forum, symposium, working group, trade show, etc.).
- Communicating the label
T for TRANSFORM :
- Prepare teams for the labeling process (Equality label)
- Strengthening partnerships
- Experiment with practices conducive to professional equality
- Improving the scoring of the government’s Equal Pay Index
Méthode IMPACT: for whom in the company?
Supported by AFNOR Compétences, the IMPACT method method is aimed at those in charge of CSR, QWL or equality initiatives, whether these functions are housed in HR or in other departments. The person in charge of the unit for the prevention of sexist and sexual violence (SGBV) in the workplace may also be a relevant contact, as the method includes a component for raising employee awareness of this fundamental issue. Interested in deploying it in your organization?
Contact us!
Helping you initiate and manage your gender equality roadmap, working alongside you to reveal, enhance and harmonize your practices… The AFNOR Group’s consultancy offer is tailored to your needs. Based on a proven methodology,
the IMPACT
method, our consultants will integrate with your teams to bring out the full force of your approach. And make sure it bears fruit, by sharing best practices with you!
