I agree with this last view, since in my humble opinion and as I have been able to verify throughout my experience as an equality consultant, it is a very effective instrument for managing the TALENT of companies and with an impressive transformative potential.
Placing people at the CENTER of companies.
What is an equality plan?
An equality plan is an ordered set of measures adopted after carrying out a diagnosis of the situation of a company, in a given period of time, normally one year. This diagnosis is a “real picture” of how the company is doing in terms of equal opportunities between men and women. Through qualitative and quantitative data collected and analysed during that year, it is possible to detect where inequalities exist, in order to minimise them and create more equitable and fair organisations. This is the purpose or the “why” of these equality plans.
Where do we start?
The first step to take is to become aware of these inequalities and to commit the company's management to eradicate them. This is the starting point for making progress towards greater equality.
When a company's management detects existing inequalities - which are often very subtle and almost imperceptible - and commits to developing and implementing an equality plan, it is making a firm commitment to the growth of the people who make up the company.
What is analysed in equality plans?
The Selection and Hiring Process.
When a company embarks on a project of this type, it begins to worry - or take care of - that there is, whenever feasible, a balanced composition of the workforce between men and women. What are the benefits of this? generating diverse points of view and alternatives, in the face of the challenges that arise, which leads to making better decisions for the company. To do this, it will be necessary to analyse how the selection process is, from the preparation of the job offer to the incorporation of the person into the company, eliminate gender biases - which we all have - and ensure that the principle of equal treatment and opportunities between women and men is complied with.
Professional training and promotion.
There is also an interest in training and promoting people, and questions arise such as: Who is the training aimed at? Are the training actions offered by the company aligned with people's needs? Are the schedules at which they are provided appropriate? Are those people who have accepted reduced working hours given the opportunity to train? Are all people willing to be promoted? Is the promotion process transparent? Creating development plans , aimed at all of them, with objective and realistic criteria, is a key factor in promoting personal and professional growth, as it involves an improvement in people's know-how and an increase in their extrinsic, intrinsic and transcendental motivation.
Focusing on this point is essential. It is an indicator to know which positions people occup landline number y within the organization, what is the presence of women in the different professional categories, and whether they are represented in positions of responsibility. If inequalities are detected in this area, it is a priority to establish measures aimed at minimizing them. This is where the famous “glass ceiling” comes into play, a term that refers to those invisible barriers that prevent women from reaching higher-ranking positions within the organization and which I will discuss in another article soon.
Working conditions and organisation of working time
Conducting a study of working conditions is another factor to take into account. Here, the types of working hours, access to teleworking, flexible hours, shift work, intensive working days during part of the year, etc. must be reviewed. Data is collected and analyzed on all those issues that are aligned with the promotion of co-responsibility and the organization of working time. At this point, it is very interesting to gather information about people's needs in terms of conciliation .
Following the pandemic, an interesting concept has emerged that goes a step further in this area: “ smart working” or agile working, where workers have full autonomy and flexibility when it comes to organizing their working day. Some companies opt for a hybrid model, combining face-to-face and remote work. With these actions, the person is once again placed at the center of the company.
The remuneration policy
As regards remuneration policy, it is important, when drawing up equality plans, in addition to preparing the remuneration register, to carry out a salary audit of the entire staff, analysing the base salary, salary and extra-salary supplements, as well as the criteria for their receipt, broken down by sex and by position, in order to detect whether there is a salary gap . If inequalities are detected, an action plan will be drawn up with corrective measures, assigning the same level of remuneration to functions of equal value. At this point, it is essential to incorporate job evaluations, so that there is equity in remuneration.
Apart from all this analysis, there are other areas that also require attention, such as the prevention of sexual harassment and harassment based on sex, the process of internal and external communication, occupational health, etc.
Benefits for the company and for the people who work in it.