Breathe
By Fátima Masse
Do you think that actions to promote gender equality in the world of work are only for large companies? Do you want to make an assessment of working conditions for women, but don't do it due to lack of resources? This column is for you.
This is the last column I write in March and I dedicate it to two free tools to measure the working conditions faced by women in companies and organizations. Both allow us to identify strengths and weaknesses in order to implement actions that promote more inclusive work environments.
This tool was developed by Global Compact, UN Women and the Inter-American Development Bank to conduct a comprehensive self-diagnosis on gender equality. It is available in Spanish and other languages and can be applied by any type of company worldwide.
It consists of 18 questions, answered directly online, to assess seven dimensions ranging from the representation of women by position to the organization's ability to influence the decisions of its suppliers or the communities in which it operates. The questions do not require hard data or measurement, but rather explore the decisions the organization has made on key gender equality issues.
There are two reasons why I highly recommend the use of the tool. The first is that the results are intuitive and the evaluation can be done periodically to capture progress or setbacks. The second is that filling out the questionnaire triggers internal conversations that can create awareness for the organization's decision makers, which can be translated into actions that gradually improve the work environment for female employees and for the rest of the staff.
The DIR seeks to accurately measure the difference between what men and women earn in similar jobs within a company or organization. It was developed by UN Women and is freely available, i.e. anyone can download the Excel file and the manual.
Today, we know that in Mexico one out of every three companies committed to sustainability does not know the size of their gender pay gap.. This proportion is likely to be much higher for companies that are not members of the Global Compact, despite the fact that the Constitution prohibits the existence of a gender pay gap.
Dedicating HR or compensation staff time to using this tool would allow organizations to know if they have a gender pay gap, how large it is, and what it is due to.
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