5. Steps for Implementing Change

Defining the Strategy and Scope

For a worksite or a company, the focus of a gender inclusion strategy will reflect the organization’s stage on the Inclusion Growth Curve as well as its specific business case. If your organization is early in the journey toward gender inclusion and wants primarily to reduce turnover, then a focus on creating a respectful workplace might be most appropriate. If your company already has some basics in place and wants to leverage the innovation that comes from a more diverse population of senior technical professionals, then a focus on career opportunities or inclusive meeting behaviours might be a better fit.

For industry stakeholders such as associations or educational bodies, a strategy at any point in time must be carefully selected so that it does not “get out ahead” of the reality of relevant employers. For example, a trades school that encourages young women to pursue jobs in local mining sites where the workplace culture is not welcoming can create unmet expectations, turnover and resistance in the workplace and a “chilling effect” among women career seekers that will make it more difficult to attract new applicants. Matching the recruitment strategy with a site-specific approach to creating an inclusive environment is more likely to be successful. In a similar fashion, industry stakeholders can partner with individual employers on specific objectives, with intent to generate success stories to be leveraged more widely.

The strategy that is developed might be one that encompasses the industry, an entire organization, or it might be specific to one division or occupation, or one policy or a particular aspect of a workplace culture. There is no one solution that fits all situations. The one common element is that new, more inclusive practices must be embedded in a workplace culture of gender inclusion.

The evidence is in – organizational culture matters. Organizational culture matters – in a recent multinational survey, 86% of senior executive respondents said that their organization’s culture is critical to business success (Katzenbach Center, Strategy&, 2013).

The past thirty years of research with organizations shows that various strategies can be used for shifting an organization’s culture. For example, to achieve a culture that supports greater gender diversity, companies can start with a wide focus such as fostering a respectful workplace, or a narrower one such as increased hiring of women as Heavy Equipment Operators. The importance of having a critical mass of women suggests it can be best to focus efforts first on achieving meaningful representation, approaching 30%, in targeted areas. Another successful approach is to focus on “small wins” – “a series of controllable opportunities of modest size that produce visible results” by building a pattern that attracts allies and minimizes resistance.” (Weick, 1984). Years of applied research in a range of organizations has shown that a disciplined small-wins strategy for gender inclusion “benefits not just women but also men and the organization as a whole.” (Meyerson & Fletcher, 2000).

Whatever the approach, take a long-term perspective on the challenge of culture change, rather than settle for a “quick fix”. Prepare your organization for a marathon rather than a sprint on the issue. Knowing the current state of your organization will help to surface the opportunities and the likely challenges in becoming more inclusive of women. Many indicators of the current state might be readily available already – hiring, promotion and turnover rates; records of complaints or grievances; employee survey results; absenteeism and wellness indices; and others. Additional indicators of the workplace culture can be gathered through interviews or observations – expectations about work-life balance; interactions in meetings; respectful behaviours; etc.

These assessments will identify natural strengths, areas of weakness, and opportunities for achieving tangible business benefits and early wins. This information will help to shape an appropriate strategy with good likelihood of success.

The evidence is in – targets make a difference. McKinsey’s three-year follow-up of 118 companies and 30,000 employees found that companies with gender targets made the most progress in women’s representation at entry levels – those without targets lost ground (McKinsey & Company and LeanIn.Org, 2015). “Targets with teeth” are specific, challenging, aligned with the company’s strategy for gender diversity, and cascaded to the same levels as business targets for budgets and performance.

Targets should not be focused on numerical goals for the numbers of women in the workplace; goals that are perceived as “quotas” will create unnecessary concerns and risk a narrow, short-term focus. Targets can and should include measures of “new ways of working together” – such as more respectful interactions, inclusive meeting practices or flexibility in where and when some of the work gets done. Targets can also assess indicators that are positive for everyone – less absenteeism, reduced turnover, greater satisfaction measures on employee surveys. Numbers are just one of many possible indicators of progress.

Confirming One or More Champions

The evidence is in – commitment is not optional. Years of focus on gender diversity across many industries have yielded one overwhelmingly consistent conclusion: the commitment of the most senior leader (such as the CEO, Mine Manager, association president, faculty dean) is the critical ingredient. For example, a Conference Board of Canada research study highlighted the difference between “passive” and “proactive” CEO support for gender diversity. And only “proactive” support was sufficient (Orser, 2001).

The CEO alone cannot change the culture of the entire organization – the executive team, the HR function, Diversity and Inclusion champions, and leaders throughout the company must also play their part. A recent McKinsey report concludes that in companies that succeed with fostering gender-inclusive cultures and workplaces, the CEOs and senior executives “walk, talk, run, and shout about gender diversity”. They “fervently believe in the business benefits of creating an environment where talent can rise.” (Barsh, Nudelman, & Yee, 2013).

Champions show their commitment through constant communication and very visible actions. They ask questions, tell stories and challenge assumptions. They get personally involved in key initiatives and they consistently model inclusive behaviours. As an example of how stakeholders can support the industry with collaborative efforts, MiHR has established a Gender Champions Taskforce and piloted a two-part Being a Gender Champion executive session. This in-person workshop provides senior leaders in Canada’s mining and minerals sector with the inspiration, knowledge and skills for succeeding as a Gender Champion and for driving organizational change towards a more gender-inclusive workplace.