Gender equity in action

Self-assessment for leaders who want to accelerate gender equity

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Gender equity in the corporate environment is a key element in driving innovation, growth and inclusive success. Our gender equity self-assessment for leaders, which consists of 22 questions, is designed to provide actionable and clear steps to support and advance gender equity in organisations.

Note: While this assessment refers to men and women, we do not adopt a binary understanding of gender. Instead, we recognise the full spectrum of gender identities and affirm the equal recognition of all genders. Our approach is based on an inclusive perspective that seeks to reflect the diversity of gender identities and to support an environment that is respectful and equitable for all individuals.

Gender diversity checklist

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Thank you for completing the gender equity self-assessment for leaders! We hope this exercise has been meaningful and instructive; and that you have gained valuable insights to enhance your gender equality programmes and increase the impact of your actions.

You’ll find here a synopsis of your assessment, with your overall score as well as your score on each of the six measures that drive gender equity results.

How to read the score?

Overall, you will see two scores: the first one is the number of actions out of 71 for which you gave a top grade (4 or 5). The second is the percentage of actions which received a top grade (4 and 5).

For example, if you marked 40 actions with grade 4 or 5 out of a total of 71, your score will show 56, which means your company is already implementing 56% of the actions that are recommended to drive gender diversity.

On each measure, the score shows the percentage of actions for which you gave a top grade (4 or 5).

For example, on Measure 1 ‘CEO commitment’, if you selected the highest grades (4 or 5) for 15 actions (out of 20), your score on this measure will show 75. It means that you are applying 75% of the actions that are recommended to drive gender diversity in your company.

You can read your assessment and tips on how to further improve or enhance gender diversity programmes in your organisation. Our team is available for an individual discussion to share thoughts and address any question you may have.

We would like to thank the Observatory for Gender Balance and its experts for their contributions and inputs along the way. We extend our thanks to our colleague Christin Drücke, Partner at Forvis Mazars in Germany, in charge of diversity and inclusion, for her coordination and support in developing this checklist and piloting its utilization within our German office.

Overall score

# of questions for which you gave a 4 or 5 grade

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Overall score

% of actions listed in the checklist which are implemented in your company

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Score on each measure

% of actions implemented in your company, for each measure

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The ‘Self-assessment for leaders who want to accelerate gender equity’ was co-developed under the direction of Forvis Mazars, together with the Observatory for Gender Balance, and with the exceptional contribution of Rohini Anand, Former SVP Corporate Responsibility and Global Chief Diversity Officer, Sodexo and Senior Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Inclusion Advisor at Rohini Anand LLC. It is a collective work protected by French and international copyright laws ©, filed with the INPI, and jointly owned by Forvis Mazars and the Observatory for Gender Balance. Consequently, any reproduction or use of the content – in whole or in part – for a fee or free of charge, is prohibited without their prior authorisation and constitutes infringement.

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Appendix 2: Checklist for reviewing HR policies and processes to overcome barriers to women’s advancement (Measure #3)

To overcome the barriers to women’s advancement in organisations, it is essential to review and strengthen HR processes and policies, respond to the issues identified, suppress decision-making biases, and create equal opportunities. The HR functions and tools that support an inclusive culture and equal opportunity are as follows:

Creating flexible working arrangements, as well as adopting attitudes and policies for work-life balance.
Decorrelating performance from physical presence (e.g. by offering flexible working hours, making inperson working time irrelevant in evaluations, saving early or late meetings for exceptional circumstances, promoting remote work, etc.).
Ensuring women are offered rewarding and ambitious assignments (e.g. by requiring that one or more candidates be eligible for a position or assignment, writing job titles in a neutral and/or attractive way for women that is free from gender bias).
When appointing or promoting managers to strategic or ambitious roles, systematically including women on an equal basis, without requiring them to provide additional proof of their expertise.
Establishing a process to systematically detect “invisible high-performing women” and thus constitute a shortlist of “high-potential women” based on their skills, without regard to age.
Studying the profiles of women with relevant skills for operational management positions, without limiting them to support functions.
Reviewing all evaluation processes, as well as promotion criteria and processes, and erasing any connotations or sexist biases, so that men and women of equal qualifications benefit from the same promotion opportunities. For example, evaluation committees should be made up of men and women; managers and recruiters must engage in targeted training and awareness campaigns on gender bias.
Establishing objective benchmarks for the entire organisation on performance evaluation, including the desired inclusive management styles.
Separating assessment and promotion processes from career interruptions due to personal reasons (e.g. parental leave or sabbaticals).
Allowing and encouraging sabbaticals for all employees (for example to carry out personal projects) in order to make “personal life time” part of the corporate culture.
Supporting parental leave for both women and men, helping prepare the leave as well as the return to work.
Encouraging men to take paternity leaves.
Setting up specific programs by level or cohort to help women advance to the next level. These initiatives are intended to break down the barriers women face at each level (e.g. setting up return-to-work programs after maternity leave, organising discussion groups between women in N-2 and N-1 positions, in order to advise and help those on their way to access higher roles).
Offering overseas positions to women and men by ensuring that they can be compatible with their family life while supporting the mobility of couples in which both wish to advance their careers.

Appendix 3: Detailed performance indicators to compile and analyse gender equality data (Measure #5)

The collection and analysis of specific data on the situation of gender equality is an essential pillar and comes before any improvement program. It is, therefore, necessary to build and share specific performance indicators that make it possible to identify and analyse the gaps between men and women across a series of measurements:

The overall rate of progress for women compared to men
The average salary of men and women, at each level and for every role
The retention rate for women compared to men
The proportion of women and men:
In the total workforce
In the pool of candidates for recruitment
By seniority: entry-level, middle management, senior executives, top management, executive committee
By role: operational roles and managerial functions related to support roles
Promoted to a new position or included on exhaustive/restricted promotion lists
In our high-potential pools
Among the candidates for new roles
Working overseas or remotely
On parental leave and working part-time
Leaving the organisation

Gender equity in action

Gender diversity checklist

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Appendix 1: Checklist for analysing the cause of female employee turnover (Measure #3)

Appendix 2: Checklist for reviewing HR policies and processes to overcome barriers to women’s advancement (Measure #3)

Appendix 3: Detailed performance indicators to compile and analyse gender equality data (Measure #5)