IMPACT
The impact of the gender dimension, within an enterprise quality system, can be described with the metaphor of a stone in a pond: once we introduce gender awareness in the enterprise culture, we modify not only the organisation's procedures but also the thinking and behaviours of people who will then transfer this focus outside of the business too, in everyday life situations.
To train Human Resources Managers in equality policies will bring an easier and faster application of Equal Opportunities in organisations. The certifiers themselves, trained in gender issues awareness, will be the best "sponsors" for the need of change in the Human Resources Management, when inspecting enterprise.
The short-term impact will be above all, in terms of awareness and consciousness of discriminatory practices, often unconsciously put in place. In fact we discuss, in this context, the enterprise processes and the individual behaviours and attitudes. Our proposals will be successful if we are able to explain how a management policy that considers and values gender differences, brings economic and competitive advantage for the organisation. If all this is understood, it will be easier to accept and implement our proposals and thus the long-term impact will bring about more gender equality in the organisations. What we are talking about is "culture" and "attitudes": this means that if a change is initiated, it will inform all the other areas of our private and social life.
