Very few enterprises have addressed the management and
organization issues as a whole according to a gender perspective.
One-off
measures have of course been implemented, such as flexible working hours or
economic contributions for family and work life balance, provided that there
are enough financial resources, time and
no other more important questions to be addressed to. Indeed, gender equality
is an urgent issue to be solved and the more it will be addressed comprehensively
the more it will prove to be effective for businesses, with positive
repercussions on enterprise culture, climate, processes and practices.
At present, gender equality has become such a relevant issue that it isn’t so much a ‘women’s issue’
any more rather than a ‘business case
issue.’
Gender
equality has become synonym with Quality itself and as such it involves Quality
Systems like ISO 9001:2000 and SA8000 or EFQM, or any process management system
in terms of HR processes and work organization.
Among the ten ‘quality
of work’ factors, the EU Employment Commission has included three
dimensions that are closely related to equal opportunities.
