Pathways to gender equality.

The Human Resources Management Policy: what it is and how to adapt it to the needs of gender equality.

Every company today equips itself with sound procedures and practices aimed at the internal regulation of work activity.

Alongside the company handbook, whose function is to set out clear, precise company rules ranging from staff rights to the standards of conduct required in the workplace, there is the Human Resources Management Policy, which defines the principles and rules for managing staff.

This is adopted in order to optimise, improve and systematise all provisions and communications relating to staff, with particular reference to recruitment, hiring, training, performance measurement and evaluation processes, as well as policies on career progression and pay increases.

Given the growing interest in more inclusive and sensitive policies, which require, as a corporate manifesto, what might be called the "humanisation" of the workforce, a company can no longer do without drafting a human-resources management policy that fully embraces these demands.

Adopting a document that underscores new company values such as, among others, the elimination of gender differences, brings not only benefits in terms of improved corporate reputation and attractiveness on the labour market, but also creates fertile ground for building the KPIs needed to obtain gender-equality certification.

UNI PdR 125:2022 indeed requires, together with its other objectives, the establishment of HR (human resources) policies that reflect as closely as possible the aims enshrined in the certification and that are capable of demonstrating a company's commitment to full gender equality.

The question that then arises is how to draft a policy that takes these needs into account.

Well, the starting point can certainly be the policy's introductory article, structured so as to contain all the core principles on gender equality, such as equal opportunities of access to employment, the appreciation of professional experience, and fairness and transparency in staff management.

Specific provisions relating to individual HR activities should then be included: for example, on the rules governing hiring and selection processes, a company can state its commitment to managing and developing human resources in favour of inclusion, gender equality and integration, and thus, for instance, highlight the presence of neutral onboarding mechanisms and job postings using inclusive language. Provisions can also be included on policies guaranteeing fair and equal participation in training and development pathways, including leadership courses.

An effective Human Resources Management Policy is certainly - besides being an excellent starting point for the journey towards obtaining gender-equality certification - an immediately operational way to make a company attractive, embracing the increasingly urgent demands of inclusion and equality.

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