Gender parity within organisations established with EDGE Gender Certification

Friday, 18 January 2019 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Gender parity often refers to equal treatment or perceptions of individuals regardless of their gender. The issue of gender disparity, especially in the workplace in Sri Lankan institutions, has been a long-standing problem for those who are attempting to rise beyond the glass ceiling.

Studies have shown that organisations that are committed to workplace diversity, providing equal pay for equivalent work, fairness in recruitment and promotion, regardless of an individual’s gender, have more potential for success than organisations that don’t.

The EDGE Gender Certification (Economical Dividends for Gender Equality) is the leading global assessment methodology and business certification standard for gender equality. It is based on a methodology of innovative evaluation and provides a comprehensive review of data policies and practices, and an analysis of an organisation-wide survey of staff’s experience and perceptions of gender equality in the workplace. EDGE Gender certification has been designed to help organisations not only create an optimal workplace for women and men, but also benefit from it.

EDGE Gender certification is currently working with over 200 organisations, in 50 countries and 23 industries. Examples of leading organisations that are EDGE certified include: Accenture, Asian Development Bank (ADB), Deutsche Bank, Ernst & Young, IKEA, International Monetary Fund (IMF), International Finance Corporation (IFC), Marriot, Mercer, Pfizer, SAP, and World Bank Group,

EDGE Gender certification operates under the principle that ‘what gets measured gets done’. The certification is distinguished by its rigor and focus on business impact. The methodology uses a business, rather than theoretical approach that incorporates benchmarking, metrics and accountability into the process. It assesses policies, practices and numbers across five different areas of analysis: Equal pay for equal roles, hiring and promotion, leadership training and tutoring development, work flexibility and organisational culture.

The EDGE Gender certification is valid for two years. Its methodology guarantees the integrity of the evaluation and certifications are only awarded after independent auditors have been able to establish the accuracy of the information.

Upholding gender equality in organisations is vital for securing the employees. NDB is proud to be the first Sri Lankan company to join leading companies around the world that are applying this certification and demonstrating their commitment to gender leadership to employees and the market.