Section head

Best Practice
- Case Studies
- Toolkits
- Exemplar Employers
  - Exemplar Employers Report 2007
    - Driving Change - Action on Women and Work
      - Driving Change - Action on Women and Work
- FAQs Gender Diversity
- Gender Equality Duty
- Single Equality Scheme
- International Womens Day
- Living Diversity

Driving Change - Action on Women and Work

A clarion call to quicken the pace of change was the resounding message from an event showcasing innovative employment initiatives.

Representatives from the hundred plus organisations, whose approach to tackling the gender pay gap has earned them exemplar status, joined senior business and sector leaders at the Driving Change conference.

The event was jointly hosted by Opportunity Now and the Department of Communities and Local Government.

Genuine leadership from the top, training for line managers, and mentoring and coaching were identified as the essential components for changing workplace cultures and delivering successful flexible and part-time work initiatives.

The prestigious speakers included:

Women and Work Commission Chair Margaret Prosser,

Deputy Minister for Women Meg Munn

Carolyn McCall, Guardian Media Group Chief Executive and Chair of Opportunity Now.

A diverse range of ideas for tackling the gender pay gap were voiced, including setting ambitious but achievable targets and providing quality work experience. Mentoring in schools and a greater onus on recruitment companies to put forward genuinely diverse lists of candidates for senior roles, were also suggested.

Afternoon workshops gave delegates the opportunity to share their initiatives, experiences and to showcase best practice.

Meg Munn made an impassioned call for British business to step up their efforts to tackle the barriers facing women at work.

Meg Munn

“Too many organisations turn their faces against change,” she said. “But the economic, social and moral case for change is compelling. It’s up to us to demonstrate that it works, to show the benefits it can have across all sectors and sizes of employers. We cannot afford to ignore it.”