I was very privileged to participate last week in The National Defence, Police & Emergency Services Women’s Leadership Summit and hear some very successful women talk about their experiences  and share their leadership insights.

One of the issues that each of their organisations face, whether it be the Army, Navy Air Force,  State or Federal police or other Emergency Services was wanting to increase the participation rate of women, in the ranks and in leadership roles.

When asked about low numbers of women in their organisations, they all said, but we have A Policy to increase the numbers to … “x %”.

The policy disconnect

This highlighted for me, in another way, the disconnection that often arises between the management or leadership of an organisation  having “A Policy “ and that Policy translating into, in this case, actual numbers of people in the organisation.

We see the same thing with, for example, companies wanting, or having,  to develop Environmental, Customer Care, Procurement, Harassment and Bullying and Safe Work Policies.

A Policy is only the beginning. The policies, and there will be a number of them in an organisation, should clearly set out the overarching principles and commitment of the organisation to its vision of having a target number of women, reducing its energy use by 30%, having a safe workplace, being compliant with consumer protection laws, or any other goal.

A Policy is only a guide or target.  If its purpose is going to be achieved, a Policy cannot sit alone. There needs to be a strategy to make it happen. The senior management or leadership team must be fully committed to the policy. The specific strategies and procedures will vary depending on the aim of the policy  and on the particular organisation’s circumstances.

To talk to us about we can help you to manage your risks by developing and implementing your company’s polices and procedures contact Kim Edwards.

Having a strategy

Among other things the strategy should include clear procedures for staff to follow as well as:

• The roles and accountabilities of everyone in the organisation, whether to manage the process, implement it or follow the procedures.
• The communication process so that everyone knows what to do, why and how and management can develop a strategy that will work for those at the coal face.
• Motivation for seeing that the Policy and procedures are adhered to. This may be by incorporating targets into managers’ KPI’s or by rewarding the desired behaviour and “punishing” non-compliant individuals
• Training and education is always important in making sure everyone involved knows what to do, how to do it and why they need to follow the procedures.
• Monitoring the effectiveness of the process and reporting up the chain. After all it’s the directors who have ultimate responsibility for the company’s conduct.
• Reviewing the process and improving the  procedures.

Certainly the plans and procedures that go to implementing a policy to increase the number of women in an organisation will be very different to those for improving a company’s environmental footprint and sustainability, or managing its legal risks. However, the idea that having Plan is sufficient to solve an organisation’s problems is a mistake that applies across all organisations.