Welcome! On behalf of Women in Communications and Technology (WCT), you have been invited to complete the Gender Diversity Maturity Model assessment.

The Model

The Gender Diversity Maturity Model is intended to help establish a baseline of practices and behaviors for an organization that is fully committed to gender diversity.

The model aims to quantify relative level of attention to gender diversity across 10 business function dimensions that are core to most organizations.

The Assessment Tool

The tool you are going to use below was designed to give organizations a way to determine where they are today when it comes to adopting gender diversity best practices.

There are just over 100 questions in the assessment, grouped into sections inquiring about your organizations practices across each of the ten business dimensions of the model.

The tool uses responses to generate a chart for an at-a-glance view of your organization's relative level of maturity with respect to diversity best practices. The chart is intended to feed into your organization's diversity improvement planning initiatives by giving you a quick and easy way to highlight areas that may benefit most from additional focus.

Get Started!

It usually takes about 15 minutes to complete the questionnaire. You do not have to overthink your responses—simply choose "Yes", "No", or "Unsure" based on your initial reaction to the question asked. Providing honest, "gut reaction" answers is more likley to result in feedback of value for creating your organization's diversity improvement plan.

The responses and the results of your assessment are not stored or shared with anybody other than you. Responses are used only to give you an indication of how your organization is doing relative to the model's baseline of diversity best practices.

Once all questions have been answered, click the button at the bottom of the page and your responses will be tallied to present you with your assessment report.

Please answer the questions below related to the Hiring/Staffing practices within your organization.

Do corporate recruitment guidelines exist to ensure that managers making hires adhere to a standard of fairness and integrity?

     

Are hiring managers provided direction on who or how to hire for open positions?

     

Are specific policies and guidelines in place about recruiting diverse candidates for open positions?

     

Is compliance to hiring policies and guidelines reviewed on a regular basis?

     

Are gaps in diversity hiring policies and guidelines discussed with stakeholders and are action plans implemented to address those?

     

Are job postings created using gender-neutral language and written in a way that appeals to women?

     

Are general company recruitment marketing campaigns/collateral vetted for inclusive language?

     

Do recruiting teams actively seek out a minimum of one qualified female applicant per role?

     

Do recruiting teams seeking to fill open roles regularly contain an even number of men and women? 

     

Do recruiting teams seek out new sources for candidates (e.g. different schools, organizations, associations, different types of recruiting agencies.)?

     

Do recruiting teams carry goals linked to successful gender diversity hiring?

     

Do interview panel/team members include at least one woman?

     

Are interview panels/teams usually made up of at least half women?

     

Do company job-related websites depict women in technical and senior roles?

     

Are hiring managers trained on inclusive interviewing techniques and unconscious bias?

     

Are gender-blind hiring practices in place (example: names removed from resumes for initial review)?

     

Please answer the questions below related to the Compensation practices within your organization.

Does the organization's leadership team have discussions on the topic of pay equity and the need to promote diversity?

     

Are employees aware of, and can easily access for review, company policies with respect to pay equity?

     

Is there a company policy in place for equality in pay?  

     

Is the organization’s CEO (or equivalent) aware of whether a gender wage gap exists?

     

Are equitable pay policies reviewed at least once per year by key stakeholders?

     

Are equitable pay policies communicated to all managers and stakeholders on at least a yearly basis?

     

Is compensation by gender regularly gathered, reported, and analyzed?

     

Is gender compensation analysis reviewed with applicable managers?

     

Where compensation inequity exists, are plans put in place to bring pay to parity within a reasonable period (90 days or less)?

     

Does the company enforce a zero-tolerance policy with respect to pay inequity?

     

Do managers have a portion of their compensation dedicated to making progress towards enabling diversity?

     

Do hiring managers refrain from asking job candidates about previous compensation history when preparing an offer?

     

Are compensation ranges established for roles?

     

Does the senior leadership team review and discusses progress on pay equity as a regular course of business?

     

Do external, third-party sites (e.g. Glassdoor) indicate that employees feel pay equity is in place?

     

Please answer the questions below related to the Performance Management practices within your organization.

Where an employee's performance is not up to expectations, will his or her manager have an improvement conversation with him or her?

     

Does the company have guidelines and policies in place for establishing performance goals and objectives for all employees?

     

Is each employee assessed at least annually against performance expectations set in accordance with company guidelines and policies?

     

Are employee performance expectations set based on results, outcomes, and objective measures (as opposed to “time in office” and other qualitative, subjective measures)?

     

Are systems in place that frequently collect performance data related to people and teams (e.g. after a project is completed)?

     

Do managers consistently give specific, observed, and actionable feedback to employees?

     

Are the manager evaluations of staff reviewed by a third-party (e.g. their manager, HR, etc.) for potential diversity issues?

     

Does the evaluation of managers include a review of their ability to create and foster a culture of diversity and inclusion within their teams?

     

Are employee engagement survey responses to questions on performance management reviewed for potential perspective on gender differences?

     

Please answer the questions below related to the Career Development and Advancement practices within your organization.

Are promotions granted based on identified criteria and do they require more than just the direct manager’s discretion?

     

Does the company have a policy stating that all qualified candidates be considered for advancement?

     

Are women represented at all levels of the organization, including the "C-Suite" (CIO, CEO, CFO, etc.)?

     

Does the company have at least one program/resource in place specifically designed to support women's career advancement (e.g. a formal mentoring program)?

     

Does the company have a variety of programs in place specifically designed to support women's career advancement through different stages and challenges (e.g. returning from parental leave, job sharing, resource groups)?

     

Does senior management encourage and support women's networks in the organization?

     

Does the organization have formal mentoring programs in place?

     

Does the organization have a formal career sponsorship program in which women are engaged?

     

Is high-potential female talent actively mentored/sponsored by more senior men and women?

     

Are senior leaders reviewed for their mentoring/sponsorship skills and activities and the diversity of their proteges?

     

Does the organization offer stretch assignments equally to women and men?

     

Are job ladders/career paths available for women to move into technical roles?

     

Are candidates considered if deemed to be lacking, but capable of acquiring, additional technical skill (i.e. hired on potential)?

     

Does succession planning have multiple levels of depth and include a view of gender diversity?

     

Does the company require a minimum of "diverse" candidates per open internal position search?

     

Does the company provide coaching for women candidates seeking promotion, including post interview analysis?

     

Please answer the questions below related to the Support Programs practices within your organization.

Are special requests such as extended leave, flexible work hours, or job sharing handled as required?

     

Does the organization have programs and policies that support leave for all employees?

     

Do all genders make equal use of leave programs?

     

Does the organization support work-at-home/mobile-working arrangements?

     

Is job-sharing supported by the organization?

     

Does the organization support flexible work hours?

     

Are employees provided with the appropriate technology to support flexible and work-at-home arrangements?

     

Does the organization offer support programs for men and women returning from parental leave?

     

Does the company have an executive-level sponsor for diversity initiatives who is outside of the Human Resources team?

     

Please answer the questions below related to the Training practices within your organization.

Do managers use what they have learned through previous on-the-job experience to make diversity-related decisions?

     

Are managers provided specific training on diversity and how unconscious bias impacts management decisions?

     

Are managers trained to properly give specific and actionable feedback?

     

Does the company provide managers with training on how to set goals and performance expectations?

     

Is training on diversity put into practice and regularly discussed in team meetings?

     

Does the organization provide access to training that is tailored specifically to the needs of women?

     

Please answer the questions below related to the Analytics and Reporting practices within your organization.

Does the organization track the number of women it employs?

     

Does the organization share information about its gender split with employees?

     

As per recent studies, women constituted 27% of the overall workforce, 19% of technology jobs, and 21% of management positions in the Canadian tech industry. Does the organization meet or exceed these averages?

     

Does the organization breakdown and track the gender split by seniority level?

     

Does the organization disclose externally the percentage of its employees who are women?

     

Does the organization track metrics beyond gender split to indicate the level of influence of women in the organization?

     

Does the organization have diversity initiatives that are fully aligned with desired business outcomes and does it measure and track the results of those initiatives?

     

Is the organization's diversity strategy and progress supported by a set of reports and reviewed as frequently as other company strategies and initiatives?

     

Has the organization set aside specific funding and resources to support diversity programs?

     

Please answer the questions below related to the Culture practices within your organization.

Are men encouraged and supported to take a leave of absence for family-related needs as often as women?

     

Do employee workplace health/pulse surveys include questions geared towards assessing views on the company's commitment to diversity and inclusion initiatives?

     

Do employees respond positively on company surveys about a culture that supports diversity and inclusion?

     

Do employees feel that the organization's gender diversity is a competitive advantage?

     

Does the organization have a process to handle harassment complaints if they arise?

     

Does the organization have a zero-tolerance policy with respect to harassment?

     

Is there regular education, discussion, and enforcement regarding acceptable behavior as it relates to harassment?

     

Do employees feel comfortable talking to managers and/or HR about unwanted attention/potential harassment situations?

     

Does the company recognize and celebrate demonstrated leadership in diversity and inclusion?

     

Are employees encouraged to bring forward suggestions about improving gender diversity?

     

Is there an employee engagement survey process in place that includes questions about culture?

     

Please answer the questions below related to the External Representation practices within your organization.

Do company-owned digital properties and printed media authentically display gender and cultural diversity?

     

Does the organization care about how it is perceived with respect to diversity and inclusion?

     

Does the company have a mechanism to handle general inquires about diversity?

     

Is there a plan in place to guard the organization’s reputation in the event of a social media or other incident that is contrary to its position on gender diversity?

     

Has the organization been recognized by an industry award for its efforts and success with respect to diversity initiatives?

     

Do business leaders from the organization regularly speak at events/blog about gender diversity topics and are they recognized as industry leaders with respect to this topic?

     

Is the organization recognized as a top place to work, owing at least in part to its diversity practices?

     

Do external sites (e.g. Glassdoor) indicate a positive sentiment for the company with respect to gender diversity?

     

Does the organization include a leadership page on its web site which demonstrates its gender diversity?

     

Does the organization have formal a supplier diversity program in place for which it dedicates resources and consistently tracks and measures results?

     

Does the organization actively support driving diversity initiatives with its business partners and supply chain (e.g. intentional engagement with women-owned businesses)?

     

Is the organization’s "C-Suite" comprised of approximately 30% women and are they visible role models both within and outside the organization?

     

Please answer the questions below related to the Board of Directors practices within your organization. If your organization does not have a Board of Directors, think about who is responsible for setting overall direction and governance of the company and keep that context in mind when selecting your response.

Do the organization’s board member candidates usually get recruited from the professional networks of current board members and has this yielded a board that is a mix of women and men?

     

Is there a minimum of 30% women on the organization’s board of directors and is the number stated publicly?

     

Has the organization’s board set a target to achieve and maintain a minimum of 30% female board members?

     

Does the organization’s board have a policy to aim for more gender diversity in its membership?

     

Does the board have a recruitment plan that aims to increase board gender diversity?

     

When searching for board members, are multiple, different sources of candidates considered?