Employers seeking to close gender gaps must move beyond goodwill to concrete policies that reshape hiring, progression and daily working life for women.

"Good intentions don’t close gender gaps. Governance does. The organisations making real progress aren’t talking about equity, they’re putting it into hiring, pay and promotion decisions."

Lewis Roskilly

Head of Global Reward at JGA Recruitment

Targeted recruitment and promotion practices can widen the candidate pool and reduce bias. According to Pacific Prime, measures such as blind resume screening, diverse interview panels and outreach programmes help create fairer selection processes and measurable diversity targets build accountability.

Flexibility without penalty

Flexible working arrangements are central to retaining female talent. Deloitte research shows that inflexible hours are a leading reason women leave jobs and that many fear flexible requests will harm promotion prospects, underlining the need for policies that protect career progression while offering adaptable schedules.

Rethinking role design

Post-pandemic evidence indicates demand for remote and hybrid roles is higher among women, and language used in job adverts can influence application rates. The World Economic Forum notes women are substantially more likely to apply for remote roles and that wording such as "aggressive" can deter female applicants, suggesting employers should rethink both role design and recruitment copy.

As Lewis notes, "language and structure matter more than most employers realise, if job adverts unconsciously reward dominance over collaboration, or office presence over output, you’re filtering talent before the interview even starts."

Support for caregiving and parental needs must be practical and visible. Analyses by WomenTech and McKinsey recommend paid parental leave, childcare assistance, phased returns and workload reviews, alongside managers modelling individualised solutions, so caregiving responsibilities do not become a career penalty for women.

"Organisations that build practical parental support and phased returns into their reward strategy will retain talent longer and protect leadership pipelines" Lewis discusses, confirming that "caregiving isn’t just a woman’s issue, it’s ultimately a workforce design issue".

Sponsorship and leadership pipelines

Career development and sponsorship are vital to dismantle promotion barriers. Pacific Prime highlights mentorship, leadership training and sponsorship programmes as ways to raise visibility for women; independent reporting and academic studies echo that structured sponsorship increases the likelihood of women reaching senior roles.

Closing gaps through transparency

Pay transparency and routine audits help reveal and close compensation gaps. Pacific Prime advocates for pay reviews and open salary processes to foster trust; industry research shows publishing equity metrics and clear promotion criteria strengthens retention and morale; a factor JGA confirm, "when employees understand how pay is set and how progression works, retention improves, even when pay increases are lower".

Creating a safe, inclusive culture requires both manager training and enforceable safeguards. Pacific Prime recommends zero-tolerance policies on harassment, clear reporting channels and employee resource groups to provide peer support; these structures, combined with leadership accountability, underpin sustained change.

Tracking progress, refining strategy

Measuring outcomes and adapting is essential. Employers should track representation, promotion rates and pay equity, publish results and adjust strategies based on data. The World Economic Forum and McKinsey both stress that transparent metrics and iterative policy design are key to turning commitments into measurable progress.

"Gender equity isn’t achieved through one policy or one initiative, it’s built when reward, recruitment, leadership behaviour and performance frameworks all pull in the same direction."

Lewis Roskilly

Head of Global Reward at JGA Recruitment

Looking for more ways to raise inclusion within your organisation? Click here to check out our next PRIS session focusing on Neurodiversity in payroll