Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER CANADIAN HR REPORTER May 5, 2014 May 5, 2014 10 NEWS NEWS these occupations while women found the jobs less appealing. In the 1960s, job ads posted in the New York Times were seg- regated into "male wanted" and "female wanted" sections, said Danielle Gaucher, a professor in the department of psychology at the University of Winnipeg, who was involved with the University of Waterloo study. And even though this blatant form of bias no longer exists to- day, job ads still contain cues — just more subtle cues — that sig- nal to jobseekers who best belongs in the occupation. "While gender-segregated job headings are a thing of the past, the biases in ads have simply gone underground — becoming more subtle but still a potent force of gender segregation." e terms we use, the adjec- tives we use, matter, said Alex Johnston, executive director of Catalyst Canada in Toronto, an organization dedicated to ex- panding opportunities for women and business. Research done by Catalyst sev- eral years ago — involving inter- views with 120 leaders around the world — revealed a list of charac- teristics associated with men and women, she said. e top three for men — decisive, a problem- solving focus and goal-oriented — were also the top three asso- ciated with leaders, by both men and women. "Women and men perceived these core leadership characteris- tics as ones they associated with men," said Johnston. "All of these things are things that companies aren't setting out to do deliber- ately but once you actually pro- vide the evidence, they have the opportunity to start to go back and look at patterns and go, 'Hmm, ac- tually, when I do look at the fi les that we're allocating, there is a gender issue and we need to ad- dress that because we want people to have a fair shot.'" In talking to stakeholder groups about apprenticeship training, there's always discussion around inclusive language, said Sarah Watts-Rynard, executive director of the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum in Ottawa, citing as an example use of the terms "trades- men" or "journeymen." "More inclusive language leads to an idea that 'I belong' rather than 'You're already telling me I don't belong before I've even con- sidered whether I want to,'" she said. "Language and the way we talk about the skills requirements and the way we talk about inclu- sivity is an important element." Perceptions of belongingness — such as "I fi t in" or "I'm simi- lar to the people" — but not per- ceived skills mediated the eff ect of gendered wording on job appeal, found the University of Waterloo study. "I suspect that women are more vigilant to cues that they may be discriminated against or unwel- comed because they may, on av- erage, have experienced greater discrimination in the past," said Gaucher. Accidental bias But it's unlikely people are pur- posely infusing advertisements with masculine wording to keep women out, she said. " e smart companies know that diversity is the key to inno- vation and success and they want to attract the best person for the job, man or woman. I think many companies would be appalled to think that their ads could be in- advertently warding off qualifi ed women." ere's no purposeful attempt being made to discriminate but in an environment that's been largely made up of men for gen- erations, this bias just comes out, said Watts-Rynard. " e awareness that the use of the words could have a negative aff ect is probably something that we've got to make sure employers have," she said. "Is it being structured in a way that is really inclusive or are you being exclusive without even realizing it? Those are things that employers — particularly in skilled trades but probably in many sectors — really struggle with. It's just a matter of 'It's al- ways been done this way and we've found somebody and now we can't,' and we're trying to con- stantly draw some focus to what could be the reason." Headhunting fi rms inquiring about the German study have in- dicated they are "absolutely" not aware of the bias in the recruit- ment ads, said Peus. "I've gotten more and more requests to help them rephrase (them), especially ads for any kind of leadership positions," she said. " at's the good news — those things are very easy to change once you're aware of them." A carefully formulated job posting is essential to find the best choice of personnel, said Peus, who is also chair of research and science management at the university in Munich. "In most cases, it doesn't make sense to simply leave out all of the male-sounding phrases. But without a profi le featuring at least balanced wording, organizations are robbing themselves of the chance of attracting good female applicants. And that's because the stereotypes endure almost unchanged in spite of all of the societal transformation we have experienced." Recognizing that advertise- ments can contain subtle cues that convey who best belongs is the fi rst step in rectifying the problem, said Gaucher. " e next step is making sure that people charged with crafting the advertisements do so con- sciously — paying attention to the insights that social psychologists have uncovered about what might inadvertently ward off women," she said. "Removing the incidental 'masculine' theme words is a step in the right direction… but also explicitly stating the company's family-friendly policies within the advertisements (such as fl exible hours, onsite and/or subsidized child care) is a great way to attract qualifi ed women." But there's still a long way to go and the solution could ex- tend beyond the workplace, said Watts-Rynard. "As a society, we still tell girls and boys diff erent things about their capacities and we can't ex- pect all of that to go away over- night: 'Now you're in the work- force so none of the things you've been taught for the last 20 years make a diff erence anymore and you're on equal ground.' If we haven't said that all the way along, then it's something we have to teach right from the beginning, that 'assertive' is OK as a way to describe the girl." THE MOST COMPLETE DIRECTORY OF ONTARIO LAWYERS, LAW FIRMS, JUDGES AND COURTS With more than 1,400 pages of essential legal references, Ontario Lawyer's Phone Book is your best connection to legal services in Ontario. Subscribers can depend on the credibility, accuracy and currency of this directory year after year. More detail and a wider scope of legal contact information for Ontario than any other source: ȕ 0WFS27,000 lawyers listed ȕ 0WFS9,000 law firms and corporate offices listed ȕ 'BYBOEUFMFQIPOF OVNCFSTFNBJMBEESFTTFT PGȮDFMPDBUJPOTBOEQPTUBM DPEFT Includes lists of: ȕ Federal and provincial judges ȕ Federal courts, including a section for federal government departments, boards and commissions ȕ Ontario courts and services, including a section for provincial government ministries, boards and commissions ȕ Small claims courts ȕ Miscellaneous services for lawyers Visit carswell.com or call 1.800.387.5164 for a 30-day no-risk evaluation 1FSGFDUCPVOEȕ1VCMJTIFE December each year On subscription $74 One time purchase $77 L88804-626 Multiple copy discounts available Prices subject to change without notice, to applicable taxes and shipping & handling. 2014 ONTARIO LAWYER'S PHONE BOOK Carefully formulated job postings essential Carefully formulated job postings essential 'MALE' ADS < pg. 1 they play in the organization, and this is why we really encourage and we see the recurring quar- terly review of executive expense accounts." Best practices Companies should have travel and entertainment policies around expenses, along with a delega- tion policy around approvals, and pre-approvals for certain travel, she said. Employers should also make sure mechanisms are in place to monitor compliance with those policies — either through an in- ternalized function or external help doing periodic audits — and supervisors are diligent in approv- ing claims. It all comes back to the expense policies and whether there is any ambiguity around the rules, said Meadows. "What are expectations of the employees — from the lowest- level employees all the way up to the CEO of the company — and how is that information commu- nicated to the employees? Is it commonly available on the Inter- net, is there online training on it, is there any type of annual com- pliance signature required, during the annual review procedures or otherwise, where you can add it to their fi le?" he said. "A lot of times, just that process alone will put second thoughts in people's minds about committing potential expense fraud." A two-step approval process is also a good idea, with a manager looking at the expense from a business standpoint and then an internal audit or HR looking at whether the rules are being fol- lowed, said Meadows. "It's very tricky, especially for a manager, if they've got a lot of reports, to go through every ex- pense claim and look at not only is this a legitimate business expense but are they following the rules? at person won't get anything else done." e best people in a position to commit wrongdoing are often those who are the most trusted. And it's diffi cult for lower-lev- el employees to challenge the questionable claim of a more se- nior person, said Shull. "To minimize the risk of fraud in this area and other areas, it's im- portant to really to do a fraud risk assessment to understand where your risks might be, and then to make sure you have policies and procedures in place that really do address the high-risk areas," he said. "And making sure your execu- tives are subject to the policies and procedures, that will mini- mize that risk as well, and they don't override the policies by vir- tue of their position." Another eff ective way to know what's going on is to have a whistleblower line or some other anonymous method where work- ers can voice their concerns, said Shull. But, overall, employers must make sure the policies and pro- cedures are well-communicated, he said. "Ultimately, you have to com- municate those policies and make sure that people are aware so you can eliminate the defence of ignorance." Use 2-step approval process Use 2-step approval process EXPENSES < pg. 9 "Without a profi le featuring at least balanced wording, organizations are robbing themselves of the chance of attracting good female applicants."

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