Women’s Employment Equality Index is an initiative launched by The Headhunter Group as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility and commitment to support diversity in Albania’s workforce. As a leading company in human resources and talent management in Albania, the Balkans, and the United States, The Headhunter Group has taken a strong public position to promote non-discrimination and inclusion of all Albanian job seekers and employees. Indeed, in its every day work with companies, employers, candidates and other stakeholders, The Headhunter Group has identified the need to identify and learn from current human resources policies and practices contributing to discrimination, and transform these through training, awareness, communication and advocacy on inclusion in the employment sector. The Headhunter Group believes it has a strong role to play in fostering social and professional inclusion of women in Albania because of its unique combination of its commitment towards women, its knowledge of the workplace and human resource operations in Albania, and its partnerships and relationships with all private and public sector stakeholders.
Several Albanian companies and employers have implemented policies and practices supportive of better women’s inclusion in the workplace. Employers have understood the relevance of these policies and practices for their employees, their clients, and their role in a more inclusive society. The Albanian Government also recognizes the benefits of these policies and practices for their citizens, image and attractiveness for investment in creating a more inclusive, equal society.
Despite significant progress, it is still difficult to measure the performance of non-discrimination policies and practices, and for companies and employers to assess their score without having a benchmark per country. Each country requires a careful consideration of its specific legal framework, socio and cultural norms in order to set up a relevant scoring system and this is precisely what this Index intends to provide. This is a unique tool, developed with the contribution of several stakeholders, to objectively measure the performance of the gender-based employment policies and practices, identify gaps and areas to be improved.
This Index has been based on the successful predecessor, the LGBTIQ Employment Equality Index, which The Headhunter created and launched in May 2016 (see http://headhunter.al/en-us/lgbtq-index). It takes best practices and standards from similar initiatives implemented elsewhere, mostly in Western countries, and adjusts them to the specificities of the Albanian professional, social and cultural context. It also incorporates elements of the United Nations Global Compact’s Women’s Empowerment Principles (see https://www.unglobalcompact.org/take-action/action/womens-principles).
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