What Does EDGE Certification Measure?
The EDGE and EDGEplus Global Standards, assessment methodology and certification system are built on four pillars that define success in gender and intersectional equity, namely:
- Representation
- Pay equity
- Effectiveness of policies and practices to ensure equitable career flows
- Inclusiveness of the culture
Gender and intersectional equity are measured by looking at qualitative and quantitative processes and outcomes from three different sources: statistical data, policies and practices, employee survey. These are all used to determine the EDGE Certification level attained by a certifying organization
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Representation
Representation supports both diversity of experience and improvements in decision-making.
The EDGE and EDGEplus Global Standards require organizations to measure representation along the pipeline, across different types of jobs and different levels of responsibility.
Pay Equity
Pay equity is a necessary condition for a fair workplace. As part of the EDGE Empower® assessment, pay equity can be measured via a triangulation of:
- Statistical data on the differences in overall pay between men and women
- Information on the policies and practices in place to ensure pay equity
- A qualitative assessment of employees’ own evaluation of pay equity within their organization
Tackling gender pay inequality requires conscious action from organizations. The process of obtaining EDGE Certification encourages gender pay gap reporting, helps organizations identify where their disparities in remuneration lie, and guides them towards progressively closing their gender pay gap.
Effectiveness
EDGE Certification includes a thorough assessment of organizations’ policies and practices, seeking to analyse if they are effective in promoting equitable career flows.
Organizations can achieve equity in the workforce by ensuring pay equity, fairness in recruitment and promotion practices, opportunities for training and career development, access to flexible working, and fostering a fair, safe and inclusive organizational culture.
Inclusiveness
A key element of an organization’s journey to EDGE Certification is taking an inventory of its employees’ experiences and understanding how their perceptions compare to implemented policies and practices and to the statistical evaluation of its representation and pay equity data.
The perceived inclusivity of a workplace is analysed on the basis of the lived experiences of the employees, captured through an employee survey that records their perceptions of:
- Recruitment and promotion practices
- Pay equity
- Opportunities for development and growth
- Flexible working
- Their organization’s commitment to practically implementing a diverse and inclusive workplace