Developing Policy and Procedures
Reviewing Access to Training and Development Opportunities
Providing Training and Development Opportunities
Providing Access to Training to Employees with Family Responsibilities
Developing High Potential Employees
Supporting High Potential Employees
Recognising Talent for Training and Development
Communicating Training and Development Opportunities

Developing Policy and Procedures

• Put in place a general policy on how training and development opportunities are provided.
• The policy could also include an organisational commitment to training about workplace diversity issues (such as valuing employee differences, managing diversity and work/life balance).
• Develop a quality, consistent process for providing training and development opportunities (eg linked to performance appraisals or skills audit etc).
• Monitor both female and male employees' access to training and development opportunities to identify inequities which may be experienced by particular groups of women, for example, women with language difficulties, or with disabilities.

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Reviewing Access to Training and Development Opportunities

• Review the emphasis you place on different courses (for example, people management, core technical, business skills training) for both your female and male employees.
• Identify the jobs men and women choose not to do, and investigate why these choices are being made (eg sales jobs with bonus schemes which encourage staff to poach customers from each other, inappropriate entertaining venues being used for customers etc).
• Survey employees about the equity of training and development opportunities.
• Identify who is and is not taking up training and development opportunities. Make sure that access to opportunities is not impeded by unintentional barriers, such as limited English language skills preventing an employee from upgrading other skills.

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Providing Training and Development Opportunities

• Require all staff to have a career discussion with their manager/supervisor that includes an annual training and development plan.
• Train your managers to effectively and objectively use the performance and development process for both men and women (eg how to give positive and negative performance feedback to female and male staff).
• Encourage managers to discuss training and development interests and opportunities for the future with both female and male employees.
• Hold managers accountable for implementing the development plan by including it in their workplace and/or performance agreement.
• Challenge management assumptions about why women are not provided with the same access to training and development as their male peers.
• Provide employees with access to different modes of training (eg on-the-job, rotation, coaching, distance education).
• Encourage staff to participate in learning experiences that build diverse skills and broaden career options.
• Provide managers and employees with diversity training, covering diversity awareness and diversity management issues such as teamwork, conflict resolution, and interpersonal skills.

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Providing Access to Training to Employees with Family Responsibilities

• Provide training when both your male and female employees can access it, for example, during normal work hours.
• Consider paying for/subsidising dependant care costs, if staff have family responsibilities that prevent them attending training held out of normal work hours.
• Hold training courses on days when employees who work flexibly can be available for training.

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Developing High Potential Employees

• Encourage managers to coach talented female and male employees in their group.
• Use a tracking system to identify talented female and male employees and assist them gain a broad range of experience that will help their career advancement.
• Ensure both female and male employees get on-the-job experience in functional and line management positions.
• Encourage men and women to consider a wide range of career options within the organisation, such as in non-traditional areas.
• Provide both female and male high potential staff with training and development experiences that will assist them to fast track their career.
• Provide internal and/or external career development training.
• Tailor additional training to address any skill gaps identified in skills audits.
• Allow all staff a particular allocation of training of their choice.
• Support both female and male staff wishing to take on formal study, for example, management support, financial support, and time support.
• Make managers accountable for developing both female and male staff through their performance appraisal or bonus system.

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Supporting High Potential Employees

• Ask senior managers to act as mentors to both female and male employees. Consider the benefits of having mentors from different backgrounds available to provide mentoring support.
• Put mechanisms in place to hold managers accountable for supporting employees when they are placed in a new assignment (eg regular feedback sessions, personal development plans).
• Ask senior women to act as role models to encourage women to continue to train and develop. Again, consider the benefits of being able to provide role models that correspond to women’s diversity.
• Support attendance at women’s network functions – or set up your own women’s network – where female staff can hear from, meet and be inspired by a range of other women.

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Recognising Talent for Training and Development

• Check you are investing in both female and male staff to improve their effectiveness in their current job and enhance their future development.
• Conduct skills audits to identify existing skills of employees that could be further developed for professional and organisational benefits (eg, recognise and develop second language skills of immigrant women).
• Review requirements for formal qualifications. Ensure that these and/or other credentials are not an unnecessary barrier to further training and advancement. Consider qualifications acquired overseas where relevant.
• Recognise prior learning so that existing skills and informal education are recognised.
• Review your processes to ensure they are inclusive of women’s life experiences and skills as well as men’s.

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Communicating Training and Development Opportunities

• Advertise training opportunities widely, not just within those areas judged to be immediately relevant.
• Provide training for managers and supervisors on work/life issues (eg, needs of part-time and shift workers, and flexible work considerations).
• Use training forums to 'mainstream' EEO issues (eg, cover 'valuing and managing difference' and 'harassment-free workplaces' in induction training)
• Communicate company commitment to valuing and managing differences through induction training, and by providing diversity training for managers and employees at all levels of the organisation.
• Encourage managers to discuss training and development opportunities and interests when providing feedback or conducting performance appraisals.
• Publicise your training and development policy/procedures widely in the organisation. Consider making them available in other languages for employees who have difficulty with English language fluency.
• Ensure both female and male employees, and employees on long-term leave have access to information on training and development policy/procedures. Educate managers on how to allocate training and development opportunities effectively and in a non-discriminatory way.
• Hold managers accountable for developing female and male employees by including this requirement in managers' workplace and performance agreements.
• Encourage managers to lead by example with respect to providing equal opportunity in training and development.

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