Policy and action plan for gender equality

At Statistics Denmark, we are making an effort to attract and retain skilled and dedicated employees and we regard diversity in the composition of employees and management as a strong point. For that reason, we pursue:

• Balance in the gender distribution among employees and managers at all levels. 
• Momentum in the development of talented male and female managers.
• Equal recruitment and career opportunities for women and men. 
• Elimination of gender bias in pay structures.

Senior management levels

To us, gender equality is about the whole organisation, and we want to fuel a pipeline of talented executives and contribute to the public sector’s recruitment of both male and female executives.

Baseline in figures

In the long term, we are aiming for at least 40 per cent of the under-represented sex on the Supervisory Board as well as the Executive Board. The target figures are based on the Danish act on equal treatment of men and women and apply to 2024-2028.

Initiatives

To achieve our objectives, we are working on implementing tangible initiatives in the fields of recruitment and career.

Recruitment

We want everyone irrespective of gender, to find our vacant positions attractive and we aim for a recruitment practice that provides equal employment opportunities irrespective of gender. For this purpose, we focus on the following:

• We continuously focus on describing vacant positions and Statistics Denmark in a way that appeals to everyone irrespective of gender.
• We are working on preventing bias in the recruitment process and aim for both sexes to be represented on interview boards, and for at least one person of each sex to be invited for an interview.
• In collaboration with external experts in the area, we are building knowledge and awareness of the unconscious gender biases, focusing especially on managers, HR staff and others who make decisions about recruitment and career development. 

Career

We want equal opportunities for everyone, irrespective of gender, to develop and be promoted in terms of both responsibilities and pay. This applies regardless of the different conditions of life, which may be gender-specific, e.g. in connection with parental leave. To achieve this objective, we support the dialogue on competence development, new assignments, increased responsibility and pay with, among other things, the following initiatives:

• In connection with employee appraisal interviews, for example, we focus on making it clear for everyone what talent development opportunities the organisation offers, making it easier for everyone – regardless of gender – to see how they can develop their competences, ambitions and abilities to the benefit of both their personal career and the organisation.
• Before and after parental leave, we hold parental leave interviews to ensure that the employee returns from leave to assignments of a corresponding nature and complexity and does not experience a setback in his or her career because of the parental leave. In support of the interviews, HR has prepared material for the managers on the rules regarding parental leave as well as an interview guide.
• Managers, the Executive Board and the Joint Consultation Committee continuously focus on providing clear reasons for appointments and pay rises. It promotes transparency in the decision process and reduces the risk of unconscious gender bias affecting the decisions.

We have made an effort to incorporate the continuous work on implementing the actions in the organisation’s existing processes to ensure the most extensive coherence possible with the general staff policy.

Data support

We use relevant data and statistics to support our work towards gender equality. For example:

• Each year, we prepare a gender equality report showing, for example, the gender distribution of different staff groups and management levels as well as gender-specific earnings statistics, which allows us to regularly assess the extent of the gender equality gap and the effect of initiatives.
• As part of surveying emotional health in the workplace and employee satisfaction in the organisation, permanent questions are included on gender-specific discrimination, harassment and offending actions. The survey is conducted every two years.

Follow-up

The Executive Board regularly follows up on the initiatives and identifies any need to adjust the plan.

Every year, the Executive Board and the Joint Consultation Committee discuss the gender equality status based on an annual gender equality report. The discussions lead to the identification of any need for new initiatives.

The policy and action plan for gender equality has been approved by Statistics Denmark’s Executive Board.