International Women’s Day Special: Gender and Assessment

With today being International Women’s Day, it feels fitting to discuss women in the workplace and particularly, how assessments can aid fairness when it comes to recruitment.

I’m sure most of us are aware of the gender pay gap but what about the gender skills gap? And are the two related?

Diversity and inclusion are widely accepted as essential pillars of a successful organisational culture. A Mckinsey study shows that companies with more diverse workforces perform better financially. In particular, companies in the top quartile for gender diversity are 15% more likely to have financial returns above their respective national industry average.

While women in the US hold 57% of all undergraduate degrees, 60% of all master’s degrees and 52% of all management-level roles, we see a clear disparity at C-suite level.

In the UK, the proportion of women in board-level roles has risen above 40% for the first time which suggests a large shift. However, sceptics suggest this shift is a direct response to the EU agreeing that companies will face mandatory quotas to ensure women have at least 40% of seats on corporate boards by June 2026. Indeed, UK companies are failing to appoint women to leadership positions below board level at the same rate.

Hiring for the right skills

Hiring for the right skills, regardless of job level, is paramount. If we understand the skills which are needed for success in a role, then we’re partway to hiring the right person – whether male or female. To be effective, a skill-based approach must include a broad and inclusive view of what is needed to be successful in a task. At Sova, we separate skills into two types: knowledge-based skills (which cover specific job skills like coding and languages) and behavioural skills, such as personality and motivation. These are often described as ‘soft skills’, though renowned HR expert Josh Bersin uses the term ‘Power Skills’, due to their profound impact on work, relationships, teams, and organisations themselves.

Reducing bias

Reducing bias in the recruitment process starts with candidate attraction i.e. Where is the job advert placed? How is the job description worded? Are candidates encouraged to apply even if they don’t meet all of the role criteria? Research has shown that women will only apply for a role when they believe they met 100% of the criteria listed for the job but men were happy to apply when they thought they could meet 60% of the requirements.

Assessments: 

Skills-based assessments are more objective than traditional hiring techniques. CV sifting and interviews are more subjective and can introduce unconscious bias, including gender bias. Talent assessment tools, including aptitude tests, behavioural assessments and situational judgement tests, offer a subjective and data-driven approach to evaluate candidates. This method not only levels the playing field for candidates but also helps organisations select the best talent purely based on merit and potential.

Helping MYOB:

Recently, MYOB (a leading business management platform provider in Australia), needed to tackle the lack of diversity in its talent pipeline. Sova partnered with them to provide a blended assessment and video interview measuring the key competencies for their graduate programme. MYOB were able to identify high potential candidates who completed their onboarding in half the time of previous cohorts and completed their rotations in just two-thirds of the time previously taken. 100% of the women recruited into the graduate programme had no background in technology but have since remained in the technology industry and 87% are still at MYOB.

Read more about our work with MYOB.

Summary

As organisations continue to strive towards inclusion goals and reduce the gender bias, the focus on hiring for the right skills in the right way is key. Talent assessments can act as a powerful tool in trying to create equal opportunities for all candidates, irrespective of gender.