IDS Study 758, September 2003

Opportunity Now

• Provides an overview of the Opportunity Now programme, its diversity change model and benchmarking survey.
• Examines in detail what five member organisations are doing to promote gender equality, in areas such as recruitment, career development and family-friendly policies.

Opportunity Now is a Business in the Community programme that has been working with employers to promote gender equality in the workforce since its launch in 1991. It now has around 350 members. As well as providing advice to employers and opportunities for them to share best practice information, it carries out dedicated research into key equality issues. Opportunity Now also conducts an in-depth annual benchmarking survey, enabling participating organisations to measure their progress year-on-year towards equality objectives and to compare their performance with others in their industry.

This IDS Study outlines the practical measures that employers are taking to turn positive intentions into reality. We examine the role of gender 'champions' and equality teams, as well as looking at how organisations communicate their aims and provide equality training to their employees. Also included are in-depth case studies of gender initiatives at five member organisations, several of which have won Opportunity Now awards. Their efforts to tackle gender imbalances focus on areas such as recruitment, career and personal development and work-life balance.