Some important points:
Top management shoulders the responsibility throughout the process
Link the issue to the business plan
Create measurable objectives
Update routines and processes
Communicate and build support for the plan throughout the organisation
Steady improvement
Allocate time and resources to ongoing follow-up
From talk to action!

Top management shoulders the responsibility
The issue of management supply should be seen as one of strategic development and be regularly on the agenda of top management. It is a great help if at least one top manager is very committed and actively promotes the issue of women at the top, both within top management itself and throughout the company. Research shows that the most important success factor in gender equality work is the commitment and determination of top management.

Link the issue to the business plan
Even if the action plan is part of the gender equality plan, its objectives should be linked to the business plan to give them weight and ensure priority. This means that the issue of women at the top is no longer seen as a ‘women's issue’ or a ‘soft’ issue, but as a strategy for business efficiency.

The work begins when top management answers the following question:
- What are we missing by not identifying women’s competence and putting it to good use?

If discussion is slow, start by discussing if male-dominated management groups are better for profits……

A good idea might be to run through the Business Case for Gender Diversity.

You will probably find potential for improvement in these areas:
- Access to the full talent pool
- Awareness of the customers’ perspective
- Acquiring attractive employer status
- Realisation that mixed teams are more creative and productive
- Reduced risk of damage to reputation and brand

The more specific and business-linked, the greater the impact!

Possible line of argument: "If the company wants to continue growing, we will have to make use of all resources and identify all potential leaders."

Establishing measurable objectives
Before you establish objectives, you must analyse the current situation. Use the survey of gender structure to answer the following questions.

- How many women and men are there at management level?
- Do career conditions differ for men and women?
- Are existing structures a help or a hindrance to women in their careers?
- Do we have the right objectives, guidelines and policies?
- Do the unwritten rules and promotion paths agree with the official ones?

Compile the analysis results before formulating the objectives
Management sets objectives for both the long-term and the short-term work. The objectives are related to the survey, which represents the baseline point in time. Don’t set more objectives than you can focus on! The objectives should describe the general target, not go into details about the activities required to achieve it. One or more long-term objectives stake out the route, for example:

Three or four specific and realistic interim targets can get the work started, for example:
- By the end of the year, there will be at least one woman in every management team
- In two years’ time, 30 percent of managers will be women
- A gender balance of mentors and speakers at the management development programme
- Female employees will feel that they have the same opportunities for growth as male   employees in next year's attitude survey

The objectives are to be part of the business plan and followed up in the quarterly report. Do you have salary and/or bonus schemes that are linked to targets? If yes, link managers' bonuses to how well they achieve the objectives of the action plan.

Decide, too, how the work is to be organised: is responsibility for implementation to rest with the HR/staff department or another unit? Key staff who will be working with the issue should have close contact with management and be given the authority they need.

Update routines and processes
Try several different methods at once, and allow for failure without taking the issue off the agenda.

Try to identify obstacles to the attainment of top management posts. The most common obstacles appear to be
– Women are in staff positions, top managers are recruited from operative positions
– Women are not involved in informal networks
– There are stereotyped views of women's roles and abilities
– Top management does not assume responsibility for the issue
– Lack of good role models within the organisation

Are your experiences the same? Review your processes and routines. You can find methods and tools at this website. Use the ideas that are most useful for your particular company when you draw up the action plan.

The action plan should state
- Activities
- Time schedule
- Resources in the form of staff, time and money
- Who is responsible for carrying out and following up activities
- How the action plan is to be communicated, internally and externally

You will find more tips about writing action plans and examples from US companies on the Catalyst website.

Communicate the plan and build support for it throughout the organisation
Plan how you will communicate the objectives and the action plan and build support for them, both internally and externally. Management must make clear why women at the top is a priority issue and what objectives apply. Most people know about legislation and gender equality targets, but not about how gender balance at the top adds value. Enthusiasm for bringing in more women will be greater among those responsible for recruitment and promotion if they also feel that they are helping the company to progress.

People must be involved in change, be given the opportunity to express themselves, think, and find ways of relating to new situations. Opposition can be turned into a positive force for change if and when people feel that their objections are met with respect and that there is scope for an open discussion.

Draw up a proper communication plan that can show whether the information has reached people and has been understood and accepted – as that will increase their willingness to work for the goal.

Steady improvement
Implementing permanent change without the support of the employees is impossible. The earlier the employees are involved the better – perhaps as early as the survey stage. Before the action plan is drawn up, a dialogue should be launched to seek out proposals for change. Employees and managers can be involved, both in special working groups and in discussions at the workplace.

Some advice:
- Appoint someone to be responsible for coordinating, following up and carrying the work   forward.
- Start with changes that can be implemented immediately.
- Survey important processes such as management supply, recruitment and management   development.
- The model of small incremental changes is better than a revolution that will lose its   impetus when the first enthusiasm has died away. Make improvements as you go along -   begin on a test scale and do an evaluation. Analyse what went wrong and learn from that   before implementing the measure on a proper scale.
- Try launching the change process in several places at once and allow different solutions to   develop. In time, some can be transferred to other areas in the organisation.
- Call attention to favourable results!

Devote time and resources to ongoing follow-up
Management must follow up the W2T objectives in the same way as it follows up other objectives. This means they must be a part of the regular follow-up and control procedure. You should have stable key ratios to compare yourselves both with others and with yourselves over time. Results should be set out in the annual report, in terms of both key ratios and written accounts.

Make an in-depth study of the issue of female managers at the annual review of the gender equality plan.

Examples of questions:
- What changes, big and small, have taken place during the year?
- How have they affected structures and conditions?
- Have the short-term objectives been achieved? How far do we have left to the long-term   objectives? What have we learned?
- How is the work to proceed?
- What is the next step?
- Do we need to set new objectives, change direction?
- Do we need to organise the work differently, and what resources are required?

Use the interim targets and the evaluation to check that you are on the right track. If not – change direction! Expect beneficial effects on the working environment and general atmosphere. Include these in evaluations of implemented activities.

From words to action
”Gender equality rhetoric” has been much discussed in the Women to the Top networks. There is frustration over the fact that business leaders express themselves in ‘politically correct’ terms. They know the right words and have lovely policies, but none of this leads to actual change.

Many feel that gender equality has virtually been achieved and that whatever remains will come in time of its own accord. Statistics clearly show that this is not the case. Change is slow, and the results achieved so far are the fruit of active work by many committed women and men in the political and business spheres. Skilled work on a broad front will be needed before we have equality at the top.

Gender equality rhetoric can be seen as talk instead of action. But it could also be seen in terms of talk preceding action, as a necessary part of the change process. Women to the Top believes in this interpretation and offers the following advice: take management seriously when they say they want change! Present relevant material and concrete proposals. Make sure that the issue is raised in all contexts relating to business efficiency and growth!

Another strategy is to increase both men’s and women’s understanding of gender, leadership and organisation. This gives them a common language with which to discuss and debate the present situation and absorb new proposals. Converting this understanding into action will require a forward-looking, critical and reflective discussion.