Simmons School of Management

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Center for Gender in Organizations

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Consulting Services

The Center for Gender in Organizations (CGO) at Simmons School of Management offers customized consultation to organizations worldwide—both for-profit and non-profit. CGO is an internationally recognized leader in helping create work environments that support the career success, satisfaction, and contributions of all employees. We take a unique approach to addressing gender and diversity issues in the workplace: rather than seeing gender as a problem that individual women confront at work, we use what we call a "gender lens" to explore how gender is embedded in an organization's culture, affecting women, men, and workplace effectiveness. CGO faculty work with organizations to develop initiatives that help managers better understand the systemic nature of gender issues in their organizations and to help individuals strategize ways to overcome these subtle dynamics. CGO and SOM faculty have over 15 years experience working in a range of complex organizations, resulting in a unique approach to addressing issues relating to gender, diversity, and organizational excellence.

Our approach has four distinct features:

1. A focus on workplace culture and the systemic roots of gender inequity. Many work norms, values, policies and practices appear gender neutral on the surface but effect men and women differently. Our approach helps organizations identify aspects of their work culture that unwittingly undermine the ability of women to succeed and contribute fully to the organization’s mission.
   
2. The linking of gender equity with organizational effectiveness. When organizations use our approach to make changes in the work culture that enhance equity, workplace performance increases not only for women, but also for men. Achieving this "dual agenda" of increased equity and effectiveness is the hallmark of the CGO approach.
   
3. A diversity lens that looks at gender in all its complexities. We simultaneously address race, ethnicity, class, sexual orientation, and gender in order to incorporate the experiences and views of women of diverse backgrounds, functions and levels within the organization.
   
4. A collaborative action research approach. The CGO team works closely with the contracting organization (e.g. a specially designated task force or existing advocacy group) to plan, carry out and evaluate any projects we undertake for the organization.
   

CGO has used this approach to help organizations:

• Recruit, promote and retain women.
• Reduce turnover that stems from work and personal-life conflict.
• Leverage diversity as a strategic advantage and help make the "business case" for diversity.
• Engage in proactive organizational change efforts to reduce the threat of discrimination suits.
• Increase the leadership potential and mentoring of members of affinity groups.

To learn more about CGO's consulting services, please contact us at cgo@simmons.edu.

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To learn more about CGO's consulting services, please contact us at cgo@simmons.edu.