Guidance

Set targets to improve gender representation

Published 4 March 2026

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

Purpose of this action

This action helps make it clear that gender equality is a priority for your organisation. Setting specific targets which motivate staff can improve the likelihood and pace of progress.

You may want to choose this action if your organisation has under-representation in certain areas, such as women in senior roles. It may also be useful when you start a new recruitment campaign.

Benefits and evidence

Formal targets can be an effective tool to speed up progress on gender representation at higher pay grades. This may help reduce your gender pay gap. Evidence suggests that organisations that use targets may improve diversity faster than those without them.^{[footnote 1]} Specific targets may be more likely to create change than broad goals^{[footnote 2]} such as ‘creating an inclusive culture’, which may be ineffective unless linked to specific actions.^{[footnote 3]} 

Researchers have suggested that specific targets can lead to creative problem-solving.^{[footnote 4]} For example, a target may encourage managers to find and remove barriers like biased recruitment or a lack of flexible working.

Publicly visible targets are more likely to be achieved.^{[footnote 5]} For example, researchers have suggested that public targets can show a genuine commitment to people outside your organisation.^{[footnote 6]} 

Implementing this action

To help set effective targets you could consider these steps:

• decide what you want to change and by how much
• set targets that are challenging but realistic
• look at external standards or example targets from your industry for guidance
• break large targets down into smaller sub-targets by time or business area
• consult department leads and give them targets to create accountability
• set realistic deadlines to remind managers to work towards their goals
• make the targets visible to employees and partners, for example through newsletters, intranets or employee updates
• set sub-targets within departments to promote a coordinated effort and accountability^{[footnote 7]}

You could also make your targets public to show your commitment to tackling inequality. This visibility might improve your brand and help you attract and keep staff.

When trying to meet your targets, you may consider activities that involve treating one group with a protected characteristic more favourably than others. This is called ‘positive action’. There are specific legal requirements you must meet if you are undertaking positive action, and specific situations where positive action can lawfully be used. You should consider taking legal advice on these activities. 

You can read more guidance about how to set effective targets (Behavioural Insights Team).

Tracking progress

You should track and review your progress regularly. When you set a target, make it clear that you will monitor its progress and hold managers responsible.

You might want to consider tracking the progress of this action by measuring:

• the proportion of departments that have met their specific targets at particular milestones
• the progress departments have made to achieving their targets, including what steps they have taken and what may have stopped progress
• what helped or hindered a target being met, including the influence of your processes or changes you have made
• the proportion of targets successfully achieved at particular milestones
• employee satisfaction with the targets and the effectiveness of their implementation

Once you achieve a target, you can aim for further improvement or focus on a new area. For example, if you have focused on recruitment, you could now work on improving retention.

Where possible, you should compare any data you gather with ‘baseline’ data from previous years.

Data privacy

Some or all of the equality information you collect is likely to be ‘special category personal data’, meaning it has special legal protections. 

Ensure that you are complying with the UK’s data protection legislation when you collect and analyse employees’ data.

Get advice and approval from your organisation’s privacy or data protection expert before you start.

1. McKinsey and Company and LeanIn.org (2015). Women in the Workplace. ↩

2. Behavioural Insights Team (2025). How to improve gender equality in the workplace: actions for employers. ↩

3. Behavioural Insights Team (2025). How to improve gender equality in the workplace: actions for employers. ↩

4. Locke EA and Latham GP (2006). New directions in goal-setting theory. Current Directions in Psychological Science. Vol 15, No 5. 265-8. ↩

5. The Behavioural Insights Team (2025). How to improve gender equality in the workplace: actions for employers.  ↩

6. FTSE Women Leaders Review (2025). Achieving Gender Balance.  ↩

7. Behavioural Insights Team (2021). How to set effective targets. ↩