From audit to action: diversity and equal treatment strategies for organisations

Since 2022, Civitta in Estonia has helped a range of public institutions and universities, including government ministries, research institutes and universities, conduct diversity audits and develop equal treatment strategies.

Most organisations want to take diversity and equality seriously but are not sure where to start. They often lack a clear picture of their current situation – who their people are, whether existing processes treat everyone fairly and where the real gaps lie.

In recent years, demand has grown as EU requirements have made gender equality plans a condition for certain research funding. But a plan that exists only on paper rarely leads to change. The real challenge is building something that reflects the actual organisation, that people at all levels recognise as true and that leadership is ready to act on.

Civitta’s approach combines a structured audit with a participatory strategy development process. The scope is agreed with each client at the outset – some focus on gender, others look at a wider range of characteristics including age, disability, ethnicity, education level or geographical representation, depending on what matters most for that organisation.

The audit:

• The process starts with a document review: internal regulations, HR policies, anti-harassment procedures and any existing equality-related commitments. Civitta uses a proprietary audit framework to assess how equality is reflected or not, and how the organisation actually operates.
• This is combined with data analysis: workforce composition, existing employee survey results where available and, for universities, student composition as well.
  Interviews are a central part of the audit. HR and leadership are interviewed directly. With broader employee groups, the approach is more gradual – conversations start with general questions about the organisation and allow themes to emerge naturally. Sessions are held under confidentiality and typically run around two hours. People tend to share a great deal when the environment feels safe.
• The audit concludes with a report covering findings, identified gaps and prioritised recommendations.

The strategy:

• Building directly on the audit findings, which map the organisation’s strengths, gaps and pain points around diversity and equality, the strategy is developed together with the client through a series of workshops, typically two or three. These bring together HR, management and employee representatives, with additional groups included depending on the organisation: students for academic institutions, or representatives of relevant stakeholder groups for others. The workshops are used to validate audit findings, agree on goals, set KPIs and build a concrete action plan.
• Once finalised and approved by leadership, the plan is presented to staff. Supporting materials are prepared for internal use – these can include one-pagers, short briefs, slide decks or recorded presentations of audit results and the strategy.
• Civitta also supports organisations in the implementation phase by offering trainings and workshops on relevant equality topics, helping with interim evaluations, updating the strategy as the organisation evolves and providing advice on putting the plan into practice.

The Estonian Ministry of Social Affairs is a good example of what this work can produce over time. In 2022, we supported them in preparing their first diversity audit and equal treatment strategy – the ministry had been a Civitta client for years, but this was the first time we worked together on this topic.

At that point, diversity and equality were generally familiar topics within the organisation, but awareness and understanding varied across staff. The topic had not yet been systematically integrated into the organisation’s practices, nor consistently reflected on in relation to employees’ own work in policymaking or the ministry’s role as an employer.

In the years that followed, the ministry went through structural changes, a shift in HR leadership and significant operational pressure from Estonia’s response to the Ukraine refugee crisis. Implementation was not straightforward. But the organisation continued – running regular training for all staff, keeping equality on the internal agenda, and developing and implementing a non-discrimination and anti-harassment policy with the supporting systems around it.

When Civitta returned in 2026 for a second engagement, the change was visible. Conversations were more informed and more honest. Staff understood why diversity and equality matters specifically for a ministry whose work is entirely focused on people. The organisation had made real progress, even under difficult circumstances. A key factor in this progress was strong buy-in at management level, which kept the topic a priority even during difficult times.

1. Start with an honest baseline: Without a proper audit, organisations tend to either underestimate or misidentify their actual gaps. A structured process, combining document review, data and interviews, gives leadership a reliable picture to work from. 
2. Link equality goals to the organisation’s core strategy: equality objectives cannot sit aside as a separate or symbolic exercise. To be implemented in practice, they need to be clearly connected to the organisation’s wider vision, goals and everyday ways of working. Only then can they become part of the natural work process and organisational culture. 
3. Change takes time but it builds: The Ministry of Social Affairs case shows that even when implementation is disrupted by restructuring or external pressures, a well-grounded plan creates momentum. Three years on, the organisation looked and felt different.