Deep Dive Recap: Gender perspectives in HR and Personnel Management

On the 10th of June the IMS Office of the Gender Advisor (GENAD) hosted a deep dive focused on gender perspectives in HR and Personnel management, aiming to share best practices and lessons learnt from across the Alliance and Partners.

Participation represents one of the four pillars of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda, recognized in NATOs 2024 Policy. It is a strategic objective underpinning the Policy, and crucial to its implementation, striving for a gender-balanced workforce at all levels, in order for the Alliance to benefit from "a broader skillset and new perspectives."

The session benefitted from an excellent panel, featuring Major General Mirsad Ahmic, Deputy Chief of Joint Staff for Resources of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ms Rebecca LaFleur, Head of Civilian Personnel Recruitment at NATO SHAPE, and Colonel Giorgios Kostis and Major Evmorfia Pitsiava, from the personnel department of the Hellenic Armed Forces.

Colonel Kostis and Major Pitsiava opened the discussion, presenting the Hellenic Armed Forces' voluntary conscription programme for women. They shared polling indicating that women feel strongly motivated to contribute towards national defence, particularly highlighting expectations of personal development offered through military service. Besides providing training, certifications and opportunities to serve in specialized units, the program also allows volunteers, upon completion of their service, to remain as Short-Term Re-enlisted Soldiers, similarly to male volunteers and to earn merit points that can be used in future recruitment processes for Professional Soldiers. This reflects the program's long- term HR perspective by creating additional career pathways while supporting operational requirements.

Major General Mirsad Ahmic delivered the second intervention, highlighting the efforts the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina have made in reforming their HR frameworks to encourage and support women in pursuing careers in the Armed Forces. General Ahmic identified the importance of gender analysis to identify key barriers and gaps in existing systems. The strategic objectives of the programme were to identify barriers and opportunities, strengthen institutional capacity, improve participation and representation, while integrating gender perspectives and WPS into military activities. The institutional review looked at over 327 regulations, identifying those that did not meet standards and harmonizing them. Three implementation teams, with senior leadership buy-in, took forward this work, also identifying improvements to infrastructure and mentorship opportunities for women. These policies have led to an increase of women in the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 4.7% in 2007, to 12.5% in 2026, and now more than 20% of young officers at OF-1 and OF-2 rank are women, creating a strong pipeline for future female leadership. The General was keen to stress the importance of leadership in this domain, as this is the crucial factor that determines whether implementation becomes systematic or remains fragmented.

Speaking from a civilian recruitment perspective, Ms LaFleur closed the session, highlighting that many prospective applicants hold misconceptions about working at NATO. For example, many prospective applicants may assume that they need a military background, that they need to be fluent in both English and French, or they may not realize that careers exist outside of Brussels. In order to challenge these assumptions, Ms Lafleur highlighted the need to dedicate more resources to outreach in order to encourage applicants to see themselves in diverse roles across the Alliance, and to keep submitting applications even if they are unsuccessful initially. SHAPE works to ensure gender representation on the recruitment board, to make the application process accessible, monitors longlisting and shortlisting rates. However, when few women apply in the first place, no amount of process improvement will fix gender imbalance in recruiting. Interestingly, she highlighted that while women outnumber men in internship applications, this has yet to translate into leadership.

The IMS GENAD Office thanks all speakers for their time and valuable insights.