Is your company working towards gender equality?
Studies have consistently shown that boosting diversity and gender equity in the workplace benefits organizations and their bottom lines, having more women in the workplace increases the well-being of all employees.
Everyone in your business may contribute to the development of a stronger and more welcoming organizational culture by playing a role in the process.
High-performing organizations need gender equity. As per McKinsey, companies in the top quartile for gender diversity on executive teams were 21% more likely to outperform on profitability. The study also indicated that companies with very limited gender diversity had lower profitability. Even small measures towards workplace diversity can boost performance.
Women decision-makers help the company serve women customers. “The Centre for Talent Innovation”, a business-backed think tank, found that “diversity may be a significant source of innovation, as different employees are better attuned to the unmet requirements of consumers or clients like themselves.”
Being a structural issue, gender equity in the workplace demands organization-wide reform. Senior organizational leaders can apply important practices to eliminate barriers to women’s leadership and assist leaders of all genders to bring their whole selves to work.
Few steps that help organizations build a gender-equitable workplace.
- Involve everyone– You need to involve and attract interest from the board members and employees.
- You need a system change– Don’t put gender equity in the workplace on people. Top executives must understand how corporate policies and procedures affect brilliant women and move towards more inclusive leadership.
- You need to build a flexible environment- Before the pandemic, women preferred flexible work arrangements. With flexible work arrangements, your company will retain employees. Ensuring that employees feel “secure” to use flexible rules is much more critical.
- Provide opportunities– Women do desire and require exciting and challenging assignments. Companies that want to attract, support, retain, and promote women leaders must offer professional development opportunities at all levels of the talent pipeline.
- Offer mentorships across the organization– Leaders must understand their role in supporting development to achieve gender parity in the workplace. Provide managers with mentorship skills and tools. Develop training on how to maximize diversity. Tools and mentoring help emerging leaders prepare for unexpected events.
- Offer a psychologically safe workspace– Women’s groups have provided a secure area for women to discuss issues, find solutions, and network with others. Formal employee resource groups can shape culture, engage employees, share information, and give resources.
Your organization’s ultimate goal should be to create a culture in which every talent feels respected, and all voices are given a chance to be heard.
