Workplaces That Work For Women: How Organizations Can Drive Equity
Part 4 of a 4 part series
In todays corporate landscape, it is essential for businesses to take deliberate actions to retain female talent and bridge the gender gap between junior and senior management. The plethora of data supporting diversity of thought resulting in better business outcomes is growing. As covered earlier in this series (“We’re Still 132 Years From Reaching Gender Equity”), women shoulder the burden of unpaid care work, and this results in disruption to their career progression. When they do not drop out of the workforce entirely, this creates significant challenges for their career development. A significant proportion of the unpaid care in question relates to childcare. In the post pandemic era, where this has been brought to the fore, majority of organizations are in the process of optimizing maternity/childcare policies for both parents. However, unpaid care work also extends to caring for elderly parents and disabled or incapacitated family members.
Globally, only 41 million (1.5%) men provide unpaid care on a full-time basis, compared to 606 million (21.7%) women. So, addressing family support policies is an important transformational first step, as women often have greater responsibilities and workloads in their private lives. To promote true gender equity, the concept of a work-life symphony needs to be embraced, and flexible policies provided that adapt to the ups and downs of life. Employers could take a more balanced approach by implementing proactive measures to support both male and female employees as their responsibilities with family ebb and flow. Businesses can help them progress in their careers or re-accelerate their progress if they choose a more balanced approach.
Beyond this important deliberate first step to retain women to provide a viable pipeline for senior leadership, there are a number of additional steps organizations can take to help get us closer to the gender equity targets for 2030 in sustainable development goals (SDGs). Below are some ideas.
Blind CV Applications: Unveiling Hidden Potential
One approach to promoting gender equality in hiring is to introduce blind resume applications. This strategy removes personally identifiable information, such as gender, from resumes before they are reviewed by recruiters. Employing this technique through blind auditions by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra yielded more gender balance in new recruits. CV blinding was one of the key recommendations of the 2016 Bridge Report, which outlined ways to improve equality and diversity in the UK public sector.
Zero Tolerance for Sexism and Sexual Harassment: Fostering a Culture of Respect
About half of all women become victims of sexual harassment at some point in their work lives, and research documents wide-ranging negative consequences for physical and mental health. The #MeToo movement brought this urgent problem to the forefront of modern-day women’s movement. Across 28 European Union States, 75% of women in senior management have experienced sexual harassment at work. Women aged 18 to 39 were most at risk. As sexual harassment primarily affects women, it may exacerbate other workplace gender inequalities which hold women back or lead them to leave the labor market altogether.
Research has estimated just how detrimental sexual harassment is to a firm’s value: from 2011 to 2017, annual shareholder value loss reached between $0.9 to $2.2 billion for harassment-prone firms, mainly as a result of sharp declines in operating profitability and increases in labor costs. It can therefore be inferred that organizations with robust policies against sexual harassment experience higher levels of gender equality and thus profitability.
Creating a safe and inclusive environment is pivotal in addressing gender disparities. Businesses should adopt a zero tolerance policy for sexism and sexual harassment.
Salary Offers Based on Job, Not Previous Position: Closing the Gender Pay Gap
Based on annual gender pay gap reports, women consistently earn less. To rectify the gender pay gap, businesses should base salary offers on the job requirements and market value rather than previous positions or salary history and practices. Transparent pay practices are key, as highlighted by Hired in 2018, when the online recruitment platform provided median salaries for jobs advertised based on data from its users. The result? women asked for more, and men asked for less, leading to a narrowing of the ask gap. The ask gap is important because the difference in salary compounds over time; the percentage of raises is usually based on the base salary. Some researchers have estimated that a difference of $1,000 (£700) in starting salary could lead to a cumulative loss of a half-million dollars (£353k).
Salesforce, a global technology company, serves as a case in point. Their commitment to pay equity is exemplified by annual pay audits. The 2022 audit found 8.5% of global employees required adjustments. Of those, 92% were based on gender globally, and 8% were based on race or ethnicity in the U.S. $5.6 million was spent to address any unexplained differences in pay, bringing the total to more than $22 million spent since 2015.
Fostering a Culture of Safe Communication: Amplifying Voices
In addressing gender disparity in organisations, open dialogue and safe communication are crucial, along with a high degree of trust for senior management. Leaders must nurture a culture where employees feel comfortable discussing gender equality openly. Companies with higher levels of gender diversity and with HR policies and practices that focus on gender diversity are linked to lower levels of employee turnover. Microsoft, for instance, established a company-wide “Diversity & Inclusion Discussion Day,” fostering conversations around gender equality and driving increased awareness, leading to the development of new initiatives.
Diverse and Inclusive Boards: A Catalyst for Progress
Representation at the highest levels of leadership is pivotal in promoting gender parity. Research by McKinsey & Company (2020) demonstrates a positive correlation between gender-diverse boards and financial performance. Several studies have shown that adding women to a boardroom shifts the culture and practices to positively benefit company performance such as:
- Improve investment efficiency and prevent risky over-investment decisions.
- Increased engagement among board members, including behavior like requesting additional information or updates on subjects being discussed and acting on specific tasks after board meetings.
- Fewer financial reporting mistakes and controversial business practices, such as fraud and earnings manipulation.
- Investment in higher quality audits.
By implementing these initiatives and continuously striving for gender parity, businesses can create a more equitable and inclusive workplace, nurturing the talents and potential of all employees.
Conclusion
In concluding this 4 part series, gender inequalities are both personal and interpersonal. In addition, they are also organizational and structural in nature. They are ingrained in national and workplace frameworks, processes, and cultures: labor divisions, decision-making, and unofficial expectations and norms. Therefore, in order to achieve gender parity, significant effort is required by individuals (of both genders), organizations and governments. According to the Global Gender Gap Report of 2022, closing the gap will take another 132 years, this representing an increase as a result of the COVID 19 pandemic.
The cost of allowing gender inequality to continue is high. If every country increased gender parity, the global economy would gain $12 trillion in wealth, and true gender parity would increase global GDP by up to $28 trillion.
Contrary to popular belief, gender parity is not a zero sum game and there are huge advantages for men too. The journey to gender parity will benefit men in many aspects including their physical wellbeing, mental health, work flexibility, and freedom of expressing their identity and pursing their career of choice.
READ THE OTHER ARTICLES IN THIS SERIES:
Part 1: “We’re Still 132 Years From Reaching Gender Equity”
Part 2: “How Closing the Gender Gap Could Add $12 Trillion to the GDP”
