Gender equality has plagued the workplace for years, and while there have been massive strides in improvement, we can do more to bring about equality in the workplace. As a business, looking into gender equality helps with productivity, inclusion, and the engagement of your employees. It’s also a way to get ahead of your competition, tapping into the benefits it brings to the workplace. This article will explore what gender equality is, its benefits, and how to promote gender equality in the workplace.
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What is Gender Equality?
Regarding gender in the workplace, gender equality means employees of any gender have equal access to the same opportunity, compensation, rewards, training, and resources needed to succeed in their role. All genders should have equal rights to being compensated the same salary for the same jobs, equal consideration for promotions, and career progression. All genders should also have equal rights regarding review for their needs.
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Builds a Good Reputation
Most Gen Z job seekers prefer to work for a company that promotes diversity, equality, and inclusiveness. Meaning it’s easier for companies that take their DEI (Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion) seriously to attract talents that support this modern-day move. Employing such people also allows you to reap the benefits of working with people of like minds, moving towards the same gender equality goal.
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Improves Company Culture
Research shows that men are more outspoken and confident when compared to women in the workplace. Companies that pay attention to gender equality will note such research and give women the opportunity and environment to speak up, building their confidence and improving performance. A culture that encourages all genders to voice their opinions and ideas seeks to get the best from everyone.
Building this culture can also see any gender representative recognizes their strengths and weakness in the workplace, improving productivity.
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Improves Creativity and Innovation
Since creativity and innovation do not belong to any specific gender, an environment that values its employees based on their skills and contributions will perform better because of equal opportunities given to everyone. Creativity and innovation in business differentiate the best from the rest. And a gender equality environment encourages both genders to learn from each other–improving the company.
Components of Gender Inequality in the Workplace
Both men and women experience gender inequality in the workplace, but women experience more of these inequalities. This section highlights the different ways in which women face inequality in the workplace.
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Pay
The inequality in pay is that women make less than their male counterparts in the same role. Studies by the World Economic Forum, which conducted research in 149 nations, found that the pay gap between men and women is 50%. While including less progressive countries negatively affected the result, it doesn’t change the inequality pay gap in more progressive countries. In the United States, a woman earns 82 cents for every dollar paid to a man. Companies pay women less even if they have similar experience and qualifications and hold the same position.
Source: Statista.com | Improvements have been made over the years, but more can still be done.
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Hiring
When recruiting, there is a higher probability for them to pick men over women. There are several reasons this happens, but some of the more prominent reasons are:
- A male-dominated industry.
- Men are more likely to apply if they meet 60% of the job requirements, while most women apply when they meet all the requirements.
- The unconscious gender bias plays into the head of the recruiter.
How to Promote Gender Equality in the Workplace
Here are a few key ideas that you should look at. We’ve organized them with bullet points so you can get started quickly.
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Reassess the Recruitment Process
It all starts with how the companies word their job description. Using gender-friendly pronouns and wordings has been shown to affect how men and women view job vacancies. Using a “He” pronoun can show that the job belongs to the male gender even if that isn’t the intention.
Languages like “assertive” and “dominant” may also attract more male candidates to apply. If you are struggling with what type of wording to use, there are software applications like this online that can help you write a gender-inclusive job vacancy post.
The Recruitment team should also look out for the male to female ratio in their organization, and this helps them prioritize women if they want to hire more women in the company. This method is helpful in male-dominated industries like tech, where the average male to female ratio is 80:20.
The recruitment team should also ensure to hire based on standardized assessments that test the skills and ability of the prospects to reduce gender bias. This process should also follow when asking questions.
A set of standardized questions, regardless of gender, should be provided to avoid asking gender bias questions in interviews. Asking questions like “Do you intend to get pregnant soon?” is perceived as being gender-biased.
There should also be a diverse and gender-rich recruitment team so they can bring their point of view, experience, and opinions during the recruitment process.
Finally, when writing shortlisted candidates, make your list longer than intended. In a study by Harvard Business Review, they discovered when recruiters make the shortlist of candidates longer by three names, the women to men ratio increases from 1:6 to 1:4.
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Revise Pay Transparency
Men are more assertive and demanding when negotiating their salaries, meaning women tend to lose out when negotiating their pay in the workplace. One good way of remedying this is by being transparent about the salary by including pay brackets in the job description.
Companies can also carry out a pay audit for existing employees to determine the pay gap between men and women. Companies can outsource the exercise to experts who can also help with viable solutions.
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Put Rules and Regulations in Place to Support Gender Equality
There are laws in various countries and states that address gender equality and protect women’s rights in the workplace. But for a company that wants to promote gender equality, there also should be in-house rules to help guide, monitor, prevent and punish undesirable behavior of the employees.
Having rules in place makes it easier to police and sends the message of management seriousness and support regarding equality. Rules and their enforcement also ensure that gender equality isn’t only about words but actions.
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Make Work-Life Balance a Priority
Raising a family requires the attention of both parents, and companies who want to promote gender equality should seek to offer their employees more favorable working options. The pandemic has pushed many companies to provide temporary remote choices, but companies can do more. Zurich, an insurance company, saw a 16% increase in women applying because they added the availability of flexible, part-time, or job share options to their job descriptions. The company stated they recognized not everyone had the time to work a full-time job because of other pressing responsibilities. Another effective plan is to provide maternal leave for parents to spend more time with their families.
Conclusion
There is progress in the gender equality battle compared to the 70s and 80s, and more progress will follow. Today, companies are better equipped and informed on the benefits of gender diversity in the workplace and continue to go in that direction.
