A woman makes “only $0.81 for every dollar a man makes”, according to a PayScale report published in early 2020. While numerous activists have been fighting against gender discrimination since 1848, the battle is not over yet. Women are still sexually harassed at work and face inequalities in terms of income and opportunities.
Promoting gender equality in the workplace is not a complicated task. Employers do, however, need to follow specific approaches to empower women in their businesses.
Below, we share some methods that will assist you in encouraging equal rights in your organization.
1. Women Are Natural Leaders
Naturally gifted with soft skills like listening and empathy abilities, women are often more passionate workers, compared to men. They usually prove to be excellent communicators and good at decision-making which makes them successful leaders.
Despite these traits, however, female employees can frequently be underrepresented in leadership and management roles. Companies should be sensitive to this gap and try shattering the glass ceiling in order to promote gender equality. An employer does not need to change the job requirements but rather encourage more women to apply for senior management positions.
2. Transparency Over Salary Secrecy
Even if salary inequality is illegal in many countries, the wage gap in the workplace still prevails. The PayScale report of 2020 suggests that the median income for men is roughly 19% higher than the average salary of women. The statistics also show that a woman who occupies the same position as a man earns 2% less without any particular reasons.
As a continuous culture of pay secrecy is established within businesses, the gender wage gap remains. Therefore, companies are encouraged to support transparency instead of prohibiting employees from talking about their salary.
Another practical approach to eliminate gender inequality at work will be to set up an income range system. It will consist of making sure that anyone performing the same role will be paid equally.
3. End Denial and Coach Managers
Treating women equally is not merely about allowing them to climb the corporate ladder. It is, instead, ensuring that your management team does not deny that gender inequalities can take place in your organization. It is crucial that everyone, including your executives, know how they can prevent it from happening.
If you coach your managers on how they can consider employees equally, regardless of their gender, you will get your leaders to walk the walk as well. And this will be a major step forward in achieving your goal of promoting fairness.
4. Work-Life Balance as a Priority
Finding the right stability between your personal and professional life can be difficult for anyone, yet it is often worse for women. Despite that, these days, men and women are sharing household chores, caring for families and children is still considered as the primary responsibility of the female partner.
In this regard, women face more hurdles to accept higher positions in the workplace. As an employer, it would be beneficial to help them in coping with both their full-time jobs at home and the office. To support gender equality, companies should examine the option of investing in adequate childcare or allowing more working flexibility for women.
5. Implement an Anti-Harassment Policy
In 2017, the American news channel, CNBC, survey reported that one-fifth Americans had experienced sexual harassment in the workplace. However, these cases can easily be overlooked, which will result in perpetuating gender inequalities in the world of work.
Companies should not ignore these activities and take ownership of the issue to ensure that the offender is being punished. As an employer, you can introduce strict policies against sexual intimidation to prevent these offenses from becoming a recurring matter in your organization, consequently showing your support to the gender equality cause.
Do you have any other tip to support women’s empowerment in the workplace? Please leave it in the comments below and be part of the fight for gender equality.