We try to convince ourselves we have achieved gender equality in all phases of life. However, that is idealistic and naive thinking and we need first to accept the reality that we are not yet there. From pay gaps to undermining women’s skills and biased hiring processes, workplace harassment and inflexible policies, the gender gap just keeps widening.
Talking to business leaders, we asked them to share the best ways to improve gender equality from their experience.
- Promote More Women In Leadership Positions
“One sure way to improve gender equality at work is to put more women in leadership positions. When employees see there are equal numbers of women in managerial positions at work, they’ll be more motivated and engaged at work to give their best to do their job and work their way up.
Emily David, CEO, Mumeemagic
“Some studies say that the biggest workforce today, Millennials, like to work within a workplace that has a purpose, meaning, and a cause. Knowing that their work is appreciated regardless of their gender will help workers be at their prime throughout the workday.” (Branka Vuleta)
- Be Flexible
“The world is not an equal place, even in the 21st century. And the situation with the pandemic proved to us that. We can see that a lot of working mothers struggled or had to leave work to care for their children. Furthermore, it’s known that women often suffer discrimination after they get children – they get fewer raises, they’re given less challenging tasks, etc. since some employers falsely believe they don’t count their job as the highest priority.”
Justin Nabity , Owner, Wellpcb
“Building a more flexible workplace will allow working mothers and fathers to tune their outside of work chores with their work and come productive, happy, and motivated – without thinking whether they’ll manage to do everything they have to in a day.”
Branka Vuleta, Founder of LegalJobs.io
- Review Your Hiring Process and Employee Structure
“To promote equality among genders, you need to start by taking a look at your hiring process and employee structure. This includes diversity training for everyone on staff so that they understand the benefits of equality in the workplace and what not to do when working with co-workers who have different backgrounds than their own.” (Megha Gadke)
- Implement Flexible Work Hours
“Another way of promoting equality in the workplace would be, for example, implementing flexible work hours and even job sharing so that both men and women have equal opportunities for advancement without sacrificing their personal lives.” (Megha Gadke)
- Onsite Daycare Facilities
“You can also offer onsite daycare or subsidized childcare services if your company has a large enough staff working together every day throughout the week.” (Megha Gadke)
- Provide Equal Opportunities for Advancement
“It is also essential to provide equal opportunities for advancement so that both genders are equally represented in leadership roles. The more people you have working together, the less likely it will be that anyone feels singled out or left behind because of their gender.”
Megha Gadke, Founder at KetoConnect
- Eliminate Biases
“Men and women tend to cluster in different groups of jobs traditionally. Home repair jobs are dominated by men, while nursing jobs are dominated by women. Home repair jobs are often filled with men, so women are not expected to take the same jobs. There is also gender bias and favoritism so that men are 30% more likely to be considered than women during the recruitment process. It is possible to limit these biases, for example:
“You should train your people on unconscious bias – education and awareness will help them understand the biases and avoid them. In a job description, company documentation, etc., use gender-neutral language. It’s time to stop stereotyping – men, women, and other genders should all be welcomed in any industry.” (Jack Miles)
- Equal Pay For Equal Work
“Many factors contribute to the gender pay gap, including discrimination. We, as an organization, have the power and control to eliminate this problem. All employees should have the same opportunity and compensation for the same job. We can only cultivate a fair organizational culture this way.”
Charles Larosa, CEO, Prepared Cooks
- Do Not Focus On The Person, But On The Results
“In order for women to be taken seriously, they must deliver much more than men. This is a reality that happens all the time without us being aware of it. This is not how it should be. The target achieved should take precedence over who achieved it. We do not neglect to give credit to those who deliver the results. This means, however, that we need to credit the achievers equally regardless of their gender, since, at the end of the day, what matters is that the delivered results benefit the entire organization.”
Jack Miles, Owner Sarasota Mold Pros
- Increase Diversity in Hiring
“Our company incorporates diverse hiring practices to eliminate bias in the hiring process and create the most well-rounded team. Having a team that consists of members of all genders, generations, ethnicities, etc. is not only important, but it creates a stronger team. Different viewpoints and opinions lead to better decision making and overall company success.” (Andre Kazimierski)
- Educate The Employees
“Our company also works to educate our employees on the importance of diversity. It is a part of our company values and we frequently have training about the topic. Our management team also continuously encourages open communication with employees, so if any workers ever witness or experience inequality of any kind, they are encouraged to make it known to us and we will fix it and come to a solution.”
Andre Kazimierski, CEO Improovy
- Train Employees on Matters Regarding Gender Equality
“At our company, we have held a series of trainings for all employees regarding gender equality: sexual harassment, proper conduct, discrimination in and outside the workplace, etc. Within these training sessions, which were mandatory for all employees to attend, we rigorously trained our employees to detect and eliminate subtle behaviors that could lead to gender inequality at work, such as the way that they addressed women.” (Marilyn Gaskell)
- Reinforce the Company’s Stance on Gender Equality
“Another thing that we did was to make it clear to all employees that the company was a strict believer in gender equality and that we did not subscribe to any gender wage gap or discrimination against female employees. We were very transparent about our internal hiring processes and succession planning to show that we considered all employees equally, regardless of their gender.”
Marilyn Gaskell, Founder of TruePeopleSearch
