Imagine a scenario where you have a female boss. It will be as simple as having a male boss. It is wonderful to have equal preferences regardless of gender, age, sexual orientation, or anything else. Statistics regarding workplace equality tell another story. Recently, topics like gender equality, women’s empowerment, and equal opportunities for all have created a buzz. Just employing women in your company will not do. You must also help them grow and improve their career. To do that, you must support inclusion and diversity in your workplace. Here, inclusion means giving equal opportunities and resources to all your employees. Whereas diversity means your employees consist of individuals from different backgrounds and perspectives. Combining both of these will help you understand your employees better and support women’s employment in your company. Here are a few ways you can include diversity and inclusion to achieve women’s employment.
Hear every voice
You must be thinking that hearing everyone’s ideas in a meeting is not a big deal. However, it is not the case in many companies, where female employees are not heard at all. You can avoid unintentionally silencing female employees by hearing their ideas. If they are really good, you must appreciate and consider that idea despite gender. This will make your employees feel valued. Motivate female employees by giving them opportunities during meetings. This will help develop their confidence and their career as well. You can conduct seminars by inviting powerful women. This will help your employees respect each other and motivate them. Conduct brainstorming sessions for everyone, despite their gender. This will bring diverse ideas and everyone will feel included in the decision-making process.
Encourage flexible working hours
Employees must strike a balance between their professional and personal lives. You must not judge the work based on the hours spent on the desk; rather, it should be the quality of it. Sitting at a desk from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. does not guarantee high-quality work. If you have this mindset, then it will neither benefit you nor your female employees. As they have other responsibilities, getting extra time will be very beneficial. Not only that, you will get good quality work, which will help improve your business. A study by the International Labor Organization on empowering women in the workplace showed statistics regarding part-time employment. It showed that women’s part-time employment is 38% as compared to men’s, which is 13%, proving that women are the majority of part-time employees. Many businesses are opting for a hybrid model post-pandemic where your employees will come to the office for 2-3 days of the week. The rest of the days, they can work from home. This will help all your employees give equal time to their professional and personal lives.
Equality in pay-cheques
Many companies promote equal pay for their employees regardless of their gender. However, when you see the reality, there is a huge gap between the paychecks. Data by the International Labor Organization shows that the average weekly pay for full-time female employees was £543 in 2020. whereas her male counterparts were £619. When you say that you promote gender equality and women’s empowerment, you must pay all of them equally. Judge the payment based on their work, not on the gender of your employees. If you pay both genders equally, it will promote equal opportunity and your employees will feel valued. It will also increase their productivity and engagement with your company. Do not diversify payment based on gender or other factors. Rather, pay them based on work and experience.
Leadership diversification
According to a report by Catalyst, a non-profit organization that supports women’s empowerment gives statistics about senior female leaders. This report says that only 3.2% of women hold CEO roles in FTSE 250 companies. Like men, women should also get opportunities to climb the corporate ladder and improve their careers. You can do that by appreciating high-achieving women in your company. Also, include them in your discussions and promote them for their hard work. You must encourage women to add new skills that will help them improve. Even allow them to show their skills whenever you can. Hire employees based on their talents and skills, not gender. You must also accept that every woman has a diverse personality. Value these qualities in your employees and include them in decision-making.
Relation between diversity and women’s empowerment
As a leader, you must understand that every individual has a story and you must empower them to tell it. Do not differentiate between your employees based on any factors. Value them, and they will work productively with you. Create an inclusive workplace culture by accepting the diverse views of your employees. Rejoice with them in their accomplishments and assist them in times of need. This will help you promote women’s empowerment and give confidence to your female employees. With gender diversity, you will be one step closer to achieving a diverse and inclusive workplace. By giving equal opportunities to your employees, you will be promoting equality. Working at such a workplace will make employees value you as an employer and give productive results.
