Women have accomplished a lot for themselves in recent years. From smaller and niche accounting firms to big names, women are contributing their part and imprinting their presence in every stratum.
In the current digital era, companies are embracing technology with an open mind and with that there can be seen a sporadic increment in the role and involvement of women. The female workforce is rising in numbers and breaking the defined barriers of premonition and societal constraints.
Women are commonly seen in ranks ranging from clerical to managerial, but there seems to be a steep downhill in the number of women chair holders when the executive and senior posts are concerned. According to the recently published, 2019 Fortune 500 list, women constitute a meager of 6.6% when it comes to CEO roles. Similarly, data published by the Financial Times, states that women hardly reach up to 5% mark of Chief Executive Roles in all of the US, the UK, and Europe. Such a low presence of a defined gender that forms a major part of the workforce, seems like an uneven distribution of opportunities.
The top-tier is still consumed by male predominance. This phenomenon is also known as “think-leader-think-male”. But it’s high time, that we lay it obsolete, as it is one of the serious barriers in women’s advancement in leadership roles.
So, now the question arises, how exactly can you bring about a change in the current situation? We have mentioned the top 3 ways that will help you make your company pro-female and increase the involvement of the female employees that you already have.
Frame an Action Plan
It is recommended to roll out a strategy to define a particular plan, to address the intricacies of gender-related issues. To help you understand this better, we have a hypothetical scenario played here portraying a very common problem, faced by female employees, especially by young women.
Let’s take our character, Alina, she is employed in a MNC, is a very talented employee budding with ideas, but she hesitates to present her ideas and herself in meetings and official gatherings. Here we have got a problem, now your organization needs to make plans to overcome this problem. To get a common understanding of this case, you can refer to the following solution, suggested by our experts.
Here, to hone her leadership qualities and her confidence, seniors should encourage her to actively take part in the meetings, should extend one-on-one talks to make her feel comfortable and encourage her to come in the official gathering. The organization can also run various programs to encourage women’s involvement and to increase their confidence level.
Create an Equal Opportunity Environment
An organization should strive to promote the policy of equal opportunity to all employees. Business organizations should consider to actively come-up with adequate solutions that can monitor the incidents of gender inequality on the floor.
At the country level, entrepreneurs can leverage the Labor and Employment Act and Civil Rights Act of 1964 that prohibits discrimination of any kind, whether it is based on color, sex, race, religion, or national origin. However, on the ground level, we still have a long way to go. Incidences of inequality are not new, particularly in lesser developed countries.
Fair opportunity is essential from the point of view of every individual and organization. Develop rules and regulations, create transparent collaborative culture for the organization to ensure equality in the organization.
Talk, Encourage, and Provide Value
To empower women and encourage them to climb up the corporate ladder, it is of supreme importance to educate and provide them sensitivity training. It involves training the employees to follow strong ethics to maintain an environment that is free of any gender imparity. Providing diversity training and hiring professionals to educate employees on the importance of expressing themselves will help females to showcase their capabilities without feeling anxious
One of the most famous examples of how firms can have an unbiased hiring process is Pinterest. The firm adopted ‘The Rooney Rule’ while hiring a candidate for managerial posts. According to the rule, while hiring a candidate for a senior managerial level, it is compulsory for the company to interview at least one woman and one candidate from an underrepresented background. A great way to ensure that every deserving candidate gets a fair chance, irrespective of who they are and where they come from.
The organization can also extend educational opportunities for women to educate them and build their confidence. Conduct industry events, organize talk shows, provide new opportunities to women.
To Wrap It All Up
Having a diversified work culture helps to bring out-of-the-box ideas and increases creativity and innovation. It helps to attract and retain the best talent in the organization and boosts work-ethics as well. On the other hand, merely making rules but not following them yields no positive productivity. Change does not happen overnight, but if implemented and followed diligently will help an organization to come-up as a role model for other companies.