Though workplace culture has come a long way in terms of supporting and hiring women, there is still far more work that needs to be done. Whether that work is addressing the pay gap between men and women or taking a zero tolerance policy to harassment, businesses need to get serious about gender disparities in the workplace if they hope to truly create a positive and empowering company culture.
Empowering Women in the Workplace
Many business owners understand the need for reform within the workplace when it comes to addressing issues that affect women, but most don’t understand how to bring this change about. Hoping to make the workplace a place that celebrates working women? Read on for three ways organizations can bring this shift to their offices.
1. Companies Must Set Targets for Taking on Diversity
Organizations that are serious about making the workplace more inclusive for women should start by setting goals for workplace reform. These target goals can take the form of hiring a specific number of women within a period of time, regularly promoting women to management positions, and hosting training sessions to educate their staff on workplace diversity.
2. Organizations Need to be Transparent About Diversity Statistics
Following setting goals for diversity, companies need to be open about sharing their current diversity statistics. Most companies shy away from revealing these statistics, simply because they are aware of the disparity regarding the rates of promotion, salary, and general statistics of employment between male and female employees.
However, being transparent about this information is an important step when trying to fix the larger problem of leveling the field in the workplace.
3. Companies Need to Acknowledge The Different Workplace Experiences that Men and Women Have
It’s a fact that men and women have vastly different experiences in the workplace. From the types of jobs they pick to their performance on the job, men and women live very different professional lives. While much of this difference is attributed to societal and cultural perceptions, workplace discrimination can also play a major role in complicating the work lives of women. Companies that acknowledge this are able to make a conscious effort to bring balance to their workplace.
Celebrating women in the workplace starts by recognizing the discrimination that many working women face. In order to give women the working culture they need, organizations must be dedicated to bringing gender parity to their companies.