Facing the Gender Gap in the Workplace : wealthstatista.com

There is still a great deal of work to be done to bridge the gender gap despite greater attention and debates around the injustices women experience in the workplace.

Incorporated America has made significant strides in increasing women’s representation over the last few years, particularly since the onset of the epidemic, but there is still room for improvement, according to a McKinsey research on women in the workplace. Women of colour are the most underrepresented category overall, behind white men, men of colour, and white women, according to the data, which demonstrates that women are underrepresented at every level. The research found that attrition rates or a lack of education are not to blame for the underrepresentation of women in high-level positions.

Kanarys Inc., a platform that collects and analyses cultural and demographic data to assist employers in creating more inclusive work environments, was founded by Mandy Price and she now serves as its CEO. She observes the injustice and lack of action that still plague society today at Kanarys. According to Price, the existing gender imbalance ought to act as a wake-up call for our corporate leaders.

“It is troubling to see that there is still a lack of progress in bridging the gender gap,” Price told Business News Daily. “The business community is fully aware of the advantages of a diverse workforce, such as creativity, employee retention, and improved financial returns.

The current gender gap in the workplace

The McKinsey report demonstrates the inequality between men and women in the workplace, despite the fact that there has been some increase in women’s representation over the previous several years. Even if they now acquire more bachelor’s degrees and have the same attrition rate as men, it is discovered that women are less likely to get employed for entry-level positions than males. The discrepancy widens as people climb the corporate ladder. Only 86 women are promoted to manager position for every 100 males.

Less qualified women may be promoted from within since there aren’t enough women hired at entry-level positions. The McKinsey research predicted that this would lead to a vicious cycle that would persist unless businesses took serious steps to promote gender equality.

Although businesses have long expressed a commitment to gender diversity, Price emphasised that only deliberate and active efforts on the part of employers to increase the number of women at all levels of the workforce can contribute to closing the gender gap.

Equal Pay Day

Equal Pay Day serves as a reminder of how much longer women must work in a given year in order to earn the same amount of money as men earned the year before. Women usually make 84 cents on every dollar earned by males, so they would have to work 42 more days to make the same amount of money. The pay disparity for women of race is often substantially worse.

The National Committee on Pay Equity established Equal Pay Day in 1966 as a way to raise awareness of the pay disparity between men and women. On Equal Pay Day, employees are urged to wear red to show their support for the cause. This hue serves as a reminder of just how poorly paid women are.

How to create gender equality in the workplace

Aside from legal improvements, businesses might concentrate on organisational and cultural changes to lessen gender imbalance. Even if this is a good beginning, merely hiring more women is insufficient. Since diversity does not by itself provide inclusive workplaces, businesses must seek to reduce the gender gap and make their workplaces genuinely diverse.

1. Focus on diversity during your recruitment process.

Your hiring procedure is the first step in achieving gender equality in the workplace. By writing inclusive and accurate job descriptions, identifying a pipeline of candidates with a variety of gender identities, and performing fair interviews, work toward building a diverse and equitable workplace. Make sure your recruiting procedure is devoid of internal prejudice. Every level of seniority should implement these procedures, but executive positions need them most.

Men presently occupy around 60% of management roles, according to McKinsey estimates, whereas women only hold 40% of such positions. With each level of the corporate ladder that is climbed, the representational imbalance widens. For instance, barely 1 in 4 executives in the C-suite are women, and less than 1 in 25 of them are women of colour. Businesses may promote gender equality by recruiting more female employees at high levels.

2. Create fair compensation and promotion procedures.

Create a clear, fair, and equitable employee remuneration plan. Provide equal compensation for equal labour to all of your workers, regardless of gender. One of the clearest and simplest methods to promote gender equality at work is to do this. Offering fair and competitive compensation is another excellent strategy to draw in and keep top personnel. Businesses should also prioritise internal promotions of talented women. Establish uniform assessment and promotion processes to help deserving women advance their careers. While this may help close the gender pay gap currently in place, everyone benefits from open assessment and promotion processes, not only women and underrepresented groups.

3. Offer flexible and supportive employee benefits.

According to the McKinsey survey, one of the biggest pressures now affecting women at work is employee burnout. Women are more likely than males to experience burnout, stress, and tiredness as a result of the epidemic. In addition, 1 in 3 women indicated they thought about quitting the profession or downsizing their employment.

Offering comprehensive benefits and more possibilities for a better work-life balance, such as improved access to child care and more acceptance of flexible work arrangements, are two ways that businesses may minimise stress (remote work, hybrid work and flexible scheduling). This may lessen female burnout and enable capable moms to take on additional responsibility in the workplace.

4. Create a diversity and inclusion training program.

Teach your staff the appropriate behaviour for the workplace. To address any biases and prejudices inside your firm, require your staff to participate in a diversity training programme designed specifically for your company. This may also inspire your staff to take allyship awareness and turn it into action.

5. Hold managers accountable.

According to Price, companies must become assertive about gender diversity and treat it as an integral part of their business strategies. She suggested tying supervisors’ bonuses to diversity and inclusion objectives.

“It is important for companies to track, measure, and hold managers accountable for diversity and inclusion efforts,” Price said. “If this important business metric is not tracked, we may never see any improvement.”

6. Build an inclusive company culture.

Companies must develop a culture where workers feel a feeling of welcome and belonging if they want to close the gap. To boost inclusiveness and improve the experience and engagement of their employees, they should concentrate on enhancing company cultures. In addition to promoting gender equality, Price said that doing so may encourage innovation, retain key employees, and lower attrition rates.

Working with other women might be advantageous for women. One in five women claimed they were often the lone woman or one of the only women in the room at work, according to McKinsey. Women in technical jobs and senior positions experienced this twice as often. Women who work alone often have a poorer experience than women who collaborate with other women, and around 80% of “onlys” face microaggressions—intentional or inadvertent slights and insults that convey hostility, denigration, or unfavourable biassed attitudes.

7. Pay attention to political changes.

There are now federal and state legislation designed to close the gender gap and provide men and women equal opportunity. For instance, discrimination in pay based on sex is prohibited under the Equal Pay Act of 1963. However, keep an eye out for any prospective legislative changes that emerge as we come closer to a world with gender equality in the workplace.

How companies benefit from bridging the gender gap

According to the CNBC and SurveyMonkey Workforce Survey, over 80% of respondents think diversity and inclusion are crucial for a productive workplace. However, about 25% of employees feel their employer is not doing enough to address these issues.

Employees like to work in settings where they are treated fairly and with respect. To close the gender gap, a focus on diversity, equality, and inclusion may be essential for attracting and keeping top talent.

Greater employee engagement is fostered by a varied and inclusive workforce, which may boost revenue and market share. Employees that are engaged often feel more energised and connected to their company, and they are frequently eager to go above and beyond to optimise production. High employee engagement is also associated with improved retention rates, which reduces the need for new hire compensation.

Innovation thrives when you provide your staff a welcoming, fair platform to express their creativity. An inclusive workplace culture that gives all voices an equal chance to be heard is wonderful for developing fresh solutions since a varied workforce brings a unique set of thoughts and viewpoints to the table. Being inclusive and varied are crucial in this.