James Brown undoubtedly created one of the soul masterpieces; however, its message is pretty questionable. This isn’t “a man’s world” anymore, and our society had to challenge gender stereotypes and shift to a more flexible and open-minded way of thinking. More and more women are taking upper management positions and handling their duties as successfully as their male counterparts. Unfortunately, some spheres remain pretty conservative and stick to gender-based stigmas even at the stage of the recruitment process. Let’s take technical jobs. Initially considered as “male occupations”, the sphere gradually becomes inclusive and strives for gender balance. Still, women are underrepresented in technical roles, which proves the stats from the “Women in the workplace 2022” report by McKinsey and LeanIn.Org: 32% of women in technical and engineering roles are often the only female representative in the room. Furthermore, 20% of Black women who have gotten promoted to leadership positions face comments that question their qualifications. This is the reality we have now, not to mention the obstacles that non-binary people have to deal with. So, in our article, we’ll investigate why promoting gender equality is so important and what can be done to create inclusive workplaces.
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Gender-diverse companies are the ones that initiate and encourage equal representation of male employees, female employees, and non-binary employees. Moreover, they provide equal opportunities regardless of people’s gender identification and sexual orientation, ensure fair promotion practices, and eliminate any possibility of microaggression manifestations. In an equitable work environment, employees of different gender who take the same positions should be paid equally. Corporate culture includes policies that don’t accept prejudice, even unconscious bias, because an inclusive workplace promotes safe interaction within their teams. The entire idea of gender-inclusive culture is eliminating the notion of “gender” and focusing on creating a diverse talent pool where every individual is appreciated for their skills and talents in the first place. It will create a productive working environment and improve employee performance and turn a company into a place where people will be willing to come back and contribute their energy.
To develop the idea we presented in the previous paragraph, we’ve prepared a more detailed list of what a company may gain if they implement the gender diversity approach in the Workplace. So, keep on reading to find out how exactly greater gender diversity may turn your company into a better place.
Creativity and innovation skyrocket when people with different life experiences, outlooks, and world perceptions cooperate to solve the same problem. Learn more about the research in the article “How Diversity Can Drive Innovation” by Sylvia Ann Hewlett, Melinda Marshall, and Laura Sherbin.
If employees are content at work, customer service is bound to improve as well. Kindness, understanding, and sympathy work wonders even with the fussiest customers. And it’s not about sucking up; it’s about motivation to come up with non-standard solutions to satisfy both parties.
This point is the logical consequence of the previous one. Higher satisfaction levels among customers lead to better reviews, word-of-mouth recommendations, and increased customer loyalty. Financial performance improves drastically.
If employees are contented with their workplace, why would they quit? Luckily, some employers realize that keeping their staff happy is exceptionally beneficial. First, a company gains due to saving the time and money spent on recruitment and training a new employee. Second, their reputation grows, and the company becomes more attractive for top specialists who have different gender identities. A vast talent pool is always a trump card.
People who support any diversity, including gender diversity, tend to be open-minded, empathetic, and flexible. The more people with such qualities work in a company, the fewer conflicts between them. Due to their high emotional intelligence, they are able to communicate effectively, not destructively. It creates enhanced collaboration, team processes go more smoothly, and there are more positive outcomes in terms of reaching business goals.
Inclusive workplaces tend to have high levels of engagement and productivity because their management succeeds in helping employees feel valued, respected, and appreciated regardless of their individual characteristics. They enforce job safety standards and expect all their team members to be respectful and polite to each other. This makes the Workplace safe and helps people focus on their work instead of constantly being in survival mode because of the hostile work environment.
The research “When Gender Diversity Makes Firms More Productive“, conducted by Stephen Turban, Dan Wu, and Letian (LT) Zhang and based on 1,069 leading firms across 35 countries and 24 industries, states that diversity in the workplace contributes to a company’s prosperity only if it is normatively accepted. It means all team members truly believe that gender diversity makes sense. To achieve it, management has to implement changes in their working processes. Here they are:
Gender diversity, as well as any other one like age or racial diversity, has been the reason for biased and prejudiced behaviors in the Workplace for ages. These behaviors, even if they are unconscious, create a toxic working environment. To avoid this, ensure that all your employees genuinely accept any kind of diversity and if there are people who don’t, it might be better to say your goodbyes to each other.
Find out if your firm has an equal balance of female and male workers. If no, investigate why one gender prevails over the others and think if this gender gap makes sense for your business. You may well benefit more from a diverse workforce. For instance, companies warranting fair representation tend to appeal more to top candidates. In a recent survey of 1,000 respondents, 67% of jobseekers pay attention to workforce diversity when considering an offer, and top female candidates particularly.
Inclusiveness should be not only theoretical but also practical. All employees, regardless of their skin color, gender identity, or sexual preferences, should be entitled to equal promotion opportunities and paid equally within their positions or qualifications.
To feel safe at work, every employee should feel that they are valued and their concerns will be heard. Create a trustworthy atmosphere so every team member knows that any issues can be discussed sincerely with their boss. By giving such an example as a leader, others will strive to be kind, sympathetic, and empathetic to each other too.
And, of course, everything should be backed on the legal level:
Luckily, we’re slowly but moving from stigmatizing and stereotyping candidates by their gender identity at the interview stage to promoting and encouraging gender diversity in the global workforce. Business leaders have realized that they can only benefit from making their team diverse: more room for creativity and innovation due to different backgrounds, more respect and sympathy within a team, and better customer service and revenue. A diverse workforce is an opportunity to nurture your company’s growth and prosperity, making it more competitive in the market and more appealing to top talents.
