An equal treatment at work place, irrespective of gender, refers to gender equality or gender egalitarianism. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a declaration of United Nations is eager to create parity in government activities and equal pay structure for equal work. This condition is attainable only when people get equal opportunities, remuneration, appreciation and resources regardless of being a male or a female employee in a workplace. Equal outcome is the main intention of gender equality in workplace. This signifies:
- Equal compensation for men and women for work of equal value.
- Engaging more women folks in places of work.
- Accessibility to all types works, including administrative positions.
Gender equality affects the crux of a business and the output of a nation to a great extent. Consider the benefits of gender equality in a workplace:
If we want to attract workforce with a higher aptitude, gender equality is a must. We need to make the working environment conducive for women and stop losing on talented women employees. As per the recent global statistics published in Yale Global, women have outperformed men in achieving higher degrees by a ratio of 93:100 which was 160:100 women in 1970.
It’s believed that top level management with diversity does well. A gender equality firm is a better performer any time as both are correlated to each other. With diversity, companies get varied aspects of an issue allowing a healthy discussion and analysis, and results in better efforts at taking decisions to solve crises.
For a nation, gender equality helps in economic prosperity and an increased productivity. As per the World Economic Forum, contesting ability and effective utilization of female talent of a country are strongly related to each other. In the current scenario, most professions are equally open to men and women. However studies show that women are less expected to get a sponsor to climb a corporate ladder. A high rank official helping an employee to accelerate his or her career is better known as sponsorship. An employee with sponsorship grows 23% more likely in his career. So in order to reduce the gap between men and women employees in the workforce, executives in top brackets should come forward, identify talents and sponsor employees to fast-track their careers, irrespective of gender bias.
Let’s have a look on what women employees have to say. In random surveys women employees have expressed that their proposals are not given due importance. Also, chivalrous gestures at workplace, opening a door, paying a lunch bill is backfiring gender equality to some extent. Men feel that by being nice and sober they’ve included women to their circle. These chivalrous displays are neither wanted nor appreciated in an equal opportunity working environment.
Women whose professional contribution has remained unheard, prefers to stay silent. A dynamic unbiased management with ongoing analysis of employee performance is the prerequisite of an equal opportunity employer. A routine survey with employees regarding proper addressal of gender discrimination can bring major changes. A closer look at the graph of the development of your employees, both at the individual and organizational level can make a company a preferred employer.
As an employer, we need to be spontaneous about gender and intolerant towards diversity issues in the workplace. Often it needs professional intervention and psychoanalysis. Strong managerial vigilance in a company can establish gender equality. We can get the best of our resources by creating a balanced work atmosphere.
Most corporates have their set of rules for yearly appraisals based on individual performances of the employees as a yardstick to measure performance. Sheryl Sandberg in her book ‘’Lean In’’ rightly mentions that a congenial work atmosphere should be adjustable for both men and women. Equilibrium in workplace helps employees to adjust their work and other social commitments in a better way. As far as education is concerned, women have already outnumbered men in the US. In 2012, 60% of the postgraduates and 52% of doctorates were women in the country. So attainment shouldn’t be a concern anymore. Had childcare and domestic chores been equally distributed among men and women, climbing the corporate ladder would have been easier to women. In the Australian perspective, participation of women employees by 6% has the possibility to contribute $25 billion annually to the Australian economy. That says a lot about the repercussions of under-utilization of almost half of our population due to gender bias.
In the US, gender wage gap hasn’t been narrowed for long. In 2010, women earned 77 cents to 1 dollar of what men earned on an average. Babysitting and domestic help in US is pretty expensive in comparison to Europe and Asia.
Most of us are likely to typecast. To render societal growth, we all should look ahead of stereotypes. We should focus on individual contributions, irrespective of gender in a workplace, society and relationships as well. Bringing men into an unbiased conversation on women’s issues is a vital step toward gender equality. An evenhanded participation and willingness on the part of men to talk and discuss can create subsequent changes.
