Gender Diversity is a term coined to explain the identical behavior meted out to both the sexes at the workplace. The idea behind this is to add significance to the bottom-most layer of organization with the objective to bring variety in ideas and experiences of individuals. The main objective of Gender diversity is to bridge the gap of an unequal percentage of males and females in the workforce. Organizations have started comprehending the need for a diverse workforce and the need for it in the present changing scenario.
Gender Diversity Trends
In the decade of 2010, statistics suggest that 70 percent of applicants comprised of females. Though the percentage of employed women has increased globally but rewards, reimbursements, and success thereafter did not compensate for the achievements they made. A compiled grievance list of working females across the globe echo almost similar sentiments related to Gender Diversity. Some are listed below.
On comparison of salaries with their male counterparts, females found that they received 80 percent of the males pay packet which matched with countrywide leanings. In the case of promotions, women were not given due acknowledgment and instead, their male counterparts were promoted. There is a common feeling that women cannot succeed beyond a level due to glass ceiling which is an obscure hurdle preventing women from rising above a definite position in the organization. Summarizing the facts, it can be pointed out
1.Women continue to trail men in overall workforce participation and in depiction at the professional through decision-making levels.
2. Current scenario of new hires/endorsements/promotions/retention ratio for females cannot be justified when doing the comparison with male counterparts. It looks like bridging this gap and achieving true gender equality in the current decade is also not possible. It might take the next decade as well to achieve the desired results! .
Impact of Gender Diversity
- Abuse and Mistreatment – Employees having prejudiced ideas at times about people sometimes test before actually going ahead with what they want to do with basic comments or actions. If these deeds of the employees are not addressed, it results in promotion and acceptance of discrimination or mistreatment based on personal qualities in the company culture thereby mushrooming the problem to a higher level.
- Low Morale for an individual or group is caused by stereotyping which in-turn makes or has the potential to turn the entire workplace deadly. Employees facing relentless remarks, disparagements and other negative results from casting tend to lose motivation, thus losing interest in executing their daily jobs.
- Bad Working Relationships – Preconceived notions prevent an employee from offering help or asking for help from an individual. For instance, a man may not ask a woman in his team for assistance because he assumes that she will not be able to understand tasks and its concepts properly being a female.
- Legal Tension can be created within the organization if acceptance and allowance of typecasts and its subsequent behaviors are promoted. There is a probability that victim offended by discriminatory behavior may take legal action against you.
Solution to Gender Diversity and Actions to Promote Gender Equality
- To promote equality, employees should be provided with life which can possibly include on-site child care facilities for both mothers and fathers working in the company. Human resources department and management personnel should make sure that family leave must be availed by both genders working in the organization.
- A successful woman should be applauded for her contribution to the organization. No measure can compensate for expressing efforts made to promote parity for a woman who is successful at management position or is a rank-and-file employee.
- The ideas to promote gender equality should be widely spread among people on the company website, in newspapers or advertisements to a level that other companies, dealers and the local workforce should get to know determination to put up equality in the workplace, thus becoming an ideal for other businesses.
Optimal solution or Strategies to Endorse Gender Equality
- A policy should be recognized guaranteeing identical reimbursement for men and women for executing the same work. In addition to “equal pay for equal work”, policy should ensure parity in recruitment, training, hiring, and promotion for both the sexes.
- A harsh and detailed policy that bans any form of sexual harassment should be established. The professional penalties as a result of harassment should be discussed in detail either in the policy or in a related human resources procedure. A proper path should be provided to female employees who could directly approach human resources department without fear of any punishment or penalty.
- A policy safeguarding the unbiased approach applying to the company’s employees and to all levels of company management should be recognized. Gender policy has no meaning in the workplace if it is not practiced and tracked by the management religiously. Managers should be strengthened to become a role model without any pre-conceived prejudices.
Best solution to Gender Diversity
Training on Gender Equality needs to be imparted to management personnel in order to sensitize them. Managers should be educated about both the noticeable and delicate discernment taking place in business. They should be taught to recognize discrimination taking place amid team, possible techniques to handle the situation and ways to avert from happening in days to come. Woman Entrepreneurs can follow few tips to script a success story worth living.
Advantages of achieving Gender Equality at Workplace
- Diversity of Thought – Scientifically it is proven that the intellect level differs men from women. Their thought process does not match in perspectives, concepts, and approach to difficulties. This range of opinion serves as an enabler to improved problem cracking which leads to thoughtful decision-making powers and provide enhanced performance.
- Better Stakeholder Representation – A gender-diverse workforce and board ensure that stakeholders, employees, and customers of a company are truly represented helping the company get a more complete picture of its customer base, the market situation and more.
- Competitive Advantage – Trends of the global economy show that it has become fast-paced and the need of the hour is having variety out of box thoughts at all levels, and particularly in senior leadership positions. It can propel organizations to meritoriously handle the always changing fiscal realities.
