How To Improve Gender Equality In The Workplace

How To Improve Gender Equality In The Workplace – EquiLeap, a leader in corporate gender equality research, recently published its Gender Equality Global Report and Ranking – a report that explores data from 3,702 public companies in 23 developed countries. In the report, companies were ranked in the top 100 against five key pillars and 19 gender equality criteria, including gender balance from board to workforce, pay gap and policies related to parental leave and sexual harassment.

Here, Melina Cruickshank, REA Group Chief Audience and Marketing Officer and CEO, PropTrack, shares three practical equality strategies brands can adopt to drive greater gender diversity in the workplace and outlines the initiatives REA has taken to rank among the Top 50 for Gender. Equality globally.

How To Improve Gender Equality In The Workplace

Despite the best intentions, businesses still face real obstacles to achieving gender equality in the workplace.

Gender Inequality Issues In The Technology Industry

In APAC in particular, we have seen slow progress. And even as businesses begin to recognize the wider benefits of achieving gender equality, such as higher productivity and better financial returns, the problem is often a lack of desire and more of a lack of knowledge.

Sometimes, it can be difficult to know where to start, so here, I’d like to share three lessons REA Group has learned in driving tangible change towards gender equality in the workplace that benefits our business and our people, and contributes more broadly. Our diverse and inclusive culture.

We know that diversity boosts creativity, better efficiency and especially innovation – because it encourages disruptive thinking. We don’t see diversity as something we should do. In fact, we see all aspects of diversity as strategic assets to our business and we constantly work to improve.

We know that if we want to better serve our customers — and communicate with them in a way that resonates — we need to build a workforce that reflects how diverse our customers are. You need people with a wide range of ideas, styles, experiences and lifestyles, and you need to empower them so that everyone has a seat at the table.

Gender Inequality In The Workplace: How To Reduce It

Gender equality is an important aspect of this, especially as the majority of our people are employed in technology-based roles – a traditionally male-dominated industry and a key area in which we have focused on diversification.

REA Group focuses on three areas to help advance gender equality, contributing to shifting the dial on diversity and inclusion more broadly:

The first steps in driving change are knowing where you start, where you want to go, and how you will measure the progress you make. Measurement (and the transparency of this measurement) is key to driving gender equality, which brings the entire business together, working toward the same goal, and holding them accountable for achieving those goals.

We have clear gender-based targets in technology roles, where we aim for 35% female representation across the technology community by the end of FY22, and we disclose this data every year in our annual report published on our website.

How To Promote Gender Equality In The Hybrid Workplace

We make our Diversity and Inclusion Policy publicly available. It helps us send a clear message internally and externally about what we stand for and value as a business.

Benefits that have a disproportionate impact on female employees have historically been ignored by the wider industry. At REA, we focus on making these benefits equal in an effort to close some of the gender equality gaps that exist in society.

For example, our parental leave policy offers 20 weeks of leave at full pay for primary carers, supplemented by an additional six weeks of return-to-work bonus plus six weeks of leave for secondary carers. We also offer REA carers a flexible return to work after parental leave with 75% of agreed working hours but at full pay for the first four weeks.

Second, we know that to build the right work environment for our people, we must first listen to them and understand their needs. This means a bottom-up research approach and an openness to make continuous improvements in our working models.

How To Promote Gender Equality In The Workplace [contributed Blog]

REA has operated in a flexible environment for many years, and following the pandemic, we now operate as a hybrid workplace. Our model is designed by our people, for our people, and is a driver for diversity and greater inclusion. Hybrid work looks a little different for each of our employees, depending on their needs and the needs of their team.

To drive sustainable change, we need to tackle issues at the grassroots level as much as possible. Our “Springboard to Tech” program gives women opportunities in the technology industry that they might otherwise not have access to. We use this program to systematically address issues facing women in technology by focusing on introducing women from non-technical roles to technical roles, leadership development and ongoing mentoring initiatives. In three years, we improved our gender diversity ratio for women in technology roles from 20.4% to 30%.

Sourcing women in senior-level technology roles, in particular, remains a challenge for REA and the industry in general. Our business is expanding and we have many great opportunities for passionate people from all walks of life.

As a business, we work to eliminate unconscious bias at every stage of our recruitment process to ensure we continue to hire for diversity in thought, experiences and backgrounds.

Gender Equality In The Workplace Remains Elusive

Our graduate program is one way we attract top tech talent for REA and because of this, we ensure a 50:50 gender balance in our shortlist, final offers and interview panels.

We have a strong mix of full-time and part-time roles at all levels to meet work-life balance requirements. In my experience, this approach attracts strong talent and results in a high-performing, creative, collaborative and happy team.

Finally, apart from our benefits, we have formal systems in place to ensure our people are recognized for their hard work and commitment to living our values. The monthly peer-nominated awards empower our people to celebrate their peers who truly embrace the company’s values, many of which revolve around diversity and inclusion.

Gender diversity is one aspect of a diverse organization, and inclusion in the workplace doesn’t mean you have to try and do everything at once. Start by taking small steps – formalize and communicate your approach, put your people at the center of your design process, and future-proof the changes you make by focusing on initiatives that address more grassroots challenges.

Gender Inequality And Women In The Workplace

Want to learn more about marketing strategies that benefit businesses and people? Dive into these articles on diversity and inclusion: Gender equality can be defined as the equal treatment of male and female employees in the workplace. This includes equal pay, access to equal opportunities, advancement and inclusion. It extends to recognizing individual strengths, celebrating achievements and creating a more inclusive culture. Although several progressive efforts have been taken towards equality in the past few years, there is still a long way to go to fully initiate gender equality in the workplace.

On this International Women’s Day, let’s take a step forward to implement a mental framework aimed at promoting gender equality in the workplace. Here are some things everyone in the workplace should know and work to make the environment culturally sound and safe for women and men.

Lack of recognition is the main reason for the decline of women workers. More women than men are affected by imposter syndrome (the internal experience of believing that you are not as capable as others perceive you) in the workplace (79% of women and 62% of men). Equally celebrating strengths and achievements not only boosts team morale but also creates an environment of equality between genders. Instead of pointing out and communicating things that can have a negative impact, create a communication system where female colleagues are equally recognized as their male colleagues and celebrated for the skills they excel at.

Approachable traits are accessible with proper verbal and nonverbal communication skills. It helps the practitioner to consciously break down perceived barriers and stereotypes and create an environment around them that helps build trust, confidence and a strong bond between them and their colleagues.

Gender Equality And Ways To Promote It In The Workplace

Being approachable in the workplace eliminates the anxiety of other colleagues of both sexes and puts them at ease. Female team members with approachable colleagues or managers are able to offer more ideas, raise issues, and gain a sense of safety and fair treatment.

Training programs on topics such as diversity and inclusion, implicit bias and flexibility in the workplace can help bring the issues women colleagues face day-to-day to the forefront of the organization. These programs help in the facilitation and creation of new policies and programs that help reduce the gender inequality gap in the workplace and create better opportunities for professional development.

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