Tips For Talking About Gender Equality In The Workplace

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Gender equality is something that workplaces should forever strive for. That means keeping communication channels open and ensuring the dialogue continues.

Still, even workplace dialogues can be somewhat misleading. After all, research from 2020 showed that women are told more lies than their male counterparts during their performance reviews. The nature of your words matters too, not only in their selection but also in how they’re delivered.

Whether you’re running a seminar or addressing employee concerns, every workplace conversation around equality needs to come from a passionate and informed perspective. Here are some tips for talking about gender equality in the workplace.

 

Participate in Forward-Thinking Courses

The world is changing, and every company is evolving with it. Every worker needs to be on board with each shift if they hope to meet contemporary standards for equality. Succeeding in this means actively learning and encouraging others to do the same.

Women can learn to navigate the external factors that hinder them in the workplace by enrolling on a women’s management and leadership course. This will also allow women to hone their internal skills.  A course like this can help you learn how to leverage networks and offer value to enhance their prospects and your company by building self-confidence and empowering women. They will join a cohort of diverse women who are also hoping to add value to their organisation.

If you’re a business leader within an organisation, you should encourage everyone to look into advancing their knowledge. Ask those who are currently taking a course what their experience has been like, and what decisions led to them enrolling. What did they hope to learn? Were their expectations met? Would they recommend the course to others? The course may be for their personal enrichment, but hopefully they can put what they have learned into practice.

In the end, talking about equality in the workplace shouldn’t be a process that’s filled with empty words. Real progress needs to be made with these discussions, and online courses can get the ball rolling successfully.

 

Admit Failures

Though the conversation around equality is ever continuing, it does not necessarily mean that things are getting ‘better’. When it comes to gender, some mainstream media outlets report that corporate progress is a failure, according to their recent data.

While it’s tempting to maintain a momentum of optimism, sweeping problems under the rug is not a great way to display empathy and understanding. Sometimes, a business must look back so it can move forward. Therefore, it is worth reflecting on your firm’s shortcomings.

A process like this should be a collaborative effort rather than a solitary one performed by higher-ups alone. What do your team think about the progress that has been made? Is there room for improvement? Only when your firm is frank about its failures can greater strides toward equality be made.

Workers will appreciate honesty in company culture. Moreover, firms recognize their shortcomings when it comes to performance metrics. The same level of care should be paid to staff recruitment, well-being, and treatment, and it should not be an overly uncomfortable process but a necessary one.

 

Update Processes

It is one thing to admit to failures, but another to not do anything to remedy them. Every dialogue created should hopefully have tangible benefits for the business. Consequently, it could be a good idea to directly change processes as these discussions are held.

A prime opportunity to do this is with recruitment. You could update the job descriptions for open positions and ensure they are more inclusive. Moreover, your business could reevaluate its collaborations with a recruitment agency, ensuring they strive toward diversity. Perhaps you could take extra care to promote internally, encouraging each suitable worker when an opening occurs.

Recruitment is a perfect window to generate excitement too. Workers will discuss opportunities internally and express an enthusiasm for reinvigorating the company with deserving talent. People build businesses. All of these changes can improve the character and identity of your company.

Gender equality shouldn’t be a passive discussion or a process filled with half-hearted acceptances and apologies. Show that words can lead to lasting change. Try not to waste the opportunities that arise from these frank discussions.

 

Offer Greater Benefits

Men and women are not often subject to the same experiences in the workplace or outside of it. Differences in their personal life can affect their working world too.

Recent research indicates that some women will get burnt out more than men do. They may take on more tasks in terms of childcare responsibilities. Additionally, they may have an aversion to asking for help, believing they will be wrongly penalised for doing so. These are just some discrepancies that can contribute to a greater feeling of exhaustion.

All of this invites discussion around workplace benefits. Negotiating remote working opportunities, childcare benefits, and flexible schedules will invite optimism amongst the workforce and let workers know that their needs are being recognized. Pitch these solutions and see what responses you get.

 

An inclusive dialogue around workplace equality depends greatly on your ability to listen, learn, and implement positive procedures that invite further discussion.