Why is gender diversity important? How to build an inclusive work culture.

From Guest Contributor: Valentina Wilson

Gender diversity in the workplace refers to an equal ratio of men and women working together. To have a productive working environment, an equal ratio of men, women, and other genders is required. Gender diversity signifies that men and women are hired at a balanced rate, they both are equally paid and appreciated. Also in a workplace, both genders should be given the same working opportunities to maintain gender diversity. But, in reality, the scenario is different in many workplaces.

In most cases, we talk about the importance of gender diversity, but we don’t implement it. Empowering women is a very well-discussed topic. But, there are always differences between what should be and what is in reality. Why so? Maybe there are many reasons. But, today, we will discuss the importance of gender diversity and how to build an inclusive workplace.

How are women facing unconscious biases?

There are many instances of prejudices against women, especially about the ability of their credibility.

For instance, a research experiment was conducted where the participants have gone through an entrepreneurial pitch video of images about a new venture, explained by the entrepreneur’s voice. All the participants were assigned to a group randomly. In this event, the male or female voice narrated the pitch, which was identical. But, 68% of participants appreciated how the male voice pitched the venture. In contrast, only 32% enjoyed how the female voice pitched the venture.

Women face biases in opinion, work field, wages, business, and so on. But the fact is that women have proved their credibility in every area.

Do gender biases create obstacles in the growth of women?

Unconscious biases indeed create obstacles to women in their growth. They face difficulties in achieving equality.

They do all the work, but they don’t get the promotion they deserve. The male co-worker who have shown no or less productivity often win the increment and promotion. Female workers have to wait longer to achieve success due to their gender. These biases take a toll on the mental strength of the female workforce at the workplace.

How can we overcome gender biases in the workplace?

To overcome gender biases:

We need to consider males and females as being of equal status and value.
We need to judge a person based on their merit.
We shouldn’t assume people as inferior or superior based on their gender.
Equal rights are not enough; we need to overcome the inequality that exists in our minds.
We shouldn’t pass on the biases and prejudices to the next or younger generation.

Ways to empower female employees in the workplace

As a leader or employer, you should accept the gender diversity concept. It will help if you try to empower the female employees. Once you believe in and follow the morality of gender diversity, the rest of the organization will surely follow in your footsteps. Here are some more ways to empower female employees in your workplace.

Analyze the problems in establishing women’s empowerment.
Create goals to empower female employees.
Establish female leaders and point out the improvements.
Educate other employees of your company about these initiatives.
Appreciate your female team members when they have successfully met the task.
When you get a better idea from a female worker
Recognize the contribution of female employees and reward them.

Importance of maintaining gender diversity in the workplace

There are still few women at the head of organizations and companies.

The ratio of women over men working together is still very low in many countries. However, it has been increasing slowly.

Women are about 50% of the population and workforce. But, in all developed countries, the educational levels achieved by women are equal to men. Thus, we can understand that not having inclusive workplaces is forcing employers to lose the potential value of the knowledge, skills, and experience that women have.

Why are women seen so little in workplaces? In most cases, workplaces don’t practice inclusive work culture. And, secondly, women have to manage the family responsibilities and fulfill the requirements needed in families. Gender diversifying is not only important for getting benefits from the wide array of talents, but it also provides confidence to the educated and talented persons irrespective of their genders.

Here’s why gender diversity is important in every workplace.

It improves the overall performance

Peterson Institute for International Economics had conducted a global survey on the usefulness of gender diversity among nearly 22,000 companies from 91 countries. According to the report, organizations with women in 30 percent of leadership positions improved profits by 6% points over companies with no women in leadership.

If you make your workforce more balanced between genders, then you will notice the improvement in performance at your business. It is seen that a good gender balance improves the stock values and greater profitability. Mixed-gender boards perform extremely well and that generates more value for the firm. Remember, gender-biased firms can’t utilize all the talent available to try to get more benefits in all terms.

Your business can be enriched with multiple perspectives

Every person irrespective of their gender has a different point of view. They all have gained different life experiences and knowledge. You can benefit from these different points of view and experiences all your employees have. If you need creative thoughts and ideas, you should maintain gender diversity at your workplace. You will find innovation and creativity at their peak while working with your team.

It helps to solve the problems faster

The diverse teams have more capability to solve the problems faster. So to avoid under-performing in your workplace, mix things up gender-wise.

You will get a talent pool for your workplace

Gender diversifying can give you access to the talent pool for your workplace. Thus you should change your traditional recruiting practices. Implement gender diversifying concepts to become more beneficial.

Actions we can take to promote gender diversity in the workplace?

Having a gender-diverse workplace, you may rethink the recruiting system.

Remember, your reputation as an inclusive employer can help you achieve positive company values. So, can you build an inclusive workplace?

Here you go:

1. Remove gender biases from job descriptions

To create a gender diverse environment at your office, you need to rephrase the job description. Remove gender biases from the job descriptions right now. Instead of mentioning the gender bias lines in the job description, you can mention the list of qualifications required. You can also mention craft performance-based descriptions. Try to avoid any gendered language from the job description.

2. Keep gender diverse interviewers

You may have to keep gender-diverse interview panels. If the candidates see the ratio of male and female interviews as equal, they will get positive vibes. The survey exposed that more than 60% of candidates prefer a workplace that has a gender-diverse workforce team.

If you want to introduce the candidate to a gender-diverse environment at your office, you can arrange an office tour for the candidates. This will also help underrepresented groups of candidates to become more comfortable and confident.

3. Introduce and ensure fair appraisal practices

Reconsider the policy on how you promote people within your organization. To build diversity in your workplace, you need to ensure a fair and equal promotion policy for all genders. Ensure the hiring committee’s gender diversity to ensure fair promotions. The appraisal should be based on performance and not on the gender of the people working at your office.

4. Create an inclusive work culture

To create a gender diversity-enriched workplace, you need to build an inclusive work culture. To do so, try to evaluate your company’s work culture. Try to know whether or not your company is an ideal place to work, regardless of gender.

Do all the employees respect the idea of gender diversity? You can also consult your employees to understand how to build a more inclusive work culture. Try to implement the ideas you get from your employees.

How to create gender diversity environment in the workplace

To create equality among women and men in the workplace, you need to create a gender diversity environment for all the women workers. Here are some ways to form a better place for women employees.

Inspire other employers to accept the gender diversity

Remember, once you are able to create an inclusive culture, it will help you make you an employer brand. This will further inspire other employers. This will also help you attract and retain a diverse workforce among other employers. You can also publish press releases regarding gender diversity policies and concrete strategies to follow.

Build a good search string

Don’t wait for the talented, gender-diverse team to reach you. Try to search proactively the gender diversity pipeline. There are many sourcing platforms where you will get candidates from underrepresented groups. You may have to give some extra legwork to find the sources. You can build a search string to get talented candidates who list college sororities or LGBT groups. This will help you to build talented gender diverse employees at your workplace.

Talk about the value of an inclusive workplace

To implement gender diversity in every workplace, you should discuss the value of it. You must talk to other employees to think about it. This will help to make a change. Talk about the benefits to your hiring manager and the team. Also, spread the success rate once you get good results out of the inclusive team. This will surely bring the changes in a mass.

Lastly, we all know that to bring innovation and talent, gender diver is important. But this initiative also helps your organization challenge gender stereotypes. You can promote your corporate brand as gender-inclusive! This will give you a new dimension in the business world. Gender diversity in the workplace means that men, women, and other genders are hired at an equal and consistent rate. But also make sure, they all are considered as human and treated with respect and generosity. This will also bring back respect and love from your employees.

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Valentina Wilson is a writer. She loves to analyze personal financial matters and help others manage their finances in a better way. Traveling is also her passion. She follows more animals on Instagram than humans and her greatest achievement is her blog. She believes that transparency and conversations about money are essential in gaining control of finances.. To connect with her, go to her LinkedIn or visit her blog bestdebtconsolidation.org