Last month, International Women's Day highlighted the importance of gender equality in the workplace, between friends, in relationships, and within communities across the world.
Whilst progress is being made to achieve gender equality in workplaces globally, there is still much more to be done, and it’s important to recognise whether your business is taking the necessary steps to achieve gender equality.
Hadrian HR is passionate about maintaining a company culture rooted on a platform of equality and gender inclusivity, and understands the steps that businesses must take to create and promote gender equality.
To make your workplace more comfortable for men and women alike, and to ensure equal opportunities for both sexes, a business should provide training on gender equality to its management team. Starting with management is extremely important, as a good management team can transform a business and company culture, and gender equality is most effectively achieved when promoted from the top down.
The Equality Act 2010 protects people from being treated differently because of their gender and managers need to be aware of the law as well as the company’s respective policies in order to effectively oversee and coordinate effective working relations.
In order to achieve true gender equality in the workplace, all employees should be made aware of job openings, and advertisements should not be tailored to one sex but be made open to both men and women, with the stereotype of certain jobs suiting a certain sex removed. However, it is also essential that specific duties are detailed as this will allow people to self-select out of the process if they do not feel that the duties would suit them.
To ensure that all employees are treated equally, a business must recognise and celebrate the successes of men and women in the workplace alike, with no difference in the rewards offered between men and women.
For example, if a woman achieves a notable client win, or hits a target in the business, this should be recognised and celebrated as much as if a man had achieved that same goal and vice versa.
All employees should be aware of the importance of an equal workplace, but it’s not always easy to get this message across, especially if your business is large.
An effective way to spread this message amongst a team is to create a position for an employee to be responsible for the promotion of equality in
the workplace. This employee could hold monthly focus groups to get staff feedback on how the business is working towards equality, and could attend external events and workshops in order to bring insights and tips back to the team.
Finally, a business should be open about the childcare options and flexible working policy that it offers, and this should be extended to both sexes, with male employees in a business being made aware that they are entitled to family leave also. An HR department within a business should ensure that all employees are made aware that parental flexibility is available for both men and women.
Hadrian HR understands the need for assistance in promoting gender equality in the workplace which is vital to the success of any business. Its team of HR specialists are on hand to provide advice on creating an equal environment for employees, with consultancy advice ranging from one off contracts to a full audit of current policies and provision of customised contracts and handbooks.
