Blog: Create an Attractive Workplace for Women
Create an Attractive Workplace for Women
10 ways to shape a workplace where women want to be and stay
To retain women, organizations should focus on creating an inclusive and supportive work environment that values diversity and promotes gender equality. Let’s discuss some of the simple best practices to help keep your culture healthy and productive.
1. Eliminate gender biases: Actively address and eliminate gender biases in recruitment, promotion, and performance evaluation processes. This includes implementing blind screening methods, ensuring diverse interview panels, and providing unconscious bias training to employees. This is required for both external and internal hires. Most bias comes from internal candidates wanting to advance their careers internally.
2. Offer equal opportunities: Promote equal access to career advancement opportunities, leadership roles, and challenging assignments by establishing clear criteria for promotions and provide mentoring and sponsorship programs to support women's professional growth.
3. Flexible work policies: Flexible work arrangements, such as telecommuting, flexible hours, and job-sharing options, can greatly benefit women employees who may have caregiving responsibilities. Providing these options demonstrates a commitment to work-life balance and helps retain talented women who might otherwise leave due to inflexible work arrangements.
4. Parental leave and childcare support: Implementing generous parental leave policies and offering on-site or subsidized childcare facilities can significantly support women's career progression. These initiatives demonstrate a commitment to supporting employees during crucial life stages and help retain women after they become parents.
5. Equal pay and benefits: Ensuring pay equity and providing competitive benefits are critical to retaining women employees. Regularly assess and address any pay gaps based on gender. Additionally, offering benefits such as healthcare, parental leave, and retirement plans that cater to the needs of women can contribute to their job satisfaction and retention.
6. Employee resource groups: Establishing employee resource groups (ERGs) or affinity groups focused on supporting women in the workplace can create a sense of community and provide networking opportunities. ERGs can organize mentoring programs, training sessions, and events that promote professional development and foster a supportive environment. The WIT Network is an engaged partner with our corporate member ERG’s providing content, best practices and support.
Read our recent article on How to drive greater impact through your Employee Resource Group
7. Leadership commitment: Leaders must genuinely champion these initiatives, set diversity goals, and hold managers accountable for creating an inclusive environment. Establishing diversity and inclusion metrics and incorporating them into performance evaluations can also reinforce the importance of gender equality.
8. Address workplace harassment: Organizations should have clear policies and procedures in place to address workplace harassment, including sexual harassment. Providing avenues for reporting incidents, conducting thorough investigations, and taking appropriate action against offenders demonstrates a commitment to ensuring a safe and respectful work environment.
9. Training and development opportunities: Offering training programs and development opportunities that address gender-related challenges and biases can enhance women's skills and leadership capabilities. Providing access to mentors, coaches, and professional development resources can further support their growth and career advancement.
10. Employee feedback and surveys: Regularly seeking feedback from women employees through surveys, focus groups, or confidential reporting mechanisms can help organizations identify areas for improvement and measure progress in gender diversity and inclusion initiatives.
Of course, women's experiences and needs vary, so we should aim for an intersectional approach. By prioritizing gender equality and fostering an inclusive culture, we can retain and empower women employees, creating a recipe for success. It's all about creating an environment where everyone can thrive. Let's work to be and celebrate organizations and leaders that champion equality and make their workplace inclusive – it's a win-win-win situation!
Don’t-miss opportunity: In case you weren’t able to join The WIT Network co-founders the session at Microsoft Inspire 2023 called Why are women leaving your organization. You can watch On Demand (Why are women leaving your company? Top 10 priorities to retain women - Americas (microsoft.com)
