Women At Work — Why We Need Inclusiveness

No matter how inclusive we are working towards being. We can always do more. We can always do better ~ Victoria McGovern

Being an adult woman is difficult in general and when it comes to corporate or professional life it becomes more challenging and women are judged frequently based on how they dress or talk or sometimes just being a woman itself counts.

Yes, there are companies and organizations helping in creating an inclusive environment.

A few months back, my organization said the number of its women employees has crossed the 100,000-mark globally and share their data as well. It’s great news, however that data doesn’t show us the whole picture. It doesn’t capture how women feel, how they fare in the workplace day-to-day, the challenges they face.

A modern-day woman struggles to strike a balance between working and family life, often sacrificing the latter to succeed and gain status within a company and society. They are not only faced with these problems but also get paid significantly less than their male co-workers, too.

Here’s a thing, Women’s representation in the corporate world isn’t improving in leaps and bounds. It is improving slightly but if we really look at the numbers, still most of the senior and leadership positions are filled by men.

I am not against anything here, the question is why are we not able to produce women leaders in the last few years. Companies really need to look up their gender gap ratio.

Allow and trust their workforce to be more women-friendly and create a safe and transparent work environment for all of their employees including men and women or others.

Every day, women confront the challenges of managing work, family, and the costs of raising children and caring for and supporting loved ones, often with little external support. While these work-family challenges are nothing new, too many workplaces, government policies, and economic strategies have not evolved to respond effectively to families’ changing realities.

Ask people why women remain so dramatically underrepresented, and you will hear from the vast majority a lament — an unfortunate but inevitable truth — that goes something like this: High-level jobs require extremely long hours, women’s devotion to family makes it impossible for them to put in those hours, and their careers suffer as a result.

How many times women are motivated and inspired to follow their passion, to follow something no one has done before.

Well — it’s quite evident that we live in a male dominating society especially where women still have to prove every time whatever the role they are in.

The real-world scenario reinforces the growing amount of research that reveals how unfavorable workplaces can be for women.

There are a number of reasons the pay gap exists, and “women don’t negotiate” has been tossed around as an explanation. But it’s not entirely true.

I have been in similar situations, where men are offered more salary just because they are men. I have to fight my way up to get the same salary level or even getting a well-deserved promotion. I heard the excuses, men need to support their family and women don’t need that, women rely on husbands and family even if they are working, and some other lame excuses.

How can we eliminate this kind of thinking if leaders themselves think this way?

When I started working in IT, I assumed this world would be a different place as all the people come from great educational backgrounds and lived across the world.

I am working in a multinational company expecting them to have diverse cultures and honestly, I have been in quite a few situations where work was divided among team members purely based on gender, even hike, promotion and not getting any sort of recognition and validation for all the hard work I am doing.

Recently I was talking to a top consulting firm CTO ( a woman )and when she accepted the fact that we still live in inequality and a place where women need to prove themselves many times to even get a little recognition. I am really glad, women like her paving the path for all the women out there and creating an environment where everyone feels included and has a sense of purpose.

There is no empirical evidence that women lack confidence, are poor negotiators, are risk-averse, are overly burdened by domestic responsibilities, or are mean to other women.

Well, the point is, how we landed there and how we can reduce the gender gap for the upcoming generation where people irrespective of their gender can openly ask for a well-deserving promotion or an increment or even a better job.

I recognize it is hard to kill the idea that women and men are fundamentally different, with women best suited for care-giving and supportive roles and men best suited for challenging, leadership roles.

So leaders and companies really have to re-think how they are treating their women employees not only at a higher level but the ground level as well.

Collaboration — That’s the very first way to start including everyone in the team and discuss openly. Sometimes even in collaboration meetings, brainstorming sessions, give fair chances to everyone to express themselves.

Sometimes you might not realize but some of the women come from a reserved background and they need a push or need to learn to express themselves. As a manager to team lead, it becomes an automatic responsibility to give them free space and environment so that they can cultivate and become the person they want to.

For example, it’s good to have a support system within a team, so that if someone is making a point, another person can echo the same thoughts. Like, “I completely agree with Emma, she made a good point” Giving her name and recognizing that she made a good point is a good start. It’s nothing to do with gender, it’s the promotion you’re giving to people in front of the right audience.

Inclusiveness — The fact is the company is trying to be inclusive, but what it really means to be inclusive.

If women and men behave differently in pursuing career advancement, it is not because they are inherently different, but because they experience the workplace in fundamentally different ways, men as a place of acceptance and support, women as a place where they are “others” lacking equal access to career-enhancing opportunities, resources and role models.

Concluded that women ask for raises and promotions as often as men, they’re just less likely to get what they want. This might be because when women are assertive in the workplace, they’re viewed as unlikable or demanding.

According to a study, negotiating is trickier for women, and many experts agree: It’s important for women to have groups where they can discuss salary and workplace issues openly.

If you have a position open and if the hiring manager is looking for inclusiveness, the manager might just hire the person to fill out the position even on the skills side, it may be ticking only one point. So even if you have inclusiveness you’re not giving the ground to that person to learn and grow.

It is important to have included women from different backgrounds and give them the canvas to explore and be more open to sharing their ideology and great work they can do.

Access to senior leaders in the company — That may not seem like the most profound discrepancy at first glance, but interactions with senior leaders can make a big difference in who stays, who successfully negotiates promotions, and who sets their sights on leadership positions of their own. In other words, fewer interactions can mean fewer opportunities.

It’s quite evident men help men because ultimately it’s going to benefit them. But how about women, there is not enough support system available, not yet to be honest.

Companies should look for various solutions and platforms where access to senior leaders is available so that people can look up to it and learn from it.

Safe work environment — Women who want to work; have a harder time finding a job than men. There are many industries and workplaces, where women do not feel safe.

With all, me too movement really waken the companies to create a safe work environment for everyone so that more women can be open to work.

Have strict policies and guidance available to create a safe and harmonious work environment.

Workshop frequent seminars, virtual sessions — Leaders can have virtual sessions, workshops exclusively for women, where they can freely express themselves, their learning, and share ideas. It can provide a great platform for upcoming women in the field and also potential leaders in the industry.

Build a great network — Building a sustainable network is important where people can reach out without any bias or any hesitation. Frequent one on one or creating forum for women employees is a great start to engage in a conversation.

Things you can do as a Woman — There is no denying that women have to be their own advocate or do a bit of self-promotion when things are challenging.

Try to own the role you played in your success by forbidding yourself from falling back on excuses, practice saying these words out loud: ‘I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished.

We need to reshape our own perception of how we view ourselves. We have to step up as women and take the lead — Beyoncé

The pressure to work against social biases is exhausting, especially when those biases affect your bottom line. What’s more, women still do nearly three times as much unpaid domestic work as men. We praise women who seem to do it all, but if we want to narrow this gap, we should stop glorifying stress.

Ultimately, closing gender gaps in the labor force is not just good for women and their households, but for the global economy as a whole.

Have you ever been faced with similar issues at the workplace? Share your journey and do let me know your thoughts in the comments.

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