Eight tips to build a great gender diversity workplace

Gender diversity has become a common talk in workplaces to ensure that the fair sex gets a better deal in the otherwise male-dominated workplace. Often, we find a lot of articles and news items in media talking about woman power and empowerment with gender diversity being at the pivotal point of discussion. Now, the next question that crops up is how well your organization scores in gender diversity? If your workplace is still dominated by male associates, then you score poorly in gender diversity. However, if you are really serious in improving gender diversity by providing great opportunities for women, then this article is just for you, where we provide a few simple tips and pointers.

1.     Devise an unbiased and fair recruitment policy

 When you think about gender diversity, the first thing that comes to our mind is does your company has a fair recruitment policy that can encourage women to fill male-dominated roles? If you are yet to figure out on this, this is the right time to work on an unbiased recruitment strategy that encourages prospective female associates.

Earlier, there used to be marked discrimination in the hiring pattern in several industrial segments, skewed towards the male associates. In fact, it's been an open secret that some jobs are only reserved for men, due to the tough nature of these jobs. However, in recent years, particularly the IT sector has witnessed a sea change in the way recruitments happen and now the gender bias is slowly blurring with women getting the equal number of opportunities as their male counterparts.  So, devise the right recruitment strategy and show it in action, rather than on paper, giving a good chance for female candidates to show their mettle in the tech. industry.

2.     Project your company as diversity friendly

As part of your recruitment strategy, you need to sell yourself as a potential employer, who believes and fosters a diversity-friendly culture. Publish quotes from existing female associates that talk positive about your organization, promoting a positive aura among the prospective female associates.

3.     Be the leader in the team

Within your team, you need to be a champion of women’s causes and support women, wherever required. In order to ensure they provide the best services in your company, it’s imperative for managers to promote and encourage their skills on par with their male counterparts.

4.     Mentor young lady associates

Hiring women associates in the workplace are just a small tip of an iceberg. In order to sustain and contribute to the bigger vision of your company, these young associates need strong leaders and senior figures, who can mentor and train them with the required skills to excel in their respective professions.

5.     Give a fair chance to women to rotate roles

In order to empower women in your workplace to make them multifaceted and multi-talented, you need to encourage women to rotate roles to get a taste of various skill sets. This way, women tend to learn a lot, gain valuable exposure in multiple domains and gain the confidence to take up bigger and more responsible roles in the near future. 

6.     Provide an opportunity for women in succession planning

What happens if you leave the organization or you retire after a couple of years as a senior leader? Who is going to succeed after you? This is the right time to give an opportunity for female associates, who are equally capable to manage the mantle of responsibilities, handled by you earlier. You need to review the succession plan of your entire company and tackle the areas which fail the diversity test. Hence, if you set an example at the top level, things become easier for you to build a great gender diversity organization.

7.     Provide liberal leave benefits for female associates

This is one of the best ways to ensure that your female associates stick to your organization for a longer time. Granting suitable maternity (and of course paternity leave) for female associates is a great step forward for female associates to fulfill their personal commitments and revert to work when everything has stabilized at their personal levels. In fact, a paid maternity leave would definitely work wonders for your female associates and also instill a sense of security in their respective jobs.

8.     Encourage more work-from-home options

A great step towards women empowerment is to offer adequate work from home (WFH) options, as and when the situation arises. This way, your associates would stay connected with your organization for a longer time, while channelizing all their energies to produce the best output in line with your company’s vision and objectives.

The above tips would definitely go a long way in forging a great diversity friendly workplace, though the road towards achieving this might be fraught with challenges. However, with the right commitment, attitude, and resources in hand, we are sure you would definitely build a great organization that respects and encourages women on par with men at all times.