Five steps your business can take to improve equality in the workplace

Despite efforts to improve equity between men and women in the workplace, women still earn considerably less than their male colleagues and remain under-represented at the management level. While affirmative measures are adopted by many workplaces, often more can be done to embed equality in employers’ policies and processes. 

Improving workplace equity can have significant benefits for employers. Even small amounts of gender bias in the workplace and in hiring decisions can contribute to productivity losses that together represent significant costs, financial and otherwise, for employers, according to a study from Oregon State University. As an example, tiny amounts of bias when carried through the hiring decision-making process can lead to breaches of the anti-discrimination laws, which could have important financial consequences for companies that end up hiring less-qualified candidates.

Below I outline five ways organisations can improve gender equity in the workplace and boost their productivity:

Make a longer shortlist when recruiting

Gender inequities can be inherent in informal recruitment processes, particularly in male-dominated industries such as transport of mining. Companies aiming to reduce gender bias in their hiring processes should be as objective as possible and broaden the field of candidates. Making your shortlist longer might help to remain more objective, according to a report in the Harvard Business Review. Adding an additional three candidates to an initial shortlist of three saw the women-to-men ratio rise from 1:6 on the original list, that study found.

Organisations should also focus on objective measures of skills and experience. Skills-based assessment can also help remove bias rather than relying on interviews alone, which are one of the most common recruitment methods but the least objective. Asking candidates to perform tasks they would be expected to carry out in the role they are applying for enables organisations to assess their suitability based on their performance rather than gender.

Implement policies to remove the gender pay gap

The gender pay gap too can discourage skilled women from applying for jobs if they are not compensated fairly. You may not know it, but the pay disparity between men and women in Australia is much wider than it is in New Zealand, the UK, Germany, Italy and France, and many other European nations.

The gender pay gap, as defined by the OECD,  measures the difference in the median earnings of men and women. According to the most recent data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the median wage for a man working full time was $1,390.00 in May 2021 and just $1,042.00 for women. That represents a wage gap of around 25% between men’s and women’s median wages. That is one of the biggest in the OECD, and wider than the OECD average of around 12% in 2021.

Employers can promote gender equity and wage equality in the workplace by introducing policies on promoting wage transparency to ensure women aren’t receiving less than men in equivalent roles. Introducing pay brackets for particular skill levels can also help to make pay packets more equitable. Pay brackets can also encourage female employees to negotiate their wages by giving an indication of reasonable expectations for a particular role. Other policies should include anti-discrimination policies which help to entrench equity in the workplace and leadership development programs that encourage women to apply for or be trained for, leadership positions.

Enable flexible work

Improving work-life balance can benefit both men and women, as women are, more often than men, responsible for the care of family members. Insurance company Zurich saw a 16% increase in women applying for jobs after it became the first firm in the UK to advertise all its vacancies with the options of ‘part-time’, ‘job-share’ or ‘flexible working’. The number of women hired for senior positions also rose by a third (33%) as a direct result of the same initiative. Gender inequality in the workplace widens considerably after women have children, so enabling flexible work policies can help considerably to keep women in the workforce and maintain equity in the workplace.

Provide a safe space to have open discussions 

Women need to be able to speak up and voice their concerns about gender inequity in the workplace. This is where it is important to have an open human resources (HR) department that is willing to listen to understand women’s concerns about any gender bias. HR departments are responsible for managing employee relations and ensuring that employees are treated fairly and equitably. This includes having policies in place to handle any employee complaints about inequity and gender discrimination. HR departments can generally help to develop policies aimed at attracting, retaining and developing a diverse workforce.

Lead by example

It is important for employers to uphold female representation in the leadership team. This is not just a matter of fairness or social justice but also makes good business sense. A 2020 McKinsey & Company study found that organisations that achieve gender diversity in their leadership teams are more likely to experience greater profitability. Specifically, companies with more than 30% women on their executive teams are significantly more likely to outperform those with between 10 and 30% women, and these companies in turn are more likely to outperform those with fewer or no women executives.

That’s because women bring different experiences, viewpoints, and skills to an organisation, which can lead to more well-rounded decision-making and problem-solving. Much research has shown that diverse teams are more innovative and better at adapting to changing circumstances. Moreover, seeing women in management positions can inspire other women to pursue leadership roles and advance their careers, creating a virtuous cycle of increased gender diversity at all levels of an organisation.

Kris Grant is the CEO of ASPL Group and a champion of emerging leaders.