Is your organization doing everything that it can to achieve gender parity?
Studies have consistently shown that boosting gender parity in the workplace benefits organizations and their bottom lines, and our researchers have confirmed that having more women in the workplace increases wellbeing for all employees.
But getting there isn’t easy. Everyone — from senior organizational leaders and HR teams, to male colleagues at all levels, to individual women themselves — has a role to play.
Broadly, organizations and individuals striving for gender parity need to rethink systems and challenge assumptions in order to cultivate an organizational culture capable of harnessing the power of all employees.
Increasing Gender Parity Involves Everyone
Parity is a systemic issue, and as such, making lasting change requires getting the whole organization involved. Senior organizational leaders can implement key practices to help overcome barriers to women’s leadership and begin to help all leaders feel able to bring their full selves to work.
Getting Started: 7 Key Action Steps for HR Teams & Organizational Leaders
Here are 7 first steps to take toward building gender parity at work:
1. Gain commitment from board members and senior executives.
Addressing the barriers and experiences of women — generally and in your specific organizational context – requires involvement and support from the top. Senior leaders have a crucial role to play because reinvention must come from the top and executives must lead by example.
2. Rethink systems.
Don’t place the burden of driving organizational change on individuals. Senior leaders must consider and understand what organizational policies and practices may be seen as supportive or dismissive of talented women and shift toward leadership that allows everyone to thrive. Best-practice organizations have an all-encompassing, systematic agenda to tackle gender parity and are focused on supporting, retaining, and promoting all kinds of employees.
3. Establish and execute flexible work arrangements.
Flexible work arrangements can take many forms, and flexibility has frequently cited for years as one of the key things wanted by women in the workplace. With the global shift toward more hybrid and remote ways of working, your organization will surely improve employee retention with flexible work arrangements. But even more important than establishing flexible policies is ensuring that employees feel truly “safe” to take advantage of them.
4. Provide learning and development opportunities.
Women want and need development opportunities — including stretch assignments. Organizations that are serious about attracting, supporting, retaining and promoting women leaders need to provide opportunities for them to grow throughout their career journeys and at all levels of the talent pipeline.
5. Help managers develop talent through coaching and mentoring.
Leaders need to understand the important role they play in supporting development to further the goal of gender parity in the workplace. Equip managers with skills and tools for successful mentoring at work. Offer developmental training on how to make the most out of the entire talent pool. Provide guidance through tools, and provide coaching and mentoring support to new leaders especially so they’re prepared when they come across unexpected situations.
6. Endorse employee resource groups.
Our research has found that many women have benefited from groups that allowed a safe space to discuss challenges, seek solutions, and access networking opportunities that they might not have otherwise encountered. Organizations can endorse and support formal employee resource groups as a way to shape culture, engage employees, communicate information, and provide resources.
Men Play a Critical Role in Increasing Gender Parity in the Workplace
Gender parity often gets pegged as “a women’s issue” and because of this, is often left to women to address. Some men might even feel uncomfortable participating in discussions around gender because they might assume it’s not their place. But in reality, we’re unlikely to ever reach true gender parity in the workplace unless everyone gets involved — particularly men.
Here are 5 specific things that men can do:
1. Participate in discussions of women and leadership.
Men’s participation in discussions of gender parity introduces different dynamics to the conversation and can signal to others that it’s more than just “a women’s issue.” As long as psychological safety is present, holding candid, open discussions creates space for listening to others share about their experiences, widening perspectives, building shared understanding and awareness, and unlocking the power of respect.
2. Take conscious actions.
Working toward parity requires taking daily, intentional actions. For example, being careful to avoid using gendered language in meetings by saying “you all” instead of “you guys” and banning use of the word “bossy” in reference to women or girls are very small ways to make a difference. Consciously support women in such small ways and in bigger ones too, such as when providing developmental opportunities.
3. Challenge assumptions.
When decision-makers question whether a woman would really want a new role, perhaps because it would require long hours or relocating, men can offer support by challenging the unspoken, underlying assumption that a woman would likely not want the opportunity. Suggest to others the organization give her space to answer for herself by saying, “Let’s ask her.” Challenging assumptions also means considering the possibility for different styles and skillsets: “Here’s the profile of the last person in this job … but what competencies might we need now?”
4. Provide challenging opportunities and task-focused feedback.
Research has found that women are not given the kind of feedback they need to improve or take the next step as often as their male colleagues are, and other studies have shown that women are given fewer stretch assignments. Men can commit to giving their female direct reports and colleagues helpful, constructive, actionable feedback rather than vague or personal feedback, and steering women toward needed assignments and challenging opportunities to help them grow as leaders.
5. Lend your network.
The right relationships and ties are assets in getting access to information, earning promotions, and gaining opportunities. Effective leaders rely on networks to influence others and to get results. Men can use their access to networks to create connections and open doors for talented women colleagues. Learn more about why women need a network of champions, including mentors and sponsors, and how you can be one.
Women, Consider These Tips to Shift Your Mindset
While gender parity in the workplace is certainly impossible without organizational changes, these 6 mindset shifts can help individual women tackle some of the challenges they may experience.
1. Face challenges with confidence.
Leadership roles come with uncertainty. Don’t fall into the trap of questioning your capabilities or waiting until you think you’re 100% ready for a challenge. If you do, you’ll miss opportunities. Work to overcome impostor syndrome.
2. Be intentional about development.
Be deliberate about your development as a leader. Take the lead in shaping conversations about your career and take ownership of your career choices. Consciously build and strengthen your personal leadership brand.
3. Find allies and advocates.
Both mentoring and sponsorship are important for career advancement, but women often find themselves over-mentored and under-sponsored. Find someone to advocate for you, and build your network intentionally. (If that feels a little uncomfortable or challenging, check out our networking tips for women.)
4. Speak up, and give credit where credit is due.
Leadership is about influence. Women have knowledge, skills, and perspectives that will benefit their teams and organizations. But if you don’t speak up, you lose the opportunity to influence. Women are more likely to credit “luck” for their successes, perhaps because women who promote themselves are sometimes seen as less likable. But a little authentic self-promotion can prevent you — and those around you — from overlooking or discounting hard work.
5. Define success for yourself.
The answer to the question: “Do I have the ‘hunger’?” is a key differentiator between women who achieve senior leadership roles and those who don’t, according to another one of our research studies. Women who strive to reach the C-suite need to dig deep and find the drive and tenacity needed for that long and challenging leadership journey. On the other hand, research also shows that women tend to have more varied interests in career and life paths compared to men. If you’re not interested in the C-suite, that doesn’t mean you’re unsuccessful at all. What matters is for you to understand the keys to success for women and your own values, and then to be ambitious about pursuing that success, whatever it means to you. It’s all part of living with intention.
A Final Word on Gender Parity
Now that you understand the many different ways that organizations and individuals can work together to promote greater gender parity, talk with your colleagues about it.
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