Equity in Our Lifetime: A 5-Point Action Plan

Note: This is part five of a five-part series, “An Audacious Goal: Achieving Gender Equity in Our Lifetime.” Click to read part one, part two, part three and part four.

People are talking about gender equity. Between #MeToo, #TimesUp and myriad other rally cries that pop up on social media and in the news, gender equity is a hot topic. Gender equality is often listed as a top priority for CEOs…but is that all it is? A social media mention or an item on a list? After the conversation stops, what actions are actually spurring on change in the workplace and women’s lives?

While gender parity seems an almost insurmountable goal, especially with the predicted 217 years to parity at our current pace, Pipeline™ believes we can achieve gender parity in our lifetime when the best choices are made.

We can achieve a workplace where men and women have equitable opportunities; where everyone who’s qualified has equitable chances of getting a promotion, pay raise or new job; where pay disparities are acknowledged and then rectified; where talent is represented across the board regardless of gender, from entry-level positions to the C-Suite.

Here is where we start to make this optimistic future a reality.

Related: The Optimistic Future

1. Monetizing the Benefits of Gender Equity

Gender equity comes with an economic cost (and an economic benefit). The gender equity gap causes us to lose out on trillions of dollars. Closing the gap would create an additional $300 billion in global annual spending and increase U.S. GDP by $2 trillion.

When gender equity comes to leadership roles and more women are brought into management and the C-Suite, companies see higher returns on equity, higher dividend payments and overall increases in profitability.

Related: The Financial Implications of Gender Equity

2. Embracing Inclusion

When inclusion becomes a key goal for our companies, everyone benefits. Companies in the top quartile for gender inclusion are 15 percent more likely to have financial returns above their respective national industry medians, 21 percent more likely to outperform their peers on EBIT margin and 27 percent more likely to outperform their peers on longer-term value creation.

Companies in the bottom quartile for gender, ethnic and racial inclusion are statistically less likely to achieve above-average financial returns. Conversely, there is a positive correlation between gender equity on executive teams and financial performance.

Despite the benefits of gender equity, only 22 percent of employees say diversity is regularly measured and then shared within their company.

When an entire company embraces a culture of equality, women are four times as likely to advance, men are twice as likely to advance, women can earn up to 51 percent more and nearly all employees are more satisfied with their future at the company.

3. Changing Our Processes

With women earning, on average, 80 cents on the dollar to their male counterparts, a pay gap exists for most women.

If the general consensus within an organization is that a pay gap does not exist, then the leadership team needs data to back up the claim. It’s worth looking into. Gender inequity is present in many organizations’ processes, and discovering those gaps presents an opportunity for improvement and better financial outcomes.

4. Relying on the Data

In order to change organizational processes and eliminate any unconscious bias within a company, data is required. Metrics and measurements are vital to understanding where an organization needs to improve and what consequences arise if they do—or do not.

While it’s important to know about performance processes and the number of women in leadership roles, it’s also important to understand the entire experience for women within a company.

• How are pay decisions made and how often do employees receive raises?
• What does their career path look like?
• What benefits are available to all your employees, male and female, that play a large impact on domestic duties and labor outside the office?

Once the data on gender equity within a company is gathered, it’s easier to make the best decisions to eliminate gender inequity in our lifetime.

5. Taking Action

Pipeline™ gathers data and puts it into our platform, which is engineered with AI that’s easy to understand and use. It shows your company’s time to parity™ and the recommended steps to get there faster, based on your current state.

Then, when it’s time to make a decision on hiring, pay or performance reviews, you can see the outcomes of your actions before they occur, allowing you to make the best decisions based on your gender equity and economic goals.

See how it works when you schedule a demo today.

© 2019 Pipeline Equity, Inc.