CEOs are prioritizing gender equity — 78 percent of them have included it in their top 10 priorities.
Gender equity is a worthwhile undertaking. In addition to positively benefiting society, it expands the economic footprint of a company.
Achieving gender parity starts with simple, yet crucial, actions that can be taken in every organization.
Here’s where to start.
1. The Hiring Process
Internal hiring is an opportunity to move a company toward gender equity and reap the associated economic benefits. Using data and facts, base promotions on the best fit for a role, while leaving unconscious bias at the door. Champion those who deserve acknowledgment and base salaries on fairness.
Related: The Missing Piece of Your Hiring Process
2. Create a Culture of Inclusion
An inclusive culture with a focus on equity is better for everyone, both men and women. Organizations that demonstrate such are shown to have a 95 percent employee career path satisfaction rate, wherein women can earn up to 51 percent more and are four times as likely to advance, and men are twice as likely to advance.
A culture of inclusion should also look at the role men play in gender equity (gender equity isn’t a synonym for women’s rights). Provide all employees with workplace flexibility and normalize caregiver leave for both women and men. It’s shown men who have better access to flexible work environments are more productive, perform better, can take on more work and are more present.
When men are freed up to spend more time with their families and take on more of the domestic workload, women benefit, too.
Related: Gender Equity as a Men’s Issue
3. Welcome Breadwinning Mothers
Breadwinning mothers make up a huge portion of our workforce — Moms are the breadwinners in 40 percent of U.S. households with children under the age of 18 — and it’s incorrect to assume mothers are less committed to their work and therefore a less valuable in the workforce. Yet, it happens. Currently, women experience a 4 percent earning drop in hourly wages per child. Meanwhile, mothers are the most productive employees over the course of the careers.
As the United States faces a workforce shortage of 5 million employees in less than two years, how can we afford to underutilize this talented group?
By ensuring equitable opportunities for breadwinning mothers, we ensure the current and future labor force.
4. Take a Data-driven Approach
Leveraging new technologies decreases a company’s time to gender parity. When gender equity within your company is data-driven, it becomes a quantifiable opportunity.
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For example, Pipeline™ uses artificial intelligence (AI) to operationalize gender equity while simultaneously boosting companies’ financial outcomes. Pipeline’s own research showed that for every 10 percent in gender equity toward parity, businesses experience a 1-2-percent increase in revenue. When a performance review, promotion or salary decision is required, Pipeline’s AI analyzes a company’s data and then makes recommendations. These equitable recommendations promote both men and women — whoever is the best fit — and then calculates a company’s economic gains if they take the recommendation.
Related: Can AI make the gender gap at work disappear?
See first hand how Pipeline™ puts companies on the path to gender parity and the resulting profitability.
© 2018 Pipeline Equity, Inc.