Gender Equality in the Workplace
On Friday 23rd June we will be celebrating “International Women in Engineering Day”. And despite all the changes and developments that have been made in gender equality, female workers are still earning far less than their male counterparts.So as an employer of female staff, what can you do as a business to help overcome these hurdles?
- One of the biggest ways to tackle gender equality is to look at the pay gap between your male and female staff. You should be assessing where men and women do work of equal value and restructuring your salary scales accordingly.
- You should also be encouraging your female staff to apply for promotions at work or mentoring women in the workplace so that they can become managers and leaders. Give your female staff opportunities to access training and to develop their leadership skills and grow as professionals.
- You need to support working mums. It’s hard enough returning to work after having a baby, but even harder when you are discriminated for having a family. Many businesses nowadays are offering their female staff part time hours, working from home options or job share positions so that they can still have family time outside of work.
- You can change the way you recruit new staff. Evidence shows that groups tend to recruit new members who are similar to themselves. So put your preferences behind you and look at the individual concerned – not whether they are a male or female candidate. Do they have the right personality and attitude for your business? Can you see yourself working with them and do they have the right skills and experience for the job? These are what you should be asking yourself – not what sex they are.