As a leader, how are you making progress in gender equity within your organization?
I’ve been writing about this in recent posts. Despite the progress we’ve made in bridging the gender gap at work, I see many barriers holding women back. Fortunately, there are steps leaders can take to address, prevent, and mitigate barriers.
Attract the Best
When this topic comes up in coaching conversations, we explore existing hiring practices. For example:
- How do you attract strong candidates, both male and female?
- Do you work with a recruiter, and if so, what are their methods? If not, how do you ensure you have gender diversity in your pool of candidates?
- Are job descriptions clear, written with gender neutral language void of superlatives? What about qualifications?
- How do you determine which applicants to interview? Do you use a weighted scoring system? Is screening and interviewing done by a gender diverse group? If not, what is your methodology?
Consider this: blind auditions, that is to say, resumes that are anonymized by omitting names or any indicators of gender, increase the number of female applicants who advance in the process.
Retain the Best
In a previous post, I wrote about some of the barriers that prevent women from advancing within an organization, including those that exclude women from opportunities to bond with their peers and colleagues. For example, sports activities, community events, or mentoring programs that take place outside the office can lead to greater trust, collaboration, and connections. But, do women in your organization have access to these opportunities? When women are treated as equals, both inside and outside the office, mutual support grows.
Day-to-day processes also require review for potential barriers to women. For example, when task segregation occurs—when women are expected to complete less-rewarding work—they are denied access to more challenging and career advancing work. Being transparent in the promotion processes, including career development, is critical.
In Glass Half-Broken, authors Colleen Ammerman and Boris Groysberg share that women who move up into leadership positions, “tend to be those who have mentors and sponsors earlier in their careers.” They note that, “the most important decisions made about your career usually happen in a room that you’re not in.” Ensuring equitable processes to attract and retain great male and female talent is critical for every organization.
What do you think? How much progress have you made in gender equity in your organization? I’d love to hear from you. You can reach me here, on LinkedIn, or give me a call: 561-582-6060.
