Essential Steps To Empower The Women In Your Workplace

Essential Steps To Empower The Women In Your Workplace

Women’s Day is the best opportunity to reflect and work on how to empower the women in your workplace and give them the platform and voice they deserve. Invest in training, be a mentor,  engage with equality programs, provide education grants, ensure their career growth and make sure the workplace is a safe space. These are just the stepping stones to making sure the women in your office are valued and have opportunities to grow. Here are some other ways to make sure you’re making a difference. 

Make Them Feel Heard

Making women’s voices feel heard at the workplace is of most importance to make them feel empowered. If she has a great idea, support her and make sure she gets the recognition instead of letting someone else take the credit. Make sure there are networking opportunities in your company that allow everyone a chance to engage with senior management. Invite inspirational women to speak at the office, and make sure that all employees can attend—not just women, allowing your employees to know that you not just respect someone’s work and ideas but also that everyone else should too.

Diversify Your Leadership

Leadership positions are rarely given to women with the same conviction as they are to men. Diversity starts with positions of power. How can female voices be heard if only men are in executive positions? Make sure that high achieving women in your workplace are recognised just as much as men in your succession planning. Encourage women to pursue opportunities at every level. By promoting women as much as men, you show that you value them and that you are invested in growing their skills and respect their dedication and work. 

Equal Wages For Equal Work

Even though this might seem obvious, the gender pay gap in India is among the widest in the world. According to the estimates of the World Inequality Report 2022, in India, men earn 82 per cent of the labor income whereas women earn only 18 percent of it. A simple way that you can help remedy this is to conduct pay equity audits regularly. Look for discrepancies between pay rate and ensure that all employees in your workforce with equal experience in a similar role are paid the same.

Implement Parental Leave Policies

 

Striking a work-life balance is essential to any workplace. Implementing policies that allow mothers and fathers to have a functional work-life balance is necessary to empower the people in your office. Take steps to ensure female and maternal health are recognized and accounted for in your policies. For women returning to the workplace after maternity leave, it is important to make sure that it is as easy and seamless as possible to integrate themselves back into the system. 

Make Your Office A Safe Space

Ensuring that your workplace is safe for women will help empower them even further. Putting sexual harassment policies and aids is essential to create this safe space. The reasons women refrain from reporting harassment or even assault in a work environment is often due to the lack of resources and a scary reporting process. Keeping the reporting process simple and respectful will help women voice their concerns. Make sure you follow through with these policies and take strict and immediate action for any demeanors. Other than this, keeping the communication open and two-way also creates a safe space. 
 
Women in the workplace are often undermined and unheard, reflecting on these biases and taking steps to resolve these issues will only help empower women and allow them to feel respected and valued at their company. 
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