While organisations pledge to support women in the workplace, have you ever wondered why a number of issues related to gender inequality remain unresolved? Well, in short, work is not designed to suit the needs of women. Yes! In general, work requires us to spend an average of 8 hours in the workplace and also a few additional hours commuting.
In a world where women are still considered primarily responsible for household chores, how can we better support women in the workplace?
As women juggle multiple roles, they carry the burden of doing both paid and unpaid work sacrificing their mental health. This is because women have to constantly prove that they can do it and that they deserve a seat at the table. However, a seat at the table is not the solution, "we need to build better tables for women" Lilly Singh.
So, here are a few ways that we can better support women:
Making women feel heard; accepting them as they are; addressing employee grievances effectively and promoting flexible work arrangements.
Making Women Feel Heard
Women have a voice. However, in certain work cultures, women’s voices are muted. When women voice their opinions, they feel like they are being ignored, interrupted or unappreciated. At meetings, a woman’s suggestion is not considered, until somebody else confirms it. Such practices tend to silence women in the workplace leading them to feel unheard and unrecognised. Hence, it is important to let women’s voices be heard in the workplace. Let women's voices be heard!
Accepting Them As They Are!
Women are different! There is a reason why they are different. Differences make us stronger, similarly, when women are accepted as they are, it can make a huge difference in the workplace. Hence, it makes no sense to compare them to men. Instead, it is better to identify women’s strengths and help them develop their strengths. For example, women are known for their empathetic skills. Hence, empathy must be appreciated and developed in order to understand others’ perspectives.
When organisations start accepting women as they are, without criticising their unique strengths and skills, real change will happen. Women’s confidence will boost and they will feel comfortable in their own skin!
Addressing Employee Grievances Effectively
Ideally, in a psychologically safe work environment, employees feel comfortable raising a grievance. However, women feel embarrassed or uncomfortable complaining about certain issues such as harassment. Why? This is mainly because they lack trust in the grievance-handling procedure. Complaints may not be dealt with impartially, which leaves the victim blamed. Thus, it is easier to either ignore the problem (and pretend like nothing ever happened) or simply quit the job.
It is important to build a culture where every individual feels comfortable to make a formal complaint. In order to achieve this, they must be certain that the procedure will not backfire and that the matter will be dealt with confidentially and impartially.
Promoting Flexible Work Arrangements
Now that we have realised the possibility to work remotely, organisations can encourage more people to work remotely. Firstly, this saves commute time for employees, which they can spend doing some real work. Hence, it actually benefits organisations because employees are more productive sans their long commutes.
Secondly, since this allows individuals to work in the comfort of their homes, some women find this a great way to achieve work-life balance. Women love to work but do you know that their priorities change after they become mothers? If a child is sick, the mother is usually the first point of contact. She then needs to divert her attention to her child’s health and care for the child until the child recovers.
Thus, if organisations can promote more remote work and/or part-time opportunities, more women will be able to join the workforce and be more productive. This would allow women to make use of their knowledge and skills while taking care of the families.
Even in a broken system, women are not just surviving, but thriving! Hence, it is time that we take better initiatives to support them!
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