Every year, March 8^th marks International Women’s Day (IWD). This global initiative celebrates women’s social, economic, cultural, and political achievements and is a rallying cry for action in accelerating gender parity. And each year, there is a focused theme to drive awareness, connection, and action. This year, the campaign theme is “Choose to Challenge” because a challenged world is an alert world. And by challenging what we know to be wrong or outdated, we can bring about essential change.

As leaders in our respective organizations and communities, it marks a perfect moment to amplify and reinforce our commitment to gender parity with those we lead. The marked change will come when we are brave to challenge the status quo, make crucial decisions, and take action that, when added up, can move the needle to a culture of gender equity, diversity, and inclusion.

With this past year’s crisis and the subsequent ripple effect on the economy, healthcare, and general lifestyle of individuals and families, many women are no longer in the workplace. According to the National Women’s Law Center, the participation of females in the workforce has already declined to 57%, the lowest it’s been since 1988.

As jobs were lost, it often was at the cost of women in the workplace. The burden of caring for children while also stepping up to manage homeschooling again fell to women. With these ongoing pandemic-related challenges, many women have had to leave the workforce entirely to step into these caregiving roles. This departure has left a significant gap in talent, necessary diversity in the workplace, and created a massive global setback in gender parity.

What can we as leaders do to accelerate gender parity, particularly given these recent reversals in progress?

Understand that women are worried about what these setbacks will do to their careers and potential career progression. As they’ve taken on extra roles, they have subsequently burnt themselves out in the process. All of this has taken a considerable toll on their physical and mental health and well-being, and they are stressed and exhausted.

As supportive leaders who have the means to make a difference, we should make explicit commitments to their recovery and advancement and create actionable plans to make it happen.

Become a Prime Employer for Women

The IWD website is a wealth of information for showcasing, celebrating, and supporting gender parity. In particular, they outline how organizations can become a prime employer for women by forging equality in the workplace.

We thought we’d share that powerful list and expand further with some insights of our own into each of these ten actionable ideas.

1.   Demonstrate executive leadership commitment to gender equality

As we stated above, creating a plan for supporting women in the workplace and driving gender parity is a good start. But sharing that plan across the organization and showing every individual how they can help execute that plan is needed for its success.

Additionally, take meaningful action yourself, and work to be consistent and visible. Those you lead are looking up to you and expect you to lead by example. Your commitment to gender equality should be observable and measurable in your daily actions.

2.   Embrace a culture of diversity and inclusion

You can’t successfully change the organization with diversity alone. An inclusive culture is necessary to embrace the power and benefit of having a diverse workforce.

Too many companies have touted their diverse hiring numbers while failing to see the culture itself was counterproductive to the variety of talent they carefully sought. Inclusion ensures the unique qualities of the people hired can come together harmoniously and are welcomed and valued for what they bring to the table. There should be an environment that’s open to diverse perspectives and a commitment to advance those individuals without bias.

3.   Forge a female hiring pipeline from early career to executive level

Creating this professional growth pipeline isn’t easy and won’t be achievable overnight. But working within the organization, engaging groups such as HR and talent acquisition, and educating hiring managers and team leads is a good start.

There should also be a clear vision, strategy, and plan for hiring women, providing meaningful growth opportunities, creating pipelines for promoting women at the same pace as men, and rewarding women for performance. A culture of equal opportunity and a clear path for career growth is essential for women in the workplace to find their footing. Ensuring they feel supported in this growth, valued, and heard will determine the program’s level of success.

4.   Value and support flexible working arrangements

Most women take on more roles in and out of work than their male counterparts. They are more likely the family’s primary caregivers and continue to do more of the household chores. Add to this mix the remote work arrangements that will likely continue for the next year and potentially beyond, and you have someone who is performing double-double duty in and out of office hours.

Women are strong and resilient, but even the most capable will hit a wall.

It is crucial now more than ever to have one-to-one conversations with women who are struggling and ask how their lives have changed, where they’re most challenged, and determine how we as leaders can make it easier for them. Flexible working arrangements are likely going to be top of the list. The remote workforce has proven it can handle virtual work and, in many cases, are more productive. What does it matter at what time of day they do the job as long as it’s complete? Allowing flexibility to work around those things competing for their time, such as school schedules, is a critical barrier to be lifted.

5.   Provide formal avenues to address any concerns of bias

Historically, some were met with retaliation when women approached managers or even HR with complaints of bias or harassment. Subtle, and at times not so subtle, responses to their concerns made it difficult from that point forward. This archaic way of thinking and responding has no place in today’s workplace.

Develop new policies and procedures for women and anyone else experiencing workplace bias to come forward with concerns formally and for management to address them immediately. Help ensure there are no repercussions to vocalizing issues and set advance standards so that everyone understands the process and potential ramifications if they mistreat others.

Articulating a culture that supports zero tolerance for bias allows women and other diverse groups to know their voices are valued and their contributions welcomed.

6.   Ensure women’s inclusion from supply chain through to decision making

Having a seat at the table, having your voice heard, participating in decisions, or given the full responsibility of making decisions is traditionally given to the men in many workplaces. For decades it has been a challenge for women to get an equal say in any matter of importance. This omission has to change if gender parity is the goal. Effective leaders need to open the door to hearing the voices of women in the room. 

Next time there’s a high-visibility project, product development design, or decisions to be made on significant investments, be sure that women are provided the supported opportunity to lead and participate in decision-making.  Women may have a different perspective, but it is a perspective that needs to be heard and considered without bias.

7.   Ensure marketing and communications are consistently free from stereotyping

The messaging that permeates the market and the specific language used has been so ingrained in our heads that it can be hard to decipher how loaded with bias and stereotypes it is. Even things such as job descriptions display language that targets men and not women. Advertisements are wrought with stereotypes signifying the color pink for girls, using explicit language that assumes girls aren’t as smart as boys, or that girls only want to be princesses and not capable of being scientists. It’s everywhere you look, even though some headway has been achieved in the past several years.

As leaders of businesses, we have a unique opportunity to control messaging and communication. Examine every aspect of the organization’s communications. Think about your reaction if it were someone of another gender in the image. Think about whether your daughter or sister was the person being spoken to in this manner.  What’s on the company website and social media? How are job descriptions written? What are front-line employees communicating internally and to the public? What about the thought leadership and blogs which are published every day—what messages do those convey? Who’s writing them and getting recognition from the press and publicity achieved for the company?

Commit to a message audit and scrub out the bias and stereotyping which may be damaging the reputation of your business.

8.   Provide external support for women’s advancement

There are many ways we can show support to the advancement of women both internally and externally. As mentioned above, perhaps a targeted effort to showcase female talent through thought leadership authoring and public relations is a good start. Shining a spotlight on female experts positions them as valued change-makers and lifts their personal brand as well.

Look externally for organizations, foundations, or female-focused events. Seek opportunities to partner or sponsor these groups and put both your name and the organization’s brand in the public eye as a supporter. Take it a step further by showing active participation in those missions and the programs they build.

Touting these efforts on the company website and social media is good. Still, it’s better to show tangible actions that leadership and the employee population are doing to support these efforts. They must be consistent and steady. Employees also need to see that leadership is committed to the vision and know that their time towards these critical activities is encouraged if they participate.

There are several ways to show support with action and not just words. Be open to them and if you can’t find what you want to support, build something new and get others on board.

9.   Monitor progress and outcomes from equality initiatives and activity

Most companies these days have HR and corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs in place and then report the results of the year in the company’s annual report. These metrics are a great way to show shareholders, clients, and potential employees what an organization does and where priority is placed.

As we mentioned, with diversity and inclusion, you can’t have equality initiatives without building the right culture to support its inclusivity. Equality initiatives need to have a clear set of goals and well-architected plans to execute. Where appropriate, they should be measurable so that everyone can see the value and progress made. If it can’t be measured, programs may lose their support and the power they carry.

10. Maintain external validation of progressive employer practice

Sometimes it can feel awkward tooting our own horn to the public, but for gender parity, it’s necessary to engage external audiences sometimes to simply keep us honest.

There are several external groups such as Catalyst who monitor companies for best employer practices and bring visibility to those doing it right and those falling short. We can’t be afraid of the latter. We must be held accountable for the commitments made and seek groups like these to lend a hand.

We also can’t be afraid to admit if we don’t have all the answers or know how to execute. Experts can show us new methods or define pilot programs to try. That partnership can also be beneficial when it comes to validating to others how committed we are. Showing vulnerability that we might not know where to start or where to place investment and resources isn’t a bad thing. It can open the doors for others struggling with the same questions and build a sense of community in those trying to do what’s right.

These are just some of the significant actions organizations can take to accelerate gender parity. Each begins with that single commitment of a leader who wants to do better for the women in the workplace by building an equal playing field for all.

What actions will you take today to show support to the women in your workplace? Perhaps we can help you with your initiatives.