Inclusivity and Diversity – Recruiting Women

In today’s competitive world, it is not only an ethical imperative but also a business imperative for organizations to create a culture that values and supports gender diversity and inclusion. By doing so, organizations can attract and retain top talent, foster a more positive workplace culture, and ultimately, achieve better business outcomes. A2023, McKinsey insight mentions that if companies were to narrow the gender gap, there will be an addition of $12tn to US GDP by 2025.  Such enormous impact holds true for global economy too.

Investing in programs that encourage women at the workplace is a “win-win” situation for employees and employers. Companies can reap rich dividends in the long run. Some of the benefits could be decrease in absenteeism, improved corporate image & earnings, attracting talent, and improved innovation.

Yet, women do not represent an equal workforce in most of the sectors. Barriers to women’s employment could be due to cultural as well as legal and administrative reasons. The absence of flexible, family-friendly policies along with traditional gender roles that assign women to household work, hinder women’s access to paid employment.

 A Gallup survey revealed the following:

The top five most important factorsfor women when considering whether or not to take a job with a different organization are:

1. Allows for greater work-life balance and better personal well being

2. Significantly increases my income or improves my benefits package

3. Allows me to do what I do best

4. Provides greater stability and job security

5. The organization is diverse and inclusive of all types of people

Yes, women are now setting up new benchmarks in their choice of workforce. So how do we go about it?

Here are few strategies for companies to have  inclusivity and diversity in workforce.

Addressing Discrimination

The corporate sector must increasingly be engaged in supporting diversity and inclusion. A diversified approach would certainly be a source of value for any company. Again, when we look at diversity, the focus should be on “No Discrimination”. It is vital to achieving equality as a share of power. There is serious discrimination against women in the form of remuneration, career progression, etc.

Improved Visibility

In the existing competitive market,talent is hard to find. A company should strive to achieve highly reputed recognitions for inclusive workplaces. For e.g., establishing programs such as encouraging return-to-work after maternity leaves or incentives connected to referral programs with a greater bonus for female recruitment. This would help in attracting female talent.

Welcome back women.

Openness to gaps in professional work experience may open additional pools of female applicants who paused their careers to focus on personal commitments. Skills and talents aren't just honed in the office -- exceptional female candidates might be one step outside of your current search parameters. (“Recruiting Women Takes More Than JustCompetitive Pay - Gallup.com”)

Create Neutral Job Specifications

A language is an effective tool when used efficiently. Professionals responsible for campus recruitment must be aware of the effect of their choice of words. The same vocabulary may appear differently to women in comparison to men. Using gender-neutral words would help.

Avoid Unconscious Bias

A company must avoid unconscious biasin its decision-making. If used accurately during the campus recruitment process, this could enable a company to connect to the people they are interviewing. Companies must include unconscious bias training as part of their workforce skilling programs.

Change Management

Individuals often have a bias in favor of preserving the status quo; change is usually not comfortable. The leadership team must support a change across the organization for women to have a significantly higher chance of being recruited.

Develop a DiverseRecruitment Panel

People usually recruit candidates who have attributes like themselves. Ensure diverse perspectives to the recruitment panel and listen to the response.

Restructure JDs

Design a job structure and requirement that is agile to the female workforce and their unique needs. By ensuring they are comfortable and confident to contribute, they will use their skills at work more effectively and thus increase productivity.

To sum it up, the next economic development could come due to the role that women play in the business environment since business dynamics improve drastically with the incorporation of female workers.

A prime reason Virtrio is vibrant is due to the women workforce who dedicate their hard toil for us to succeed. We Virtrians are proud to be an equal opportunity employer.

‍