Sexism at workplace goes beyond the snide comments on women’s heels. The gender pay gap and workplace inequity based on gender doesn’t is an example of sexism at workplace that also results in a loss for the employers. Moreover, in today’s evolving landscape of genders and sexes, gender bias can make any workplace look unprogressive.
As a forward-thinking employer, you can take the following measures to support your female employees and reduce sexism at workplace:
Establish a Gender Neutral Hiring Process
Gender bias during the recruitment process can make it unfavorable for women to apply at your organization in the first place. Hence, reducing sexism in workplace begins with the hiring process. Prepare guidelines for HR and administration to reduce equity during the hiring process. From writing ads to scheduling interviews and maintaining equal pay to providing essential benefits, all hiring process steps should promote as much equity as possible.
Provide Equal Training
Many organizations don’t see their female employees as long-term employees. They believe that female employees can leave at any point to become full-time family caretakers. This belief can limit the employers from training and promoting female employees. However, it also limits the professional lives of female employees and the organization’s growth.
Organizations that practice gender bias when it comes to training and promoting employees promote gender stereotypes. The lives of all professionally successful women prove that female employees can be even more dedicated toward their professions than their male colleagues, despite the hindrances in their personal lives.
Provide Benefits that Promote Work-Life Balance
The fight for women’s rights continues even by the end of the first quarter of the twenty-first century. Even in today’s supposedly progressive world, many women are guilted into prioritizing their profession over their families.
As an employer, you can help your female employees achieve a work-life balance, so they don’t have to prioritize their stereotypical responsibilities and give up on their professional dreams. Providing female employees with benefits such as daycare centers, flexible work hours, and optional part-time workdays can significantly help.
Discourage Gender Discrimination at Work
Even if employers and HR personnel don’t discriminate between their male and female employees, male employees can often make discriminatory or sexist remarks at their female colleagues. If HR or administration doesn’t take any action, it can make the workplace environment demotivating for women. Hence, there should be clear policies against discrimination and sexism in workplace to promote gender equity.
Diversity the Team
Besides hiring and promoting female employees as male employees, employers should also actively hire employees from diverse backgrounds. Diverse backgrounds can include different religions, cultures, ethnicities, and genders. A diverse team of employees can develop stronger work bonds and respect for each other. A diverse team also benefits the organization by bringing various perspectives and unique ideas to the table.
Last but not least, encouraging these values also requires practicing them. As an employer, you have to believe in women’s rights and understand gender inequity at the grassroots level before you can preach about women’s rights to your team members. In short, be an ally for women, and it will translate into your business practices on its own.
