Ecosystem Need for Women to Flourish in the Workplace
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Introduction:
Women in the workplace play a significant role in a country’s overall economic performance and national productivity.
Gender gap index? Is this a big deal? Based on the statistics, women’s workforces constitute only 38 percent worldwide. The percentage decreases exponentially in the senior decision-making roles. At this current rate, it will take more than a century to bridge this gap. This is alarming.
At first sight, it may seem, that men and women are running the same distance relay race. However, the man is riding a bicycle and the female is running with a limb leg. A woman carries the baggage of maternity, caring need, household chores, and many other responsibilities and participates in the relay race.
The scenarios the woman goes through are radically different from the man. Corporates need to offer more than child-care-facility workplaces, flexible work culture, paid maternity leaves, and late-night work cabs. Just like a flower needs an environment to bloom, the woman needs an ecosystem to flourish.
Ten Steps on Ecosystem Need for Women to Flourish in the Workplace:
Women Role Model for Women: Woman relates more to women role models, witnessing the women mentors have gone through the same kind of struggles, setbacks, and dilemmas and succeeded in their journey by emerging as leaders. Allowing space for conversation, communication, and discussion beyond regular jobs with senior women leaders augments workplace productivity.
Periodic Skill Gap Index Check: A woman might not offer utmost priority to her career as she has other responsibilities. Instead of providing official feedback on skills only once at the end of the year, the enterprise ecosystem can be designed to provide the skill gap index periodically e.g once every two months. This will assert; that a woman is aware of where she stands on skill and take appropriate measures if needed.
Artificial Intelligence for Personalized Training Recommendation: Everyone’s skill is different and so is everyone’s skill need. An artificial intelligence algorithm can be utilized which can take input on various parameters e.g gender, qualification, available time, learning adaptability, current skill level, aspired skill level, interest, and recommend personalized training for women.
Flexible Skill, Hands-on Lab On-Demand: Flexibility can be beyond 9 a.m to 6 p.m day job. For women, flexibility in learning is key. These personalized training can be available online, and on-demand, so that women can learn based on convenience. However, in case the need arises, they can reach out to a physical instructor for guidance.
Fast Track Training for Mothers After Maternity Leave: It is often seen as a challenge to get adopted to work culture after maternity leave. At first, the woman herself is hesitant, whether the technology is updated during all these months, whether she will be able to adapt, whether her skill is up to date, the pyramid of questions clutters her mind.
The enterprise can have special fast-track technical training classes designed specifically for back-to-work mothers. Setting up clear goals, mentors and sponsors to support women will augment the process. This will help to bring her up to speed quickly.
Women Skill Support Groups: Women acquire skills better by interacting with each other and supporting each other. The enterprise can provide an ecosystem to form women’s skill support groups based on various criteria e.g experience range, same domain etc, so that the women can interact with each other, tend to each other to fuel skill and growth.
Shatter the Chain of Stereotypes: Women are most likely subjected to preconceived notions of who can do what, often subconsciously. They are offered roles that might not be mission-critical. As per recent research, only 12% of women are in cloud computing and single-digit women work as technical architects.
At various stages of their career, women are judged for their commitment.
When a fresher joins, she is subjected to biased thoughts like she will be married off soon, she will move to a different city might be in the middle of the project. Leaders need to be assured; a woman will do her job as well as anyone.
When the female gains experience, she is questioned on whether she can deliver the most complex technical solution, handle the executive role, can she take the strategic decision, can she innovate? We need to break the unseen glass ceiling and give her half a chance to prove her limitless capability.
As a result of unconscious bias, professionals start cluttering their minds with thoughts on whether she will stay late at night, and whether she can support on weekends given she has a baby at home, and a family to be taken care of. The typical typecast, label, the tag needs to be smashed and the woman deserves an opportunity to showcase her genuine raw talent.
Inclusive Ecosystem: Organizations need to foster an ecosystem to vouch for inclusiveness as a core competency. Women long for belongingness. The views, and viewpoints of ladies are equally important to be respected as men. Dysmenorrhea is acute pain for 20 percent of women. Period leave can be normal. A couple of things will never be understood by males as they can never experience these scenarios. Women often go through quid pro quo. They hear comments on their look, style, dress, attire, and color. Organizations can be more empathetic and take this matter seriously when someone brings this to leadership attention. The corporate needs more listening ears with no judgment.
A Shift in Mindset: Patriarchy plays a role, subtle and subconscious. Sometimes, a man doesn’t support the progression of a woman, as he doesn’t want to report to a female boss. The mindset needs a shift.
Counseling Sessions: It is hard for a woman to project her work and take credit for it. She feels shy in boasting about her achievements and many times, the outspoken takes advantage of it.
The counseling session can help the woman to be unapologetic in taking credit for the work being delivered. She can bask in her glory without feeling guilty. Women can be counseled for negotiation in promotion, salary hikes, higher roles, and responsibilities. This will help her to gain self-confidence and be part of the acing tribe.
Conclusion:
Before a woman, she is a human being. She is as capable as anyone. She needs equal opportunity, respect, responsibility, inclusiveness, and belongingness like any other in the corporate ecosystem.
We all can trigger events and make a world, where everyone flourishes.
