Growth for One and All—Exploring 5 Ways to Support Women at Work

 Women represent 47% of all U.S. employees according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, but many workplaces still remain hostile to their presence. There are many ways to support women at work and create a space where they are able to perform to the best of their abilities but organizations need to open themselves up to change. 

Businesses that are welcoming to this segment of the workforce often make a dedicated attempt to improve the workplace for women, but there are many others who don’t know where to start with the process. Learning how to support women at work doesn’t require an employer to completely overhaul their work system, but it does require some attention to the struggles of the cohort to ensure they can be addressed and resolved.

Most women do not expect special treatment at their workplace but instead prefer they be treated and paid the same as the other workers within the organization. Let’s work on a guide on establishing workplace support for women.

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Understanding 5 Ways to Support Women at Work

Knowing how to support women at work can open up an organization to a vast, untapped talent pool that other competitors are missing out on. Women have historically made up a smaller section of the labor force and that remains true even now, however, this has more to do with the societal conditions and gendered expectations rather than a desire to avoid work. Many women are keen to work and earn a living, and they bring their own unique perspective to the work that they do.

With such a large section of workers willing to join the workforce and participate in the work fairly, it would be a shame to create an environment where they’re forced to quit and look for work elsewhere. 

There are many systemic changes that can be made to the workspace, like expanding the parental leave policy to allow birth parents and adoptive parents to care for their new child. Similarly, transparency laws guarantee that wages are publicly shared, so all candidates, including men and women, have a chance at earning a fair wage. 

These kinds of changes benefit all sections of the population, but if you want to start somewhere more feasible, here are five ways to support women at work. 

1. Review the Hiring Systems at Work

Our guide on providing workplace support for women starts right from the hiring process at the organization. Many recruiters have their own biases and reservations about the criteria for ideal candidates, and women are often skipped over despite being qualified. Hiring processes should allow for all candidates to have a fair chance at securing the job and should hence be checked regularly for signs of bias. 

Having a diverse hiring community is another way to improve the workplace for women. These individuals can ensure the questions asked or attitudes shown during the interview towards women applicants are the same as those towards male colleagues, equalizing the playing field for all candidates. 

These steps can go a long way in reshaping the reputation and enhancing the quality of the hiring pool of an organization. 

2. Create Strict Regulations on Discrimination and Harassment

Unconscious biases can exist among the workforce as a whole and need to be addressed promptly. Employers should make yearly efforts to update their guidelines on discrimination and harassment within the workplace. These policies should be communicated to the workers to ensure they are aware of the rules and the consequences of violating them. 

An unsafe workplace creates a negative environment for everyone involved and can be distressing to the entire workforce. All workspaces need to guarantee a degree of professionalism and this is only possible if the organization upholds the regulations themselves.

3. Be Accommodative of Flexible Working Hours

Creating an open and accepting environment for one section of the population does not have to mean isolating the rest. Many of the ways to support women at work also help their male counterparts. Remote work is an example of a work policy that has made it much easier for a larger section of the population to stay employed. 

From the recent resistance to return-to-work mandates, it is evident that workers prefer working from home for the most part or at least prefer a hybrid model of work. When the option is abruptly taken away, workers who were previously able to balance work and personal life now have to shift to place a greater emphasis on work. 

4. Recognize Achievements and Provide a Fair Chance for Promotions 

To improve the workplace for women, it is necessary for the organization to acknowledge its workers and their contributions to the workforce. When employees achieve success, hit personal records, reach milestones, or contribute to the company in a novel way, it is essential to recognize their contributions and share them with the rest of the team.

Employees thrive when their efforts are acknowledged and more so when they can see that working hard has a clear impact on their career progression. When it comes to learning how to support women at work, showing that there is a long-term position available to them at the organization is critical in retaining them. 

5. Provide Feedback and Mentorship to Support their Growth

There are far fewer women in leadership roles than there are men, making it much harder for women to chart out a career path toward senior positions. Instead of infantilizing women or dismissing their presence in the workforce as temporary, organizations need to actively work on providing these employees with constructive feedback on how they can grow.

Mentors who work with them to guide them through the shifting workspace can be an invaluable source of support for employees who are otherwise discouraged from working at all. 

These 5 ways of supporting women at work are only the start of the shift towards making the workplace more balanced. Fair wages and equal opportunities are the foundation changes we need the help women hold their ground at work, but these strategies we just discussed should not be underestimated either. 

The post Growth for One and All—Exploring 5 Ways to Support Women at Work appeared first on The HR Digest.

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