Diversity measures come in a lot of forms. Most importantly, adding individuals with diverse backgrounds and ways of thinking is important in your leadership roles. Does your organization focus on promoting women to leadership roles within the workplace? If you need to rethink your processes, here are some thoughts that can help you get started.
Address Work-Life Balance Issues
One of the biggest concerns for many working women is the lack of work-life balance that would allow them to be in leadership roles. There are often expectations for women who provide primary care in the family to be everywhere at once. Companies interested in promoting women to these positions need to address the issue fairly, which will also benefit the men in the organization.
However, it’s equally as important to recognize not every woman in your company has young children as a priority and the policies need to be fair for everyone. Women without children often feel they need to pick up the slack from others who leave early or have special considerations.
Close the Salary Gap
The wage gap does still exist in today’s workplace, so it’s important you review your own company policies and make changes to reflect that. When you hire new employees, be sure you’re providing equal pay opportunities.
One way to do this is to have a budget for the job before you see candidates. Don’t use the applicant’s former salary history to influence your pay structure at all. Instead, review the average salaries in the area for this position and pay based on the job.
Recognize Individual Strengths
Another concern many women have when looking at leadership roles is that they’re expected to conform to the way men in those roles have done it in the past. However, everyone in leadership should be able to bring their own specific strengths to the table.
Looking at women as one dimensional or as strictly emotional is also a bad line of thinking. While many women do excel in empathy, they can bring as diverse a mindset to the table as their male counterparts.
Promote Women of Color
It’s also critical when you’re developing your promotional strategy to ensure you’re drawing from a diverse pool of candidates. Promoting women in leadership roles should also be an opportunity to promote women of a variety of backgrounds as well.
Having more people and more ways of thinking at the table will only serve to improve your company now and in the future.
Do you have a program to promote more women to leadership positions? Contact Harvard Resource Solutions to learn more.
