International Women’s Day

Today is International Women’s Day, celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. International Women’s Day has been celebrated for over 100 years and over the last 50 there have been significant leaps forward however it is widely recognised that gender inequality still exists in the world.

In the UK, we have made significant steps in relation to the employment landscape over the last few years with the introduction of Shared Parental Leave and more requirement for transparency in reporting on equality issues such as pay. Last year, as part of this transparency, reported on salaries and how men and women compared. The results demonstrated a high disparity in the pay of men and women (a matter which the BBC has started to address).

As we look ahead, what we mean by ‘gender’ in evolving. The emerging generation is embracing gender equality in a much stronger way with gender fluidity adding a new dimension to the discussion. What is clear is that gender equality will continue to move forward (and rightly so) and therefore today we are asking you to consider how this is in your business. Here are some things you can consider to help you move forward:

• Look at your payroll, how do the salaries of men and women differ? Particularly in like for like roles.
• If you pay a bonus, how do these payments differ for men and women?
• Looking at your senior leadership team, what is the ratio? Is it 50/50?
• Thinking of your management teams, what percentage of your managers are women?
• Do you have bias in recruitment (either consciously or unconsciously), do you attract both sexes equally? When you advertise a job what percentage of applicants are women (could you change something in your advertising, wording, where you look that could change this) and from those applicants what percentage of women are offered a position?
• Is your culture respectful of everyone? Often ‘banter’ is used as an excuse for inappropriate comments and conversations however this is not an excuse. What do you expect from your managers in terms of the culture they are leading?
• Do you role model equality in your behaviours and approach?

We should mention that equality is also about treating men equally, with respect and there are certainly examples of discrimination against men too.

If you have any questions or would like us to help you create a culture that is more balanced contact us on 01325 288299 (option 2).