Companies in the top quartile for women in leadership are now 39% more likely to outperform their peers (up from 15% in 2015). It’s therefore no surprise that employers are increasingly eager to address the imbalance in their senior teams.
However, hiring alone isn’t enough. Despite progress, the comparatively small number of women who have overcome workplace barriers such as sexism and discrimination to secure senior positions are in high demand. They’re also unlikely to move to an employer trying to fill gaps through hiring alone.
88% of respondents to our global What Women Want survey said they want to know what their employer is doing to create a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace.
If companies truly want to build and benefit from a diverse workforce, they need to make sure they’re adequately supporting the upward mobility of women and marginalized groups already in their organization. This means offering policies, programs, and a workplace culture focused on developing the careers of all employees.
If you already have such initiatives but struggle to see the payoff, it’s time to troubleshoot…
Don’t you mean ‘equal access’?
Equal access means treating everyone the same, regardless of individual needs or differences, which can leave those facing workplace barriers at a disadvantage. Equitable access, on the other hand, provides each person with the resources they need to succeed.
1. Make sure you’re offering equitable access to training and education
While you may already be offering a wide range of training opportunities, there are multitude of often overlooked and/or invisible barriers and biases within your workplace that might be holding women back from accessing these resources.
Questions teams can ask in order to assess whether training opportunities are inclusive:
[ ] Is the training we provide offered flexibly or within hours accessible to primary caregivers (who are disproportionately represented by women)?
[ ] Is the training we provide advertised and offered to part-time employees (who are disproportionately represented by women)?
[ ] Are managers actively identifying and offering individuals training and development opportunities?
[ ] Are our training facilities delivered in a way that is accessible to employees of all physical abilities?
[ ] What other barriers could be putting women and marginalized groups off accessing our training opportunities?
2. Similarly, are you offering equitable access to promotion-worthy projects
Your company may have worked hard to ensure it provides a fair and equitable performance evaluation process. However, like most organizations, the results of this process are likely skewed by a disparity in the distribution of opportunities to gain accolades and promotions. More specifically, the opportunity to take on projects that will lead to promotion.
“Not all assignments are equal. In every organization, in every field, there are multiple types. Some can set you up for promotion and skyrocket you to the top of your company — we call them glamor work. Other assignments are necessary but unsung. We call them office housework. Some are actual housework — getting the coffee for the morning stand-up, or cleaning up after a lunch meeting — and some are the unsung operational or administrative work that keeps the company rolling along.” Professor Joan C. Williams in the HBR article, For Women and Minorities to Get Ahead, Managers Must Assign Work Fairly
The study ran by Williams is just one of many proving that “women and ‘people of color ‘do more office housework and have less access to glamor work than ‘white men’ do”.
Questions teams can ask in order to assess whether project opportunities are inclusive:
[ ] Are current “housework” tasks divided equally and formally recognized in our current review process?
[ ] Could the unfair distribution of current “housework” tasks be putting women at a disadvantage for taking on promotion-worthy projects? If so, how can this be addressed?
[ ] Could your next “glamor project” be led and performed by a part-time employee (a demographic we know is over-indexed by women)?
3. Make sure you’re offering equitable access to coaching, mentoring, and sponsorship opportunities (especially those within marginalized groups)
Coaches, mentors, and sponsors are one of the most effective ways to support the upward mobility of team members — and improve both diversity and retention. For example, research reported in the Business Harvard Review reveals that, on average, mentoring programs boost the representation of Black, Hispanic, and Asian-American women, and Hispanic and Asian-American men, by 9% to 24%.
However, many respondents to our most recent What Women Want Survey cited difficulty finding or accessing mentorship within the organization as a barrier to their own development. This is especially true for those from underrepresented backgrounds.
“Finding the right mentor can be especially difficult for women and marginalized groups whose networks don’t already include senior figures in their chosen sectors. Similarly, employers can struggle to support these efforts as their own senior leadership teams already lack representation — but it’s not impossible. For example, employers should actively seek out and support individuals to access relevant mentorships schemes and programmes.” Chrissy Wakelin, DEI Account Manager at WORK180, in the 2024 What Women Want Report.
Questions teams can ask in order to assess whether project opportunities are inclusive:
[ ] Do we have diverse representation among our mentors and sponsors?
[ ] Are we actively identifying and addressing barriers that women and marginalized groups face in accessing these programs?
[ ] How do we ensure that feedback given within these programs is constructive and free from bias?
[ ] Are our program goals and outcomes regularly reviewed to ensure equity and inclusivity?
[ ] What steps are we taking to create a safe and supportive environment for open communication within these programs?
[ ] Are we seeking input from women and marginalized employees on how to improve these programs?
Determined to get it right?
You can find even more insights and actionable guidance for creating a workplace where everyone can thrive in our annual What Women Want Report.
If your team is keen to see real results in this space, then we’d recommend learning more about our proven process for driving gender equity by +7% (in just 12 months).
This supported step-by-step approach is even helping our Endorsed Employers increase gender representation up to 12 times faster than the national average — and they’re raving about the results.
