The differential impact of the pandemic has compounded the predicament for women across all economic groups – be it battling on the frontlines, warped distribution of unpaid care, gender exploitation, or an escalated risk of domestic violence. Evidence from disaggregated data essentially reports the impact on the well-being of women at large with irretrievable social and economic consequences. With meager resources available for mitigating gender inequality, the call of the hour is to recalibrate organizational policies and diversify talent with women on the forefront.
We recently discussed the fallout of the pandemic and the exacerbating gender inequality by throwing light on how governments and stakeholders can mainstream policies for a more gender-balanced ecosystem. Essentially, envisioning how the voice of the woman can be more accurately represented is critical for expediting progress towards a gender-equitable workplace. The stark truth that the pandemic has exposed in the context of gender bias is an unprecedented challenge that can be conquered with ‘resilience, courage, adaptability, and collaboration’.
With compelling research on how women-led countries are managing the pandemic more productively, we can see that these nations are a direct reflection of a society that endeavors to drive inclusion and advocate gender parity. Observations on how countries with greater gender parity are managed are indicative of intrinsic feminine characteristics that are largely distinct from the conventional supervisory and controlling influence.
As organizations are striving to apply a gender lens whilst revisiting their policies, it has been observed that women have equal makings of a powerful leadership. The inherent qualities of pragmatism, resilience, and humility are some of the key attributes of a majority of women leaders. Equity in business leadership and across the board not only elevates cultural diversity but also delivers an experience of a profound organizational culture. Rethinking systemic progress to harness the power of all genders is the baseline for diverse leadership in organizations.
Numly has handpicked some of the key factors that can help drive organizational and behavioral changes to promote gender equity:
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Re-invent the workplace
With the new normal of how the pandemic is reshaping the workplace, businesses must grow to be more adaptive. The absoluteness of the pandemic has organizations looking to address the experience of the workplace as being ‘outdated’ and are endeavoring to stay on the ball.
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Re-evaluate core practices
Fostering practices and policies amongst senior leadership – and not just an individual to drive a shift towards inclusion is imperative. Organizations must combat gender inequality with the cognizance of female talent by introducing a comprehensive and systematic agenda in their best practices. This new realm of leadership ensures active participation of everyone’s intelligence in driving successful business outcomes.
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Offer support for new learning and development
Harness the power of senior women leaders to provide continual engagement for retaining women through developmental and reskilling opportunities. Strategizing a career path with flexible work policies to ensure career advancement is found to have a deep impact on employee retention thereof.
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Bolster leaders and managers to foster talent
The essence of equity at the workplace must begin with leadership development at the core. Mentoring managers and leaders with out-of-the-box coaching tools and training practices can help leverage their role in augmenting the participation of women in the workforce. A consciously led support for women in the selection and promotion processes must be practiced while providing developmental opportunities.
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Fortify diversity and inclusion beyond gender
Focusing on a culture where everybody is heard through diversity and inclusion. With inclusion, organizations are bound to achieve diversity as part of a cultural shift. Integrate global diversity into the organizations’ value-proposition by advocating equity as an integral practice. Diversity has been known to generate increased ROI, greater innovation, and elevated levels of employee engagement, productivity, and commitment. Organizational leaders must analyze the connection between their diversity efforts and business objectives.
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Practice a shift in mindset for a more empathetic workplace
With increasing turnover rates for women employees at workplaces posing a serious threat, it has become imperative for companies to place employee mental health and well-being at the highest priority in the face of the pandemic. Fostering empathy and compassion among employees helps create a feeling of solidarity and delivers a positive experience cycle. Promote women leadership for a gender-balanced environment by leveraging characteristics that involve resilience, courage, adaptability, empathy, collaboration, and cognizance of collective contribution.
Numly continues to recognize the extraordinary contributions made by women, especially in the face of the pandemic – be it in business, civic, and personal lives. However, the rigor of the progress that has been made as indicated in workforce demographics needs to see a sustained effort toward an organically diverse and inclusive workplace. Investing in inclusive leadership to unleash the true capability of diversity is a pivot point for sustained evolution in the workforce – where every leader asks the routine question of whether their actions are perceived as equitable.
Our prepackaged programs including the Women Leadership Development and D,E&I programs are focused on helping organizations increase women’s sense of influence in the workplace. We design coaching and mentoring models that enable businesses to build gender equity that is significant for women in the context of the fallout of the pandemic and is a ‘win-win’ situation for attracting, retaining, and engaging talent.
We also offer a host of reverse mentoring programs for managers that actively engage both men and women employees in creative thinking and innovation-centric strategy for the ‘future-proofing’ of businesses. Numly helps identify the right methods around achieving the central theme – organizational equity by leveraging the art of adaptability, both in thought and action across diverse cultures.
NumlyEngage is an end-end digital solution model designed to help transform organizations and their people through Peer Coaching and self-development programs. Fortifying women’s voices in leadership by breaking stereotypes and inspiring a change toward a more resilient workforce is the core of our practices.
Come and be a part of Numly’s Women’s Leadership Program – Get a chance to examine your strengths and gaps, get matched with fellow Women Leaders, and use the networking opportunity as a springboard for personal development. Know more at https://www.numly.io/championing-women-leaders-program/
