Women matters: What they want and why are they important in the workplace

The global outlook of having more women employees in the workplace is on an upswing and we have studies that tell us women not only complete more work on average, but they are assigned 55 percent of all work, compared to 45 percent assigned to men. (World Economic Forum)

However, that is a small speck in the spectrum of all what a woman brings into the organization. A scientific study named‘What Women Want’ conducted in partnership with the Centerfor Creative Leadership (CCL®) and Watermark proves that women bring the following into the workplace.

• More job satisfaction
• Higher organizational dedication
• More meaningful work
• Decreased burnout

Women matters

Undeniably a significant shift has taken place in developed countries and the backward nations are also waking up to the idea that a woman is fully capable of playing the dual role—a career person and a homemaker. Men have also played their part both at home and in the workplace facilitating women to pursue a career. The following factors have led to the increase in female numbers at the workplace.

Supportive bosses

Both men and women need supportive bosses and multiple studies have been conducted to deduce which group is more supportive than the other. The recent study called ‘What women want’ says “In our study, people with female bosses reported their bosses were more supportive of their career development compared to people with male bosses.Moreover, when we explore the data by participant gender, we find that for men, both male and female bosses were equally supportive; but for women, male bosses were rated as less supportive of career development than female bosses.”

Furthermore, the study reveals, “Women bosses might also be more effective at helping their subordinates manage the pressures of the workplace. Among our respondents, people with female bosses reported feeling less burned out compared to those with a male boss.”

Women encourage women hiring

When the number of women expand in organizations a multiplier effect takes place with women attracting and retaining more women representatives thus boosting the overall diversity number. However, in many cases, diversity receives a force only from the top of the organizational structure thus meeting only the bare minimum number of women representatives. To reap the full-fledged benefit of an innovative and creative culture the desire to hire more women should run both ways in the backbone of the organizational structure. In short,management should take a careful look at the gender balance in theirorganizations. If women are still the minority,they should make an effort to hire more women.

Women in leadership roles

Even though a steady progress has been made of increasing women participation in the workplace but very few reach the top. The question is why are there fewer women in coveted roles such as CEOs, CFOs and CHROs?

Some of the challenges women face in reaching the top stem out from socio-cultural background. For instance, during their growing years they receive lesser encouragement to lead, compete, take risks in comparison to their male counterparts. In addition, senior levels require greater work hours and more travel which women find it difficult to balance on account of family duties. Last but not the least, an unconscious bias runs in the hiring process with the job description aligning more with the persona of the ousting CEO, a male probably which influences the selection of another male member.

What women want from the organization

Leaders should make sure women have the same opportunities as men for career development and professional growth.

A mentoring environment and a better work life balance so that women can shine both at work and home.

Eliminating biases, favoritismand stereotypes would help to increase women numbers, especially forroles that have predominantly witnessed more male representatives such as technology and finance.

The gender-pay gap has made enough trouble for working women and now more than ever there is a compelling need to fill the gap.

According to a 2020 research by Payscale, the median salary for men is roughly 19 percent higher than the median salary for women. This figure represents a 2 percent improvement from 2019 and a 7 percent improvement from 2015, when the median salary for men was roughly 26 percent higher than the median salary for women.

Conclusion

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the employment statistics of 2020. It has forced a large percentage of the population to work remotely, many have been laid off while the danger looms over the horizon for others. Women are more vulnerable andcarry the risk of suffering greater penalties during the crisis.

In the wake of catastrophe, business leaders should be cognizant of the impact of their responses on women matters or the diversity agenda. It should not be forgotten that the collective strengthof innovation within organizations stems from the diversity of people. A diverse workforce is a melting pot of cultures, which gives birth to greater quality of ideas, efficient implementation, and improved outcome.