With the theme for this year’s International Women’s Day “Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow”, it was not surprising that a lot of events were organized around the theme of gender equality and breaking the bias. I have attended a couple of these events at Expo myself over the last two days.
We know – and this was rightfully mentioned and pointed out by multiple speakers - that the gender gap has widened because women have suffered disproportionately from the consequences of the pandemic. Most of us are aware by now that organisations are leaving a lot of money on the table by allowing the gender gap to continue. Multiple studies have pointed out that increasing gender equality in the workforce can and will lead to more innovations, drive better business results and therefore higher profits.
When it comes to realizing gender equality, there’s still a lot of emphasis on hitting the numbers, setting quotas. I do understand that this is the start to moving the needle, but there are some risks attached as well. A sole focus on just realizing gender quotas throughout the organisation might end up in a box-ticking exercise.
Narrowing the gender gap should also take into account the root causes for the existing inequalities and implement measures to improve. Furthermore, organisations should nurture and build an inclusive culture. Without such a culture, organisations will actually lose talent and face low retention rates.
At PREDIXA, we have incorporated the principles surrounding gender equality into our Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) diagnostic tool - Predixa Dynamix - that can be used by organisations to both monitor and review progress quickly driven by the power of #AI, and to act on improvements and report transformational progress to key stakeholders - including government departments. www.predixa.ai
Let’s acknowledge it…. gender inequality is a global issue and it is about time to move past the “talking” phase! Gender equality won’t come easy. Issues and barriers like unconscious bias, discrimination, lack of equal opportunities still exist.
The responsibility to address these hurdles and not only driving a dialogue for gender equality, but also taking actions is a joint responsibility. Each one of us can contribute, no matter if you are a woman or a man, a CEO of a big company or a Sales representative, living in Europe, the Middle East, or wherever globally.
Gender equality starts with you….. are you ready to walk the walk?
#BreakTheBias #IWD2022 #MakeEqualityReality #genderequality #diversityequityandinclusion #actforequal
