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Women In The Workplace – What You Need To Know in 2020

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Women In The Workplace – What You Need To Know in 2020

Research has repeatedly shown that various businesses create a financially successful company.

And while companies are desperately trying to diversify the workforce, the corporate ladder remains a tough challenge for women in 2020.

The infamous glass ceiling is gradually breaking down for women in senior positions. However, new challenges are emerging for women in entry-level and mid-level management positions.

In this article, we will discuss the challenges women face both in the recruiting process and in the workplace, and what companies can do to improve their gender inclusion efforts.

Read more to learn about:

  • Women and Glass Ceiling in 2020
  • What is a Broken Step – The Biggest Obstacle to a Women’s Career
  • Why Is There a Broken Step?
  • 5 Ways Companies Fix Bad Digits
  • 4 Things Women Can Do to Advance in the Workplace

Women And The Glass Ceiling in 2020

First, the good news.

A new McKinsey report shows that men and women show the same proportions for:

  1. Not leaving the labor market
  2. Seek promotion
  3. Negotiating salaries

Therefore, men and women have an equal playing field when it comes to career advancement.

And every year, more and more women become leaders at the C-suite level, thanks to the attention paid to the glass ceiling barrier, the invisible cultural barrier that prevents women from climbing.

In 2019, women made up 27.9% of the C-suite. By comparison, the representation level was 18.6% just 10 years ago.

women in c level statistic

However, contrary to popular belief, the glass ceiling has never been the biggest challenge for women in the workplace. Mistakes lie in their career development at a much earlier age.

What Is The Broken Rung – The Biggest Obstacle For Women’s Careers

As we mentioned earlier, most organizations have focused their efforts on promoting women at the top of the corporate ladder.

While this is positive, most women face difficulties much earlier in their careers.

  • Women are less likely to be promoted to managerial positions than men: 72 women for every 100 men.
  • 62% of the initial management positions are men, while the remaining 38% are women.

Women are less likely to be promoted on the corporate ladder than men before, and they find it harder to keep up with senior management roles. After all, you cannot become a managing partner if you have never been promoted to a department manager.

women climbing corporate ladder

This is the broken step and has not been widely accepted by leaders. And surprisingly, if there are women in the top management of the company, the breaking step is even more obvious.

Moreover, inequality does not affect everyone in the same way. Black women and women with disabilities face many barriers in the workplace. 46% of women with disabilities and 44% of black women say they do not have equal opportunities for growth and development.

The broken step is true even in Scandinavian models of gender equality that the rest of the world is trying to emulate. For example, the 40% female board representation quota in Norway had no effect on women working in mid-level positions.

That’s why there are more women in senior leadership than ever before, thanks to quotas introduced by some companies. But as the data shows, this is still not good enough. If we want to create real equal opportunities, companies must direct their efforts towards senior management from the very beginning of their careers.

That’s why there are more women in senior leadership than ever before, thanks to quotas introduced by some companies. But as the data shows, this is still not good enough. If we want to create real equal opportunities, companies must direct their efforts towards senior management from the very beginning of their careers.

Why The Broken Rung Exists

Career experts say women do their part. They are as qualified and eager to learn and progress as their male counterparts.

But there are two main reasons why women do not advance in their careers as fast as men.

  • Office rules. Most employees agree that office policy is more important than qualifications when it comes to executive selection. While HR managers disagree, employees have first-hand experience of someone well-loved by their colleagues, and that top management takes the management job, unlike someone who deserves it. Why is this a problem for women? It is well researched that women do not like to participate in office politics because it is “poor quality”.
  • Internal prejudices. We tend to overestimate how well men are and underestimate women’s performance. Often, men are hired and promoted according to their potential, while women are judged on their past achievements. This cognitive bias about how we support the two genders can lead to a great underestimation of leadership potential in women. What working women should know
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And women agree that outside forces are at play. 25% of women think that they do not receive a promotion or a raise because of their gender. 54% reported harassment in the workplace.

women in workplace statistic

Fortunately, more and more companies are making a commitment to increasing gender diversity. 56% of companies say hiring and promoting more women is a high priority.

This brings us to our next chapter.

5 Ways Companies Can Fix The Broken Rung

If companies hire and promote women at the same rate as men, there will be another million women in management over the next five years.

Here are 5 ways company executives can help achieve this goal.

#1 – Set quantifiable goals

Only 30% of companies set targets for promoting women to first-level management. In contrast, 41% of companies have quotas for female representation at C-suite levels.

Therefore, as part of their strategic goals, companies must set clear, measurable goals for women’s career advancement at every step.

#2 – Apply senior-level policies to junior levels

Companies already have policies to address glass ceiling. The next action plan is to apply the same practices earlier in the career line.

In the McKinsey report, only 6 companies out of 323 companies surveyed had low-level policies.

These promotion policies include:

  • Have a group of similarly qualified candidates with a variety of qualifications
  • Determination of specific evaluation criteria
  • Only discussing employee qualifications when making a decision
  • Involving or providing first-hand training for assessors and HR managers who have received unconscious bias training

#3 – Preparing women early on

If managers see that a woman is showing leadership abilities in lower-level positions, they should give them more responsibility.

They can help women manage their teams or projects and then give actionable advice on how to prepare for a management position.

#4 – Foster work culture

Quotas are not enough. Gender diversity only benefits when a company’s performance is accompanied by a work culture that emphasizes its importance.

Management should ensure:

Equal opportunity and justice promoting diversity
Work life flexibility
A safe and respectful workplace

Equal opportunity and justice

Removing barriers to equal opportunities doesn’t just help women.

When companies open their doors to different genders, nationalities, religions, races and backgrounds, they get new and better ideas and their performance increases. A diverse, fair workplace gives everyone the same opportunities and is curious about employee satisfaction.

Managers should start advocating more career opportunities for their talented subordinates. They should help women and other marginalized groups to steer office politics, get sponsorships and discuss career development. What working women should know
Women at Work – What You Need to Know in 2020, Search engine blog, What are the basics of organic traffic optimization, Search engine land, Flu vaccine 2020 price
What viruses will 2020-2021 flu vaccines protect against?
Women at Work 2020 – McKinsey, Is this the same vaccine purchase information given in the past?
What vaccine uptake estimates will the CDC provide this season?
How does the CDC track weekly flu vaccine coverage for children aged 6 months to 17 years ?, How does CDC track monthly flu vaccine coverage among pregnant women ?, What Every Woman Must Know ?, How do women become professional ?, What is the most common job for a woman?, What skills should a woman have?, What are the 10 life skills?, What are the 10 essential life skills?, What is the best trade for a woman?, What is a female dominated field ?, What is a good career for a woman over 40?, How do you work yourself as a woman?, What is the meaning of career woman?, How do women get respected at work ?,
How a woman should maintain herself?, What should every girl have?, What a woman should do for a man?

Work life flexibility

The COVID-19 lockdown has made working from home a welcome fact for some. There’s less stress, less commutes, and employees have more time to deal with personal issues.

Companies should see this as a lesson in adapting their policies to accommodate working from home if the employee needs it. This is especially important for women who sometimes need to go beyond their home life and make it difficult to focus on career development.

Companies should also allow women to take in more fruitless leave for personal reasons. While leaves are not forbidden, many women think this will hurt their career growth.

This is especially important when it comes to maternity leave. New fathers’ leave has been increasing (from 4 weeks to 7 weeks in the last 5 years). Meanwhile, for most companies, maternal leaves remain at 10 weeks.

These measures allow women to be more flexible in the workplace. You don’t want your female employees to feel they have to choose between their career and personal life.

Safe and respectful workplace

All the research discussed in this article points to a long road ahead of us towards respectful treatment of women in the workplace. Many feel discriminated against or harassed because of their gender.

Companies should empower women to talk about their negative experiences in the workplace, including harassment, unfair treatment or micro-attacks.

Managers and senior leaders need to start recognizing their prejudices and take steps towards modeling respectful behavior for their employees.

Policies against sexual harassment in the workplace must be respected and management must communicate verbally and through action that inappropriate behavior will not be tolerated or ignored.

All employees and managers who do not contribute to a safe and respectful workplace should be held accountable for their prejudices, words or actions. Women are happier when employers focus on accountability and recognition instead of empty policies in the employee handbook.

#5 – Encourage Women to Apply for More Roles

78% of recruiting professionals say diversity is a high priority for them. However, there are some relevant statistics that they should be aware of and be able to address.

Women apply for jobs 20% less than men and are 16% less likely to apply for jobs after viewing the job posting.

women in the workplace job application

This is because women do not apply for jobs unless they feel they are not 100% qualified for them. In comparison, the proficiency bar is 60% for men.

Women say they don’t want to waste their time and energy by applying for jobs they’re not perfect for. This scares women a lot of failure and rejection in the application process.

However, when they enter the pipeline, this belief works in their favor. When they apply, women are more likely to be hired than men.

So how can hiring managers get more women to apply for job postings?

Here are five encouraging recruiting methods to consider:

  • Improve the company’s benefits package and specify in the job application along with the salary range.
  • Diversify the decision-making panel to include more women.
  • Reach out and advertise with women-led organizations that offer equal opportunities for women. Make sure the job post reaches as many women as possible.
  • Advertise job postings at women’s colleges and universities and expand recruitment efforts to include candidates from a diverse background.
  • Make sure the job posting does not contain any gender-coded language that might discourage women from applying.

4 Things Women Can Do To Progress In The Workplace

Women and men are on the same learning curve. However, as we have seen so far, women are sometimes discouraged from office politics and prejudices assume executive positions.

Here are some advice for women at the beginning of their career on how to overcome the broken ladder:

  • Build a professional support network. Identify a small group of trusted older women who can help you challenge and advise you throughout your career.
  • These can be direct managers, senior professionals, teachers, and professors. Your professional support network is there to inspire and advise you, and it’s up to you to make those connections and follow their advice.
  • Talk. Your needs and experiences deserve to be heard. Ask your managers what you need. Talk about a promotion, raise, injustice or extra resources. Be bold and confident.
  • Take risks. Men are generally very confident, whereas women often second-guess their skills and abilities. Remember that you have been hired or promoted on merit. Do not be afraid to be authentic in your abilities and beliefs and take the risks needed to advance your career and ambitions.
  • Make being happy a priority. If you are not happy, your performance will suffer. Put your joy and happiness in the foreground in everything you do. Don’t be afraid to offend others in the process of not settling for less. Do whatever feels right to you and do it from a place of love.

Conclusion

In 2020, women have more opportunities and resources than ever before to be successful. However, our benchmark is a thing of the past, which is not so kind to women’s ambitions.

We are on the way to break the invisible glass ceiling that prevents women from taking responsibility. However, companies have not yet implemented best practices that encourage rectification of the bad digit.

The research has taken time and effort to suggest actionable steps on how to help more women climb, and we have discussed many of them in this article.

It is now up to companies to implement and implement these best practices to be successful.

Here we hope 2021 will find more companies that help women develop, grow and lead!

Do you want to raise your career? Check out some of our best articles on resumes, interviews, and more!

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