Due to their different viewpoints and ideas, the collaboration of men and women generally leads to better problem solving. Hence, more and more companies make it a priority to have a gender-diverse workforce. Research has proven that companies with diverse teams are able to be more innovative, creative and perform better due to the people’s different unique perspectives.
Furthermore, gender diversity in a workplace is a top priority for talent professionals that are looking for jobs, especially for women. So in order to attract women to a company, it can be beneficial to have a diverse workforce. But it can be a struggle to hire and attract women to a company. Here are several suggestions on how to get better at doing so.
1. More women in the pipeline
''The working lady is no longer a contradiction in terms but a new social phenomenon, emblematic of rapid developments.'' — Emma Liggins
Research show that once women are in the pipeline, they are more likely to get hired. The challenges of attracting women is to get them in the pipeline. While men often apply to job positions where they don’t necessarily meet all criteria, women are more likely to only apply to those job positions where they meet all requirements listed. Knowing this, companies should adapt their recruitment procedures to meet women’s behaviour.
2. Write inclusive job descriptions
Avoid gender-coded phrases and words in order to be more appealing to female candidates. A study by LinkedIn showed that if the word ‘aggressive’ appeared in a job description, 44% of women would be discouraged to apply to that position.
3. Share female success stories
Both men and women are highly likely to visit a company’s website and LinkedIn profile before applying, in order to research the company’s values, culture, and brand image. By sharing how women are achieving success in their positions across all levels of the company, your company will look more appealing to women when they consider applying.
4. Be transparent and provide benefits
For women it is very crucial that the job descriptions contain information about the salary - in fact, it is the most important part and ranked over qualifications and culture. Showing transparency in sharing salary ranges is a signal of fair pay and has proven to shrink the gender pay gap. Furthermore, women are encouraged to apply to positions at companies that offer additional benefits, such as flexible work, medical benefits and others.
"I want to be paid fairly for the work that I'm doing. That's what every single woman around the world wants. We want to be paid on parity with a man in a similar position." - Felicity Jones
5. Build a gender-diverse recruiting strategy
“A diverse mix of voices leads to better discussions, decisions, and outcomes for everyone.” — Sundar Pichai
By applying data from your internal workforce and comparing it to external benchmark data you will understand how diverse your current workforce is. Then you can act accordingly, set up goals for the future and build a strategy that will work towards achieving those goals. Let this be embedded in your brand image and be sure to let it be part of your communication to external stakeholders, such as future employees.
6. Be an attractive workplace
Make sure that your company culture is a culture that people want to be part of. By setting up initiatives towards gender awareness, career development and by building relationships across teams, seniority level and job function, your commitment towards gender diversity is put in focus. This is a top priority for especially women and can encourage them to apply to a company.
7. Gender diversity takes time
"The reality is that if we do nothing, it will take 75 years, or for me to be nearly a hundred, before women can expect to be paid the same as men for the same work." - Emma Watson
Many of the above-mentioned suggestions are time-consuming and take place over a long period of time, however, they come with several benefits in the long-term. Taking one step at a time will make your company more attractive towards especially women, but also men that value working in diverse workplaces.
Takeaways
- Create job descriptions and hiring posts with women in mind.
- Share success stories from women in your workplace, or other companies success stories - success starts with support.
- Be transparent, let women know why you value female talent in your organisation and what benefits can be expected when hired as an employee.
- Be open with your recruitment strategy - make it a habit to be inclusive with each step of the process.
- Prioritize gender awareness in your daily work life, have open discussions with your team on how better to be inclusive in the future and improve gender equality within the workplace.
- Get started! Gender equality takes time, and we are improving every day. The most important is to start taking the steps leading to change and actively consider gender equality in your organisation.
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