Why Companies Need Clarity Around Gender Equity Goals
Why defining, setting and measuring progress towards equity goals is critical to advancing workplace gender equity.
Many companies claim (sometimes aspirationally) to be diverse organizations that treat all genders equally. Too often, the reality behind this assertion begins and ends with government-required boilerplate sexual harassment training. While this training is important, it acknowledges—and thus can only address— only one of the many forms of gender inequality. Employers want their company to be experienced by their workforce as egalitarian yet they fail to advance gender equity practices via their company policies and operations which makes realizing that goal a challenge.
It is commonly recognized that gender equality is a future-facing goal, so promoting gender equity in the workforce benefits economic growth is everywhere. For employers who genuinely want to make their workplaces more just (and consequently, more successful), it’s essential to approach gender equity goals the same way they would approach other performance goals: by defining and setting concrete objectives and measuring company progress toward achieving them.
Reasons to Create Cleary-Defined Gender Equity Goals
Here are just a few reasons why it makes sense for businesses to conceptualize a clear, concrete vision of what successful gender equity looks like in their particular organization:
Merely asserting that equality is a fact—or even a goal—does not make it so. Company policies and procedures that reflect real gender equity require education, input from all employees at all levels, assessment of a company’s current performance and future capabilities, conscious effort, accountability, and continuous progress.
To be useful, equity goals must address specific equity problems. In order to gain optimal traction and buy-in with company goals for gender equity, leadership and employees alike should understand which kinds of injustice their policies are designed to address. This requires an awareness of current major forms of gender inequity, how they manifest themselves in company policy, how policy impacts marginalized genders, and how this affects company success.
It’s impossible to achieve any goal without first defining it. Otherwise, it will always be unclear whether or not the goal has been achieved. Once leadership and employees understand which problems need to be addressed, it will become much easier to define and establish gender equity objectives.
It’s impossible to measure progress without concrete milestones. Achieving real gender equity in the workplace takes time and is accomplished one metric at a time. Having clearly defined intentions allows business leaders to measure how far their company has come along the journey and what still remains to be done.
Achieve Workforce Gender Equality With Gender IDEAL
Gender IDEAL helps companies to make their workplaces inclusive, diverse, and equal in access and leadership for all genders, particularly for women of color and women of different sexual orientations, gender identities, religions, economic backgrounds, and abilities.
We have tools to help your company through the whole improvement life cycle. This includes diagnostic assessments, benchmark and recommendation reports with a custom action plan designed for your company, and the resources and support you need to put those recommendations into action—including a plan for reproductive health protection.
Contact us today to learn more about beginning our 3-step journey to improved gender equity performance!
