Business expansion and growth are the two areas of expertise every founder craves for. In the age of information, expansion of business is affected by many different things. But how do social issues such as gender bias affect your business? Let’s find out. We were taught about how everybody around us has equal opportunity to play, learn and celebrate. Gender, caste, race, all these were just terms for us with no literal meaning. As we move up the ladder, society around us starts to implement its rituals on our way of things. Our thought processes become biased and we start to reflect on life in ways people do so around us. 

But what exactly happens to our work life? How does thinking change our behavior? What makes us commit things like gender bias and inequality in the workplace?

What is Gender Bias?

Women professionals have been facing discrimination for a very long time. The gender-biased society thinks men are more productive at the workplace than women. This social norm is further divided into conscious and unconscious bias. Conscious bias is where somebody knowingly expresses bias towards women. Unconscious bias includes expressing bias without explicit intentions towards women at the workplace. Due to the subtle nature of the norm, unconscious bias is more common among corporations. The trend has been in the picture for a very long time now and it can affect negatively on the growth of an organization.

Gender Bias at the Workplace – [Reality Uncovered]

The unconscious bias women experience in the business world is just one of the many faces of gender bias. The face of gender bias gets uglier as we try to uncover its truth. Predefined notions such as women can’t work in tech fields or finance industry for that matter. This proves how gender bias has been in the system for a very long time but mostly behind the doors.  Women at the workplace are facing bias for a very long time in terms of pay. A recent report suggests, more than 70% of the women at the workplace are paid less than men who do exactly the same job.

The Relation Between Gender Bias and The Growth of An Organization

Gender bias at the workplace has become today’s reality because some people think it is best to get rid of women to safeguard the organization from the aftermath of a sexual harassment case. According to a report, 31% of young women reported sex discrimination while working or looking for work.

The present-day workforce, especially in big corporations became strictly inclined towards men to altogether avoid harassment cases. Women in such scenarios didn’t get the chance to crawl up the ladder and hold decision making positions at such an organization. This results in most of the decisions in favor of men and women were further suppressed. Continuous bias against women can affect the organization in any form such as:

• A linear approach towards most of the decisions.
• No diversity in the pool of thought process, making the organization stagnant in growth
• Low job retention among female employees due to inequality and gender bias attitude.
• Unhappy employees due to the psychological impact of bias. This ultimately affects the performance of employees which reflects in the company’s growth.

Why Does Your Organization Need Gender Equality

Gender equality at the workplace brings change in the society which reflects the growth of organizations. As we stated above, gender equality also brings diversity in the way an organization thinks.  Business leaders rely on their team to bring a varied pool of skills on the table. Investors and new talent look forward to being a part of more diverse organizations.

According to a report, companies with a strong history of gender diversity are 15% more likely to have higher earnings than their competitors. Gender equality in the workplace also means making sure women are paid the same as men for equal work. In a nutshell, we can say, your company requires gender equality because:

• You can not afford to lose on great talent- Over 50% of skilled workforce in the world are women. A gender-equal company can tap into this opportunity to hire the best of the talent, irrespective of the gender. According to the Global Gender Gap report, women are increasingly more educated in comparison to men.
• Companies with gender diversity earn more. According to the Credit Suisse report on Gender Diversity and Corporate performance, there are various reasons why the company’s performance and gender diversity are related. One reason is that diversity brings together varied perspectives, produces a more holistic and complete analysis of the issues faced by the company and stimulates greater effort, leading to better decision-making which results in increased profits.
• It’s great for building a culture– A gender-equal workplace celebrates good culture which supports the productivity and well-being of the employees. Cultivating a sense of mutual understanding among the sexes can help society flourish and strengthen the global economy.

Importance of Gender Sensitization & Anti-sexual Harassment Training at Your Organization

Statistics clearly explain how women are being suppressed at the workplace for their rights and equality. Conscious and unconscious gender bias is a sad reality of the present. To help solve the issue and bring equality among the women workforce, gender bias training is the solution. Sensitizing the team to understand the deeper roots of gender bias help them to realize the issue with much more clarity and help eradicate unconscious bias. 

Through gender bias training, you can learn about gender sensitization and mandates prescribed by the law about sexual harassment and gender bias at the workplace. Moreover, gender bias training can help you in:

• Understanding and differentiating between inappropriate and appropriate behavior at the workplace.
• Making your workplace productive and welcoming.
• Bring a major change in the way we function as a society and make it easier for women to contribute to the economy.
• Safeguarding your organization and keeping you at the good side of the law.

Awareness training programs are now a necessity for every organization. The law made this training mandatory for any organization with 10 or more employees to train their employees to prevent sexual harassment.

We, at Rainmaker, are poised to help build safer workplaces through our training modules. Our training modules are designed for employees, managers & IC members. Sensitized and trained employees make a safer workplace.

If your organization is not PoSH compliant, you can request a training program in order to make a better workplace that is free from sexual harassment.

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