The main aim of the United Nations Sustainability Development Goal 5 is to achieve gender equality and empower all women & girls in both private and public spheres of life by 2030. It must be noted that women do 2.6 times more unpaid care and domestic work as compared to men. According to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, only 36% and 25% of women hold important positions at the local government and national parliament. Noting with deep concern, women globally occupy less than a third of senior and middle management positions. Now let’s understand the meaning and importance of gender equality and inclusiveness in the workforce of an organization.
Equality is defined as the fair treatment meted out to everyone irrespective of their gender, financial status, disability, nationality, age, race and sexual orientation. Equality does not just mean equal treatment for all but more than it means that the individual has their right to be different. The two branches of equality are diversity and inclusiveness. Diversity means understanding, accepting and valuing the differences between people including those of different gender, disability, nationality, age, race and sexual orientation.
It also means to value people with different academic qualifications, skill sets, experiences and knowledge. Inclusion is all about making sure that every person in society is valued, respected, heard and supported. Inclusion creates a sense of belongingness amongst the people in the society. With this introduction to inclusion, equality and diversity, now let us understand the meaning and importance of gender quality & inclusiveness in a workplace.
Before entering into Gender Equality and Inclusiveness in the workplace, I would like to cite a quote by Tian Wei of The CCTV News. The quote stands as follows – “Any society that fails to harness the energy and creativity of its women is at a huge disadvantage in the modern world.”
Gender Equality at a workplace is all about making sure that the people are given equal opportunities, equal pay and their differences are respected. The main aim of Gender equality in the workplace is to remove discrimination to create a conducive and creative work environment. According to a study conducted by the Harvard Bussiness Review, 78% of the employees experience a lack of diversity in the leadership roles of their company. Inclusion means that everyone in the organization feels involved, valued, respected, treated fairly, and embedded in the organization’s culture. Empowering all employees and recognizing their special talents is part of creating an inclusive company.
The benefits of gender equality and inclusiveness in the workplace are attracting and retaining competent talent, boosting Collaboration, enhancing the Brand Value of the organization, increased productivity, increased customer base and increased employee engagement. The author Hemanth Kumar is associated with Mobility Alliance and Social Sustainable Foundation (MASS Foundation), and you can reach him at info@mass-foundation.org