If you keep up with the news like I do, you know that the bad often gets more attention than the good – and that’s not right! The same is true for gender diversity. When stories like Microsoft’s Satya Nadella’s error on equal pay make the news while the National Association for Female Executives’ report on the best workplaces for women goes unnoticed, it shows there’s an issue. After all, news can shape our view of reality (like in House of Cards) – so let’s highlight companies that are succeeding in achieving gender equality.
Nestle Global
As a company who’s doing great things in gender diversity I’ve already mentioned Nestle in my interview with Sue Johnson. Their diversity program is pretty rock solid and is doing some great things globally. A couple of their steps to achieve gender diversity are:
Focusing On Management: It’s not enough to just promise a gender-based quota at the management level. You need to take action to make it happen. Nestle achieves this by nurturing talent and making sure both men and women advance to managerial roles. They consider the whole process instead of just the final outcomes.
– Signed The Women’s Empowerment Principles In 2013: Sometimes it’s easier to accomplish difficult goals when you’re doing them together as a group. In partnership with other companies, this initiative organized by the UN gets leaders to take seven steps to advance gender equality. They focus on the workplace, market, and the community.
I’m thankful that a company like Google is making this list. It would be a shame if they didn’t. They actually have 30 percent women in their workforce, which is a good number for a tech company. A few of the highlights from their gender diversity programs include:
– Google Women In Engineering: Women in this did often have trouble networking with others. That’s what this program sets out to achieve globally. It’s about knowledge enhancement, connections, and support.
– Google Business Groups – Women in Business: An effort supported by freelance trainers across the globe which focuses in getting women into businesses online using the technology provided by Google. It goes to show that if you give people a platform for people to shine they’ll power it with their best.
Here’s the thing: gender diversity isn’t just about having nurseries in the office and flexihours. It’s about thinking out of the box and providing opportunities that really help women grow professionally.
Please share any impactful ideas you have in the comments below.