Is your organization Female Friendly?

Are you treating your women with respect?

Women have work requirements that differ from men in many ways. More so, with the balancing act that many professional women have to perform, their professional requirements may be far more stringent than their male counterparts.

With increase onset of women in employment, many or the organizational dynamics have had to change. While some have welcomed this change with open arms and minds, there are still many who seem clueless about it.

So how does one ensure that their organization is female friendly?

Fixed Working Hours:

To be a female friendly organization you need to have fixed hours. Expecting female employees to “stay back” and complete a tough target would be wrong. More so, addition to work at the last minute could lead you to lose a perfectly good employee, for something fairly unimportant.

Scope for Delay: A female friendly organization will not be so stringent as to put work pressure on the female employees. Any corporate big shot would opine that people work best without pressure. Whether it is for your male employees or female, it is essential to ensure that not so much pressure is put on them that they fold under it. Keep some room for delay!

Chaperoning for conveyance: In case if working late hours is required, an organization should not only offer conveyance like pick-up and drop, but also suitable chaperoning. One cannot ignore the fact that women’s safety is becoming a major concern. Do not let them travel all by themselves in a cab, ensure that there is full record of the drivers, keep an “emergency” number for employees to call in case they feel like they may be in an unsafe situation.

No Sexism: Many people opine that women tend to get emotional with their work, and hence cannot be made to handle higher posts and bigger responsibilities. This mindset is something that is keeping Indian organizations from reaching their true potential. If you have a female employee who works hard, works well, gets results, manages other employees well and in sync with the company dynamic, don’t let their gender come in the way of their growth. Look beyond the sex of the employee, and focus on their efforts.

More Professionalism: With organizations keeping an open door policy for employees and bosses having a friendly demeanor with juniors, professionalism has become slightly easier to attain. However, a female friendly organization would ensure that this professionalism is maintained at all times. While it is okay to drop a female employee home sometimes, asking them to join you for a drink is not admissible. Boundaries need to be maintained in a respectful and comfortable manner.

Strong rules of Sexual Harassment: It may not be the employees at the higher posts, it may not be the uneducated security guards, but at some level or the other, female employees often have to “deal with” being treated as an object, listening to sexual innuendos, bear sexist jokes and even be groped occasionally. A female friendly organization would be one that not only has strict rules to curb such behavior, but also has swift implementation of these rules.

Cleaner and more spacious bathrooms: A female lecturers in one of India’s top business schools once said “judge a company’s female friendliness by their bathrooms.” A clean, spacious bathroom is of primary importance in any organization that hires women. If your office has one, then bingo, you can check off a major point on being female friendly. 

These 7 deadly points can be used as a guideline for any organizational head to ensure that their organization is female friendly. Welcome to a new era without a gender bias!

Tell us how do you treat the ladies in your company?