GENDER BALANCE AT WORK DRIVES GROWTH, HAYS STUDY FINDS

 

The global poll revealed that 44% believe that being able to achieve gender balance in the workplace helps to drive inclusive growth and positively affect organisations. 38% felt that gender bias and discrimination were the most significant barriers to women’s inclusion in the workplace. 

In a separate poll conducted in February 2024 among over 500 workers in Asia, 17% of respondents in China felt that more needed to be done to ensure women had equal opportunities to participate in the workplace, lower than the Asian average of 19%. 

 

When asked what workplace initiatives workers in China believe would most effectively impact equal economic access for all at work, flexible work hours and remote support, equal pay audits and transparency over salary, as well as engage and support initiatives emerged on top. 

 

Although the need for strong Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) values has long been acknowledged by organisations, there is still a significant gap that employers need to address to ensure all workers have equal economic opportunity at the workplace. 

 

Sue Wei, Managing Director at Hays Greater China, commented on the results, “Although companies generally understand the importance of inclusivity, it requires a dedicated push to ensure its policies are reflective of the culture it wishes to promote. Business leaders will need to adopt the right mindset, put the necessary processes into place and promote equal opportunities so DE&I is embedded into their DNA.”

 

Sue Wei offered this advice for organisations looking to tackle gender bias in the workforce.

 

 

It is easy to think of flexible work options as a work-life balancer without understanding how much this impacts certain groups. While organisations may still be navigating with blanket policies around flex working, many have been able to incorporate elements that have real impact on groups deserving of equity. Evaluate your workforce and formulate policies that help those employees unlock their full potential at work. In the context of women, flexibility around caregiving and maternity are significant drivers to equal participation and employers can benefit from highlighting these options and successes in this space.

 

 

This could include salary benchmarking for roles within your organisation, and being open about the range you are offering within your job advertisements. Consider introducing objective and inclusive hiring, assessment, and promotion processes to help managers responsible for pay decisions and periodic equal pay audits to review your remuneration practices. Apply a systematic approach to determine that salaries are free from gender bias and do this with consistency when handling appraisals for promotions and raises to ensure everyone gets a fair chance.

 

 

Employees want to know what actions leaders are taking towards addressing their concerns. Share your initiatives, goals and achievements on a regular basis to let workers know that there is progress being made towards fostering equality in the workplace. When senior leaders take a visible role in promoting their commitments, employees report more trust and satisfaction that equity is valued and attainable within the company.

 

 

 

Hays plc (the "Group") is the world’s leading specialist in workforce solutions and recruitment, such as RPO and MSP. The Group is the expert at recruiting qualified, professional and skilled people worldwide, being the market leader in the UK, Germany and Australia and one of the market leaders in Continental Europe, Latin America and Asia. The Group operates across the private and public sectors, dealing in permanent positions, contract roles and temporary assignments. As at 31 December 2023, the Group employed over 12,300 staff operating from 249 offices in 33 countries. For the year ended 30 June 2023:

 

– the Group reported net fees of £1,294.6 million and operating profit of £197.0 million;
– the Group placed around 76,800 candidates into permanent jobs and around 245,000 people into temporary roles;
– 15% of Group net fees were generated in Australia & New Zealand, 30% in Germany, 21% in United Kingdom & Ireland and 34% in Rest of World (RoW);
– the temporary placement business represented 57% of net fees and the permanent placement business represented 43% of net fees;
– Technology is the Group’s largest division, with 26% of net fees, while Accountancy & Finance (15%) and Engineering (10%), are the next largest
– Hays operates in the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, UAE, the UK and the USA