#HeforShe kan een bijdrage leveren aan Gelijkheid in Organisaties.

“I am afforded the same respect as men. But sadly, I can say that there is no one country in the world where all women can expect to see these rights. No country in the world can yet say that they achieved gender equality.”

“On Saturday, September 20, British actor and Goodwill Ambassador for UN Women, Emma Watson, gave a moving speech about gender inequality and how to fight it. Watson’s speech was the kickoff of #HeforShe ‘A Solidarity Movement for Gender Equality’. Her speech is worth watching.”

Deze, Engelstalige, entry publiceerde ik dit weekeinde op LinkedIn. De thema’s gelijkheid & diversiteit zijn thema’s die ook een onderdeel vormen binnen de ‘Investors in People accreditatie’, vandaar dat ik de entry ook hier plaats. Overigens levert het Engels je problemen op, open dan de pagina in Google Chrome en laat er de ‘vertaling’ op los.

Nu eerst de video met de toespraak van Emma Watson.

“If countries cannot guard a human rights issue like equality between men and women, are organizations able to do so? Apparently not. But still countries and their governments are fully aware of the fact that inequalities exist, especially regarding reward and remuneration.

The term “pay gap” refers to the difference in earnings between male and female workers. While the pay gap has narrowed since the 1960s, female workers with a strong attachment to the labor force earn about 77 to 81 cents for every dollar earned by similar male workers”

Source: US Congressional Research Service Pay Equity: Legislative and Legal Developments. November 22, 2013.

“Women in business earn on average almost 80% of the gross hourly earnings of men.“

Source: The Netherlands Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek, Emancipatiemonitor 2014. December 16, 2014.

The US and The Netherlands, both countries we believe to be ‘modern’….

By the way: noteworthy is that if I ask female students who work in business, if I ask female managers, rarely I hear they feel that they receive less pay than their male colleagues. Especially within Government and Public Sector one is convinced that the classifications are the same for everyone. Not so….

Even though there are laws in many countries to prevent inequality in organizations, for Boards and Managing Directors it still remains difficult to implement them.

Should female secretaries be paid at the same rate as male landscapers? That was one of the many questions facing McGill University in Montreal as it launched a sweeping program, required by Quebec law, to ensure gender pay equity among its roughly 12,000 full-time equivalent employees.”

McGill University decided to put an end to this inequality. Then still it took them 13 years and an investment of $ 19 million in order to apply the principles of equality and diversity in an organization of more than 12,000 employees.

Source: Wall Street Journal, Mind the Gap: How One Employer Tackled Pay Equity; July 8, 2014.

You might conclude that it is a costly affair to implement equality but then we neglect the benefits women bring to the organization.

Why Women Are Better Managers Than Men, concluded GALLUP recently after a research they conducted regarding engagement of employees and the benefits employee engagement brings to their employers. Apparently female bosses are much better in getting their co-workers engaged than their male counterparts. So their contribution to the organization would therefore justify a higher, or at least an equal, reward as that of their (male) colleagues.

By the way, in my view it’s equal treatment that is important not equal pay. There’s a lot to be said that individual accomplishments can differ widely, so can rewards regarding the input one provides.

For years now we are looking for reasons why, in organizations, there is still a considerable difference in the way male and female workers are basically rewarded. Apparently:

• The motivation to work for women differs from that of men. Men like titles, cars, gadgets, (huge) salaries. Women prefer Work-Life balance, development, colleagues.
• What to do with your results, your accomplishments? Men are very keen in informing their boss about their accomplishments. However small they are, as soon as there is one you’ll see them running to the boss’s office. Meanwhile women are sitting at their desk, proud of what they have achieved, hoping their boss will soon pay them a visit. (NB; ‘Lean In’ is what Sheryl Sandberg advices women. Agree, but the same can be said about their managers…..)
  
• And then there is the issue of negotiation. There is a strong believe that women can’t negotiate or: are not interested to do so(!). Being unable to negotiate as a license for your employer to give you a lower salary.
  

Concerning the last: you might ask yourself if your managers are the ones that are unable to negotiate, otherwise they would attract male candidates at a salary equal to that of your female employees. I hope you notice the benefits in this.

Emma Watson on September 20:

Men, I would like to take this opportunity to extend your formal invitation. Gender equality is your issue, too. Because to date, I’ve seen my father’s role as a parent being valued less by society, despite my need of his presence as a child, as much as my mother’s. I’ve seen young men suffering from mental illness, unable to ask for help for fear it would make them less of a man. In fact, in the UK, suicide is the biggest killer of men between 20 to 49, eclipsing road accidents, cancer and coronary heart disease. I’ve seen men made fragile and insecure by a distorted sense of what constitutes male success. Men don’t have the benefits of equality, either.”

Indeed, there are many more aspects to diversity and equality:

“Diversity: The cultural, social, gender or other differences between people, with reference to an organisational culture that encourages and values these differences. In addition, a culture of diversity is about recognising, valuing and taking account of different skills and life experiences.

Equality : Recognising that everyone is treated with dignity and respect, regardless of race, gender, disability, sexuality, religion or belief, age, marital status or other personal characteristics. In terms of learning and development, equality means recognising that different groups have different needs, and ensuring that they have appropriate and fair access to appropriate opportunities.”

Source: Investors in People.

If you, as an organization that e.g. implies the ideas of Corporate Social Responsibility, then it is a necessity to start treating everyone in your organization in the same way, equally. In that regard agreeing to the #HeforShe Commitment as the ones who are responsible for the organization can be a good start for 2015.

For me #HeforShe is one of the #BigIdeas2015.

Bron: heforshe.org

Wishing you Happy Holidays and a Very Good start in 2015!”

Ik wens je Fijne Dagen & een bijzonder Goed Begin van 2015! 😉

NB; vandaag verschijnt bij FORTUNE de entry Management lessons from Sony’s gender pay gap. De hack die recent plaatsvond bij SONY Pictures, en waardoor er de film The Interview uit de roulatie verdween, maakt ook pijnlijk duidelijk dat zelfs aan de Top van deze organisatie het verschil in beloning (waardering?) fors kan zijn…..