The opportunities for women in leadership roles has taken giant strides since the days of women’s suffrage, but there are still plenty of opportunities to support women in the workplace.
Champion female leaders
If your workplace has female leaders, you can present them as great examples for other women to learn from and look up to. Your business can organise talks and workshops with the women already successfully leading in your company and give them the opportunity to give guidance to others.
Be flexible
Though there are already government-led provisions for parental leave, being even more flexible for mothers and fathers in the workplace can help women to continue progressing further in their careers. By offering flexible working, part time work and/or back to work support after parental leave, and by encouraging take-up of shared parental leave, you can help women to reach higher levels in their careers and set new precedents for leadership.
Create opportunities for women to speak
A common complaint that women in the workplace make is they do not feel as though they have the space to be heard. Creating opportunities to hear women’s opinions is important for creating an environment of support. Training should also be provided for allowing space for debate and opinion for all employees, but particularly for women. Female employees may find themselves talked over or ignored, even by accident, so making everyone aware of the problem should help.
Ensure employees are acknowledged
Another common complaint is that women are not acknowledged for their contributions to the workplace, or their efforts are incorrectly attributed to other colleagues. Making sure that all employees are aware of the successes of women in the workplace is critical in encouraging women to feel confident about contributing.
Hire female leaders or potential leaders
The best way to encourage female leadership is to hire women who can demonstrate that female leaders are competent. Ensuring that your business leads by example and gives women the space to bring their insights and experience to the table is key for encouraging future female leadership.
Images courtesy of Press Association
