International Women's Day

Annette van’t Spyker: Ageism affects everyone but it seems to affect women more than it does men. Often when organizations talk about diversity, it relates to gender or ethnicity, and not age. Highlighting the benefits of a diverse workforce from an age standpoint could help reinforce the benefits of diversity in the workplace as a whole.

Mentoring programs can help tackle ageism in the workplace because they help support a workplace culture where differences are used as opportunities to learn and grow from employees of different ages and experiences.

Annette van’t Spyker: Unfortunately, the gender-wage still exists. In Canada, women make 89 cents on average for every dollar made by a man. To help resolve this, organizations must be transparent. It’s important that they share how tenure, experience, education and other criteria influence compensation to provide a framework for women to build a case around a fair salary for themselves.

Bonus – Negotiation Advice: Anyone negotiating salary should do their homework. This means, research salaries for the same or similar roles at other organizations, articulate the value you bring to the organization and the value other organizations place on the same or similar roles. Facts not only support the case, but they also, provide a level of professionalism and confidence in the discussion and will help everyone stay on topic. Also remember that these discussions don’t always start and finish with one meeting. Be prepared for this to take a few meetings and be professionally tenacious.

Bridget King: Menstrual products are a basic need and are essential to women’s participation in not only work, but society as a whole. Today, one in three Canadians still struggle to afford menstrual products.

Employers have an opportunity to lead by example and break down this barrier to equality by providing access to menstrual products in every workplace. Many companies are now taking this one step further by offering paid menstrual leave for their employees.

Ingrid Wilson: As women, and those who identify as women, it is important to understand that we carry different identity markers. For example, I am Black. I am a woman. I am also a Jamaican now living in Canada. All of these social identities make up who I am — and carry potential bias.

But systemic racism, and a lack of understanding and awareness of identities, cultures, abilities, and beliefs, can lead to pervasive forms of discrimination that can compound to impose barriers on women, and those who identify as women.

To address this issue, HR leaders must build more racially equitable workplaces, which includes addressing all our own unconscious biases. We must also be willing to listen and have difficult conversations with employees, especially those who are people of colour, and eliminate bias from hiring and retention practices.

Bridget King: Research has shown that sexual harassment in the workplace is often underreported due to fear of retaliation, and when it’s reported, it’s often not dealt with effectively.

Employers have a responsibility to implement prevention measures, raise awareness and implement mandatory training for all. Although many organizations may have policies in place, training and awareness may be limited.

Ingrid Wilson: Our society continues to place the majority of caregiving responsibilities — for children, adults, and families — on women and those that identify as women. It’s called “Care-Giver” bias. As a result, women, and those that identify as women, are more likely than men, to make tough decisions to leave or take steps out of the workforce to take care of loved ones.

In fact, women, who are mothers, experience the following consequences of gender bias compared to women and other genders without children:

• Lower compensation
• Fewer opportunities for promotions and leadership roles.
• Fewer opportunities for jobs

Offering flexible scheduling, proper return to work programs (that ease re-entry for those who went on leave), and work-from-home arrangements are some strategies employers can implement to help address this problem.