Actioning gender equity in the workplace

For the first time in history, more than 10% of Fortune 500 companies are being led by women. That’s a milestone to celebrate – but it’s also nowhere near a balanced state of affairs.

Famously, in the US, there are more CEOs called James than women leaders. And according to the latest WEF gender pay gap report, it will be another 132 years before we reach parity of the sexes. So even though we’re making progress, it’s not fast enough.

Every March we celebrate International Women’s Day for this very reason: We want to accelerate progress by honouring women and addressing the specific challenges women are facing – including issues related to marginalisation of minorities, such as women of colour, women with disabilities, etc.

In this article, I look at a two-pronged approach to achieving gender balance in the workplace: As a leader and CEO, I have a huge responsibility for driving change to remove structural inequality and enforce the right behaviour from the top. At the same time, we need active engagement from below. Paying lip service to such objectives isn’t going to move the dial; it only moves if we take tangible action.

From the top? We need to systematically change our ways of doing things, break down barriers and biases and put in place policies that act as catalysts for sustainable change. In addition, it’s crucial that we lead by example to ensure the necessary psychological safety and feeling of belonging for all individuals, which are essential drivers to reach diversity of representation.

And in reverse, we must enable and encourage employees – who should also take responsibility themselves – to keep the conversation going and create awareness, recognise and tackle biases and act intentionally to keep moving forwards.

At ISS A/S , social sustainability is one of our top priorities, and our corresponding Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DI&B) strategy includes five pillars, each with its own committee. Take the Gender Balance Employee Resource Group (ERG). An example of cross-organisational collaboration in action, it has three executive sponsors, including myself, and meets regularly to identify opportunities for growth. It also holds the organisation accountable for engaging with, and taking action on, specific issues relating to gender. And these commitments are formalised through partnerships and pledges with certified bodies. In 2021, for instance, ISS signed the United Nations Women's Empowerment Principles, a framework for promoting gender equality in the workplace, marketplace, and community.

Once the social contract is in place, it's time to get to work implementing change at every stage of the business. Ensuring job ads and candidate selection processes are not unwittingly gendered or biased expands the talent pool, bringing new voices into the organisation. Creating awareness around – and providing training about – appropriate language and behaviour makes the workplace more inviting. And designing fair access to development and promotions ensures diversity reaches every level of the organisation. The onward impact of these principles extends to supply chains, trade practices and policies. They work to continuously inform and improve each other, creating a yo-yo effect of positive change – top down and bottom up, in perpetuity.

The theme of this year’s #iwd2023 campaign is #embraceequity. The concept of equity acknowledges that we all start from somewhere different and need varying support mechanisms to thrive. At ISS, we are committed to providing those conditions through, among others, the following initiatives:

Mentoring: The importance of mentoring cannot be overstated. For many people, aspirations are blunted – even non-existent – not because of a lack of ability, but because they have no template, no model, no real-life example of what is possible. Within the workplace, our job as mentors is to demystify roles and opportunities and encourage those with potential to see themselves as viable candidates.

One way we’re doing this is through Valuable 500 ’s Generation Valuable scheme, which pairs talented, differently abled employees with senior leaders. Our first mentee, Julie Nicholson , received a diagnosis of dyslexia two years ago. Having shown great tenacity and ability throughout her working life at ISS, Julie is now following a creative leadership pathway that could open doors for future leaders facing similar challenges.

We’ve also initiated country-specific mentor programmes, for instance a new pilot scheme in Denmark that aims to boost representation of women in leadership roles. Half the existing leadership team act as mentors to women employees, while the other half engage in reverse mentoring. It’s early days, but we’re excited to see how these interactions can increase our understanding of the invisible barriers and challenges women face in the workplace and help us to address them.

Through the Tent Partnership for Refugees , ISS has also signed up to mentor women refugees from Ukraine, who face increased barriers to employment, such as childcare.

In each of these cases, the goal is to create development opportunities and a talent pipeline for often marginalised groups, who in turn make companies more innovative and competitive.

Conversation: Our Group Chief People and Culture officer, Corinna Refsgaard , recently hosted an event for graduate trainees at ISS HQ. The discussion flagged up the invisible barriers and pressures women experience in the workplace, and in society at large. The cognitive load (most often ascribed to women) of managing home and childcare alongside paid work is well documented. Expectations of women as caregivers persist, or they face judgement if they do not conform to traditional roles.

All this serves to underline the importance of men – or rather all genders – speaking about, and acting on, these issues. It's simply not acceptable that the mental and physical load of championing change is delegated to women. Male colleagues and leaders should be allies. After all, gender imbalance negatively impacts all of us, not just women.

Targets: Targets give organisations a clear direction of travel. They keep us accountable and provide benchmarks for progress. But they shouldn't be seen as a ceiling. At ISS, we’ve committed to 40% gender balance across leadership levels by 2025. But we want to go beyond these targets. We want to be fully inclusive, equitable, and justice-led.

Equity is intersectional. We cannot address gender in a vacuum. To see the full picture, we must look at all areas of diversity and inclusion and see how they overlap and accumulate. We must see individuals in the round. That’s how we create workplaces where people feel they belong.

There's a long way to go. But I'm excited to be on the journey. Together, we can have ambition, agency, and hope. 

#embraceequity #iwd2023 #genderequality #APlaceToBeYou