The focus of International Women’s Day 2022 is around breaking the gender bias that exists at all levels of business and society. Below, leading female executives discuss how businesses can encourage diversity and inclusion to ultimately break through the gender gap.

Pip White, Senior Vice President and General Manager of EMEA at Slack

International Women’s Day offers an opportunity for businesses to reflect on how they can further encourage diversity, equity and inclusion, and, as the theme indicates this year, break the bias.

This is vital to employee experience, as employees who rank their companies the highest in investment in DE&I score the most for overall engagement. The current shift towards a digital-first world offers a great opportunity for businesses to redesign work and integrate diversity, equity, and belonging throughout their policies and practices.

One way organisations can really make an impact and level the playing field is by listening to what employees want and by offering increased flexibility. Our research reveals the desire for flexibility is particularly strong among those who have historically been underrepresented in knowledge work, such as women and working mothers.

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In order to really make a difference, managers must lead by example. Firms also have a responsibility to evaluate how they can redesign workplaces, so that women feel they can be heard in a safe space.

Cindi Howson, Chief Data Strategy Officer at ThoughtSpot

As a woman, you need to be your own best advocate in a non-braggadocious way. Women are often less adept at self-promotion than male colleagues. In this world accomplishments don’t always speak for themselves, so it’s vital that women step up and take proper credit for the work they do.

One way to find your voice is to imagine how you would describe a friend’s or exceptional employee’s accomplishment: do you describe your own successes so unabashedly with your manager?

Another is to bring data to back you up in conversations. This is particularly important for promotions and salary negotiations. Data tells a powerful story of your impact, so make sure you’re prepared ahead of an interview, in the boardroom, or a campaign brainstorm.

Finally, don’t aim for the C-suite: aim to do your best work that you are most passionate about and career advancement will naturally follow.

Andrea Grotzke, Global Director of Energy Solutions at BayWa-re

We’ve come a long way in the last few years and are witnessing highly qualified women deliver outstanding results in the renewable energy industry, not only in what have traditionally been seen as ‘female roles, but also in typically male-dominated fields such as engineering.

I’m seeing rapid, positive change, with an increasing recognition among male colleagues of the value of mixed teams and female leadership, which can offer a different style to the norm. Equality must develop naturally but there are steps that organisations need to take to help enable it. 

Equal pay should be a standard across all organisations as a clear marker that women are equally qualified to men. We need to offer women, at any stage in their lives flexibility in when and where they work. The option of part-time hours for both mothers and fathers will also ensure that women who are juggling work and family are not held back.

Maya Tank, Business Director at DoubleVerify 

To meet the theme of ‘Breaking the Bias’ this International Women’s Day, one area the media and advertising industry can focus on is improving representation.

We need more women of all backgrounds leading our businesses, managing our teams, speaking at events and more. Personally, I’m particularly passionate about bringing more young women into the industry. By creating bespoke events and initiatives, we can enable younger women to ask questions, learn about the sector and ultimately pursue a career in advertising. 

Carving out safe spaces for women to talk to each other, to share experiences, to inform action taken and to mentor one another is vital. Having fantastic women in leadership to learn from has been transformative in my career, and we need to nurture those connections. 

This only scratches the surface of what needs to be done. We should welcome the initiative set forth by International Women’s Day and commit to doing our part and taking actions that will improve representation within our industry.

Peggy de Lange, Vice President of International Expansion at Fiverr 

What I love about my job as part of the international freelance community is being able to offer opportunities to women who have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic - in terms of job losses and pay - and showing them that by going freelance they may be compensated generously for their talents.

Fiverr for example, is a platform where individuals are judged solely on the quality of their work. Credentials and reviews are the key criteria freelancers are judged on, which means gender, sexual orientation, race or religion do not affect the hiring process.  I am a huge advocate for inspiring women to know their financial worth and selling their skills accordingly. As the famous saying goes, ‘if you don’t ask, you don’t get’.

Samantha Wessels, Vice President, EMEA Sales at Snyk

More and more women are entering the typically male-dominated industries of technology and sales, often at graduate level, and it’s important we take the right steps to nurture and retain them.

Seeing more women in leadership positions is key, while effective mentorship is equally important and something I am personally passionate about. 

In order to bring even more women into technology sales, we need to ‘Break the Bias’ that it is an environment where only men can thrive. I’m seeing a shift in the industry where leading with empathy, a traditionally ‘feminine trait, is bringing out the best in people and in turn driving revenue.

If women can be clear about who they are working for and what they believe in from the outset, they’ll be more likely to stay. 

Progressive, forward-thinking businesses that foster diversity must make it clear for existing employees as well as new joiners that they offer an environment where everyone can thrive, no matter their gender or background.

Lotus Smits, Global Head of Diversity & People Experience at Glovo

Like many others, I believe that it is possible to accelerate the progress we are currently making to ultimately ‘break the bias’.

There is no silver bullet, but there are measures that businesses can take to make an impact within their organisation and beyond.

We must provide the right resources and education to encourage employees to proactively take a stand, critique their colleagues and demonstrate allyship within the workforce. Leaders and C-level executives should commit to clear, quantifiable goals, to which they can justifiably be held accountable. 

Since I joined Glovo last year, we have delivered training on unconscious bias, privilege and microaggressions to our C-level executives, general managers, new hires and all other managers across the business. We have also developed our Diversity & Inclusion recruitment team, a body of five recruiters who are dedicated to attracting diverse talent at Glovo.

These are small actions, but by progressively building a diverse and equal culture that seeks out talent in line with the company’s goals and champions current employees to go the extra mile in the DE&I space, businesses can expect to see change not only on a microsocial level but on a structural level outside of the workplace.

It is a collective effort that will not happen overnight but by starting now, we might break the bias sooner than we think.

Annette Reavis, Chief People Officer at Envoy 

There are a few things that I think business leaders can do right now to ensure a better workplace for women.

Take a look at your recruitment team. This is the first point of contact with potential talent. If your recruitment team lacks diversity, how can you expect diverse talent to want to join?  

What happens after women join a company is just as important as getting them through the door. There needs to be more focus on retention and to do this you need an inclusive environment. There’s a lot of unconscious gender bias that goes unacknowledged and leads to attrition. 

Develop a compensation philosophy that is consistent and transparent, beyond individual managers’ personal preferences.

Remote talent and particularly women, as they tend to be caretakers, are already disadvantaged by proximity bias. A few years from now, this will disproportionately impact women. 

And finally, we women need advocates. I’m calling on all senior leaders who are women to step up and mentor, and drive change for those who are next in line. We need to be their voice.

This year, I’d love to see women from across sectors collaborating and sharing ideas on how to make lasting systematic changes to our workplaces. 

Images: Getty