TimesJobs report: 70% don’t think their workplace is women friendly
TimesJobs conducted a survey of about 2,500 working women and came out with an astounding outcome. As per the survey, nearly 70% female employees don’t think their workplace is women friendly. The report titled, ‘what does it take to build a women-friendly workplace’ has tried to gauge the pulse of the working women in India. Talking of equality at the workplace, though most organizations claim that they offer equal opportunities to both men and women; many women feel differently. As per them, as highlighted in survey, 90% women professionals believe that there isn't much equality in their organization, especially with regard to their career progression, promotions, opportunity leadership roles, salary increases and incentive programs are biased towards men.
Nilanjan Roy, Head of Strategy, Times Business Solutions, says, “It is disturbing that even after decades of aggressive efforts to create a level field for women, inequity appears entrenched in Indian organizations. We hope this TimesJobs study is a clarion call for companies to acknowledge this gaping need - look at the problem areas highlighted and find practical solutions to help talented women professionals advance in their careers.”
On the aspect of leadership opportunity, almost 95% respondents said that there are no women in their company boards or in any C-suite jobs and just 5 per cent rated it as average. They rated female representation in the top leadership as poor.
Also, over 75% women rated the management opportunities provided by their organisation for female professionals as poor. In addition, 40% women professionals rated satisfaction with their salaries as poor, 50% as just average and only 10% rated it as good.
The report states that 75% of women feel that learning opportunities at their company is poor. Women employees miss out on growth opportunities due to lack of training and upskilling initiatives. Given the fact that as corporate mentoring is on the rise with most companies offering mentoring programs to employees, the Times Jobs report presents disappointing outcome. Around 80% women professionals rated sponsorship or mentorship initiatives at their organization as poor.
On the flexibility options at workplace, 70% women employees rated flexibility in their organization as poor. Almost 80% of these women professionals prefer better work life balance over promotions. In addition, 60% women professionals rated the ability to telecommute for work as poor, and only 5% voted it as good in their organizations.
On Maternity provisions, 35% women employees rated maternity provisions at their workplace as poor, 55% voted them as average and only 10% agreed that these provisions were good.
InHerSight, an online platform that collects women’s rating of corporate work environments, conducted a survey to zero in on the top priority for women at workplace. Undoubtedly, several workplace issues for women exist, but the study helps one see what is viewed as the most pressing. Unsurprisingly, correcting gender pay gap made it to the top of the list – with a 31.5% of the respondents choosing it to be the most important workplace issue for women. Here is a list of how all the workplace issues were ranked:
- Correcting Gender Pay gap (31.5%)
- Establishing more Flexible Hours (28%)
- Promoting more women to senior leadership (14%)
- Increase in Parental Leave benefits (11%)
- Training and responsiveness related to sexual harassment issues (4.5%)
How the employees in an organisation are treated, regardless of their gender or ethnicity, says a lot about the values of the employer. Undoubtedly, a long struggle lies ahead to ensure that an employee is not discriminated on the basis of the gender.
