International Women’s Day is celebrated on the 8^th March every year. 

It’s a day that that acts as a focal point for the women’s movement and each year carries a theme, with 2023’s theme being equity.

What is equity? 

Equity is different from equality. Equity is about making sure that everyone has the right tools for them specifically, to do their job. 

Examples of this can be making sure that each person has the right sized workwear or protective clothing for them, or it can be making sure that there is adaptive technology or accessibility in place to enable someone to participate. 

It is no different in the workplace. If we want to be seen as an equal opportunities employer, we need to make sure that equity is at the forefront of our processes - from recruitment, all the way through someone’s employment career. 

Through our different phases in life, we will require different adaptations to work. Here are a few examples that employers need to consider to not only recruit women, but to keep them in the workplace through their career ages. 

Flexible working

Statically, women require a flexible working pattern more often than their male counterparts. This can be down to factors such as women still doing the majority of the childcare duties. Offering flexible working options can help to keep female colleagues in your business. 

Maternity leave and parental leave 

Looking at your maternity leave policy, is it helping your female colleagues to feel secure while they are on maternity leave, and equally, does it help to welcome women back into the workplace after  maternity leave? Also is there fair parental leave to allow a partner to be there to assist with a new born or adopted child? Considering work-life balance in these significant life events will help you to retain great employees. 

Health, wellbeing and menopause 

Another area to look at for workplace equity is menopause. This is something that potentially all your female employees will go through in their careers. So why wouldn’t you look to make this a more comfortable experience for women in the workplace.

Symptoms of menopause can feel quite debilitating for many women. Look into a menopause policy and guidance for managers and colleagues on how to help those that may be experiencing symptoms. Again, there are many women that feel they need to leave the world of work due to menopause symptoms – they shouldn’t feel like that. 

What your workforce needs

It’s great to have all these policies and procedures in place for flexible working, maternity leave, parental leave, and menopause awareness. But you need to make sure they are fit for purpose. One way that you can do this is to have a diversity network that discusses these areas directly with colleagues. 

Depending on the size of your organisation, you would have a diversity network that covers all areas of inclusion. Or, for a larger organisation you could have networks set up for different areas of inclusion. Perhaps a women’s network can have these discussions in a safe space and be the catalyst for equity in the workplace for women.