Women are making an impact in all sectors of human life, including business. According to the National Association of Women Business Owners, women now own over 11.6 million firms that generate USD 1.7 trillion in sales. And not to forget, these women-owned businesses employ approximately 9 million people.
While these numbers are quite impressive, women still lag their male counterparts in business. There’s more that needs to be done to boost parity. Here are six excellent ways of promoting women in the business world.
Encourage Women and Give them Responsibilities in the Workplace
Self-doubt can hold many women employees back when it comes to progressing in business. It is even though they might have the necessary competencies and knowledge to succeed. This scenario is referred to as the “Imposter syndrome” and is experienced more by women.
As a business leader or holder of an executive position, you can encourage a woman who displays this tendency to take on more appropriate responsibilities. Doing this will cultivate their confidence and self-belief, enabling them to maximize their contributions and reach their potential. Consequently, this improved productivity can help your business.
You can promote women in business by asking for their ideas, listening to them, and, most importantly, implementing them. If you are organizing a business meeting, you can start by allowing an equal number of male and female speakers. The same applies if you are bringing in guest speakers to the enterprise. The point here is to ensure that you provide women with an equal opportunity to share their thoughts as men.
You want all your business sessions to have a single voice across the gender divide. This way, you promote the women who would otherwise be left to the mercy of most men’s ideas.
Cite Women in Business Presentations
We have heard of countless quotes from male entrepreneurs such as Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, to name a few. What we haven’t come across as often are quotes from female business leaders, yet there are so many of them out there.
You can do things differently by citing more women in your company. During presentations or when sticking up weekly quotes on the board, consider using quotes by women players in your industry.
Referencing women in the business will help create awareness of their roles in the global commercial space. In turn, this will encourage the female workforce to work towards greatness. Need an essay on successful women in business? Get professional assistance from a reputable essay writing service online.
Include More Women in Company Images
Are women well-represented in your business’s website, vacancy pages, internal media, and marketing content? Including more images of women in your company’s messages will go a long way in showing that you promote them. For the best results in this campaign, ensure that you represent women across the board. It means including women from junior through to senior positions in your business messages without any bias.
You can start by ensuring that the next business photo or video shoot has all of the female workforce present. The point is to ensure that the final product showcases a gender-sensitive business.
Track Your Talent Pipeline
You need to be ahead of your business talent from the start. When sourcing for employees, it helps to ensure an equal balance of women and men joining the company. Besides that, you need to research to find out when the discord between the male and female workforce happens.
Doing this will enable you to understand when and why women lag when climbing your enterprise’s career ladder. For example, you will comprehend why female workers are hesitant to seek executive roles. Maybe the senior jobs are predominantly held by males, thus discouraging women from pursuing them.
It’s essential to note that a lack of career progression is one reason why most women leave a company. By keeping tabs on your talent progression and ironing out women’s issues, you can retain talented female workers who enable your business to succeed.
Work with Women-Owned Enterprises
Another great way of supporting women in business is by working with them. You can consult, trade, or even partner with their companies when working on your business’s products. Use social media and referrals to find the best women-owned enterprises to work with.
Final Thoughts
If you want to promote women in business, this post provides you with a few ways to get started. There are many more ways out there, and we are always ready to hear them from you. Comment below to get the conversation going.