9 Benefits Of Gender Diversity In The Workplace

International Women’s Day

International Women’s Day (IWD) is a global holiday held on 8th March each year to celebrate the cultural, political, and socioeconomic achievements of women. Also, being a focal point in the women’s rights movement, it brings attention to so many important issues. These includes gender equality, gender diversity in the workplace, the gender pay gap, as well as abuse and violence against women.

As a diverse, woman-owned business and proud member of WEConnect International & MSDUK, BX Merchandise is a huge supporter of IWD. In virtually all industries, gender diversity in the workplace and the gender pay gap needs to be addressed and rebalanced. This is not a solo mission for women either, it needs to be inclusive to rally men in positions of influence as allies too. Collectively there’s a need to champion women’s rights, close the gender pay gap, up from last year, as well as address other gender equality issues faced by women.

The Profitability Of Gender Diversity

Leaders in companies need to be more gender-conscious in the choices they make. Be that to intentionally partner with more woman-owned companies, ensure that women have a seat in the executive boardroom or eradicate any bias to underpay or reward women less, based on solely on gender. According to a McKinsey report published in 2019, companies that have more gender diversity on executive teams are 25% more likely to experience above-average profitability. Proving that gender diversity in the workplace is a great benefit for organisations and positively impacts their bottom line.

Here are 9 benefits of gender diversity in the workplace:

• Happier employees
• Varied perspectives
• Improved collaboration
• Increased staff retention
• More innovation
• Enhanced productivity
• Increased profitability
• Better customer targeting
• Improved quality of life

Check out this short video produced by WEConnect International, which provides a high level overview of global supplier diversity & inclusion and the business case for how governments and corporations can benefit financially through inclusive sourcing efforts:

The United Nations

IWD became a mainstream global holiday following its adoption by the United Nations in 1977. Today, International Women’s Day is commemorated in a variety of ways across the world; it is a public holiday in several countries, and observed socially or locally in others. The UN observes the day in highlighting a particular issue or campaign for women’s rights. In some parts of the world IWD is marked by protests and calls for radical change; where in other areas, it is largely centred on a celebration of womanhood.

The 2022 UN theme for International Women’s Day is “Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow”. This aims to highlight the contribution of women and girls around the globe, who participate in their communities to promoting climate change adaptation, mitigation, and response, in order to build a more sustainable future for all.

Also, according to a UN report published in December 2021, less than 50% of working-age women are in the labour market, a number that has hardly changed over the last three decades. The report also warns, that unpaid domestic and care work falls disproportionately upon women, another factor which impacts gender diversity in the workplace. All this restrains women’s economic potential, along with the COVID-19 pandemic, which further compounds women’s jobs and livelihoods. As you can see, there’s still lots of work to be done…