Are you ready to combat these workplace evils this Dussehra?

Every year, India celebrates Dussehra to symbolize the victory of “Good over Evil”. As per the Indian mythology, it is the day when Lord Ram killed the ten-headed demon king Ravana and Goddess Durga won over the demon Mahishasura. This festival is celebrated to contemplate and kill bad qualities within us. In this article, we will talk about five sins that companies must get rid of to create a better and inclusive work environment.  

Workplace Discrimination

Stop all kinds of discriminatory practices at work. As per a research report by Catalyst, more than 90% of Fortune 500 companies now have non-discrimination policies based on gender. Policies also include that there should be no discrimination on the basis of one’s sexual orientation. The report also revealed that 83% of companies included “gender identity” as part of the policy. Having policies prohibiting discriminatory behaviour is only the first step. To ensure non-discrimination policy is followed you need to make sure that employees understand what is and isn’t acceptable behaviour at your company. 

Gender Pay Gap

Close the gender pay gap. This is one of the biggest evil persisting in the industry. Stop deciding pay rates on the basis of gender. Women have been struggling for equal work and equal pay for years now. It is about time we realise that the employees need to be remunerated based on their skill sets and not on the basis of gender. Management needs to recognize and rectify the pay gap in their institutions. It will help retain women and transgenders in the workplace and they will feel more empowered and embolden in their positions.

Gender Stereotypes

When men take charge they are applauded for being leaders but when women do the same they are bashed for being too bossy. Unfortunately, in our economy, many job roles are stereotyped. Like for instance for some logic it is believed women make better teachers, nurses or human resource managers and men are better at firefighting, automobile engineering or being pilots. We all know that this is not true. Ideally, we should be doing what is best suited to our abilities regardless of our gender.

Workplace Sexual Harassment

#MeToo movement has rolled out across workplaces shattering the silence around sex-based harassment at the workplace and highlights how it negatively affects workers, especially women personally and professionally. Sexual harassment at the workplace leads to loss of productivity, reduces the performance of the team in which the accused or victim works, retention problem if the harassed individual has left the organisation. Companies also have to bear transfer costs of moving the harassed individual to another team or location, the legal cost towards conducting investigation and settlement agreements. Not to forget the reputational cost and loss of its brand value in the industry. To safeguard your company against all of these it is imperative to have a strong anti-harassment policy in place. 

End Male-dominated Culture

If as an organisation you are committed to creating an inclusive and diverse workforce the first thing is to put an end to male-dominated culture. This kind of environment is prejudicial to other genders and can impede their growth in the organisation. 

Ungender has been tirelessly working towards helping organisations in ending all these evils at workplace. We assist organisations to build safer and inclusive work environments.