It’s no secret we have a discrepancy when it comes to gender equality in the workplace as women still earn 30 percent less and are underrepresented in senior leadership compared to their male counterparts. Fortunately, bridging the gender gap is a win-win for all as it can improve employee engagement, retention, financial returns and creative innovation. So how can small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) make an impact when it comes to building a more fair and gender-balanced workforce? Let’s take a closer look at how businesses and business leaders can advance a more equitable workforce.  

Although there are no quick fixes to the challenge of gender inequality in the workplace, there are steps companies can and should take. Here are several top tips businesses small and large can use to make a difference.

Understand Key Values and Promote Equality

The first step in creating a positive work environment is making employees feel valued. This begins during the hiring process when negotiating salaries, benefits and discussing workplace policies and continues with ongoing transparency and communication.  

Treating your employees right and making sure they feel valued can be accomplished with health benefits but it can also come in other forms such as educational opportunities or childcare support. SMB employers should not be afraid to get creative with their company benefits which can be personalized to include mentoring programs, career-specific trainings, diversity and unconscious bias education, offering to supplement the cost of childcare or giving additional flexibility in scheduling to employees with children. Investing in your team by offering strong benefits and fair pay, will not only create positive morale among team members, but will build respect and long-term retention, which is critical to the health and longevity of an SMB. 

The SMBs that show they value women with fair pay and a transparent culture will reap the benefits of improved business performance and continuity. These companies are also more likely to become even more attractive to female employees, investors, and consumers, creating a virtuous circle.

Create an Intentional Process by Leveraging Technology 

Another strategy to build gender equity in the workplace is to leverage technology to automate company structure and processes. SMBs should evaluate their recruitment, promotion, and talent-development systems to guarantee that women with skills, experiences, and qualifications comparable to those of their male colleagues are promoted for achieving the same goals and earn dollar-for-dollar pay for doing the same jobs.

When bringing in new team members, SMBs can build equity into recruitment and hiring practices in several ways. Using neutral language in job postings online via hiring or job posting sites as well as having clear objectives and criteria can increase the number of women hired. Automated recruitment and administrative platforms backed by AI can help recruiters access new hires without bias. These platforms streamline and anonymize the hiring process, by removing information such as names, pronouns, etc. that make the resume-screening process objective and inclusive to qualified candidates. SMBs who want to go the extra mile to reach qualified female candidates can also share job openings with women’s groups and women in leadership within their industry to encourage women to apply. 

Furthermore, SMBs must be willing to look closely at where they are and take the right steps toward meaningful change. They can conduct an internal equity audit to compare wages across all employees or positions to better understand any imbalances in pay or staffing. If a gender pay gap is confirmed, SMBs should immediately set funds aside to correct it and put new processes in place to prevent it from recurring. 

By leveraging technology to build efficient hiring and pay scale systems that counter gender bias and continuing to analyze the company pay scale regularly, we can stop valuable candidates from being overlooked and prevent the workplace gender gap from expanding.

Close the Gender Wage Gap

According to the most recent Global Gender Gap Report, it will now take 135.6 years to reach gender parity, displaying an increase from 100 years in 2020. With efforts like the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2011 which mandated equal pay regardless of gender, we have seen women advance in education, congress, professional sports and make strides in the workforce. However, women are still making less than their male counterparts with the same title and job responsibilities due to the gender pay gap. 

One solution is to raise the minimum wage to a “living wage.” On January 1, 2022, the US Department of Labor (DOL) did just that and raised the national minimum wage from $7.25 to $11.25 per hour. While this is an improvement for SMB employees, we continue to face the bleak reality that the stubborn resilience of the gender wage gap, means that many women are still underpaid.

SMBs should feel empowered to build a more equitable workforce with pay transparency information and data. When employers small and large are made aware of their data, they are equipped with the knowledge required to make positive changes. In turn, providing wage transparency for employees in the form of salary ranges for particular jobs gives women—and all employees—the information they need to be paid fairly and equally. Pay transparency can empower women to know what’s at stake, creating an equal playing field.

Building Small Businesses That Work for Women

If businesses small and large want to attract and retain women, business leaders must acknowledge the impact the structure and customs of their organization can have on the overall equality or inequality of their business. If they find inequality, it’s imperative they pursue organizational change. 

Identifying and implementing realistic, specific and measurable performance evaluation criteria, transparent compensation practices, and the right recruiting strategies will encourage equality in the workplace, but it does not happen overnight. It will require multifaceted, practical solutions that help ensure women’s work performance is valued objectively, women are not penalized for their caregiving responsibilities, and there is greater transparency in workplace payment and promotional practices. 

While one size does not fit all when it comes to planning and structure of SMBs, consistently working towards balance by harnessing progressive technology and solutions that move the needle forward on equal pay for employees regardless of gender, we can help level the playing field for women in the workforce.

About the author: Lindsey Greathouse is the Director of Global SMB Marketing at Lenovo