5 ways ANYONE can be an ally for gender equality at the workplace

About a year ago, I received an email from a man working at a Spanish renewable energy company. He mentioned that he read about his company's participation in Target Gender Equality - an initiative by the UN Global Compact supporting companies in setting targets for women's leadership. He asked for advice on how to drive gender equality in his daily work. I shared some general resources, encouraged him to stay alert around his company's plans and keep joining any internal engagement opportunities. To be honest, I wasn't too excited about my answer and doubt that he was either.

Since then, how to engage men and become an ally and advocate for gender equality has become a recurring theme in the implementation of Target Gender Equality (as also mentioned in my last article). I've had the pleasure to collaborate with the incredible team at the HeForShe initiative and meet lots of male leaders championing gender equality. I was particularly impressed by the efforts of Jorge Rosillo, CEO at the Galápagos Ecological Airport, who recognized his own personal blindspots and took holistic action to tackle domestic violence not only at his workplace but in the entire community. As well as by Jeremy Awori, CEO at Absa Bank Kenya, who prioritized achieving a gender balanced board of directors and who articulates the business case for women's leadership so clearly that I'm sure he continuously mobilizes action by many more.

That said, not all of us lead companies or departments. We always recommend to put your hand up and join your company's D&I Council or Employee Resource Group, but this opportunity simply doesn't exist for everyone. Similarly, not all of us have hiring functions and can influence the recruitment process or ensure gender-diverse applications. It's been so encouraging to see that many of the company representatives engaged in Target Gender Equality have stood up as HeForShe advocates on International Men's Day a month ago. Some actions like calling out sexual harassment and sexist jokes should hopefully be self-explanatory, but what are some other ways everyone can stand up for gender equality every single day?

When compiling these recommendations, I tried to make sure they're somewhat applicable to all workplaces and can be implemented regardless of if you're working in an office, a lab, a classroom, a construction site or a factory floor. Lots of these points hopefully also serve as inspiration in personal lives beyond the workplace. Let's get started:

1. Call out when someone is being interrupted

Last week I came across a tweet that put it super simple and recommends to support women by saying "You were interrupted, what were you going to say?" and hand it back to the interrupted person to finish their thoughts. No need to point fingers or drop names - everyone will know who's at fault anyway. Many studies show that women are interrupted much mor frequently than men (also by other women!). Men also tend to dominate by accounting for 75% of the conversation. In your next meeting, whether virtual or in-person, try to pay attention to this. Who speaks more often? Who speaks longer? Who tends to share more thoughts in the chat instead of speaking up? And again, who is being interrupted more often?

2. Mentor women and listen to their experiences

Whenever we talk about unconscious bias, the point comes up that if the workplace culture works for you, it might not be as obvious to see that it is not welcoming or inclusive for others. There's no better way to understand women's realities and barriers at the workplace than by listenting to them. But this might be easier said than done as of course unpacking one's experiences in a meaningful way takes time and, most importantly, trust. To build this type of relationship, become a mentor! Several articles suggest that responding to the #MeToo movement many men have been pulling back from mentoring women. Look for a structured programme with set curriculum, if you prefer. If internal company programmes exist, sign up. If not, there are tons of programmes out there by associations, civil society organizations and Universities (the latter might be able to connect you with a student as mentee even if no formal programme exists). In your application, make it clear that you intentionally want to mentor a woman and lay out why.

3. Give women a chance to put their hand up for challenging tasks

Various research suggests that women receive less access to large and visible projects, mission critical roles, and international experiences or “hot jobs” that are crucial for advancement than their male counterparts. And sadly, even when women do get these jobs, on average their projects have smaller budgets and involve fewer direct reports than those for men. It's just natural to continuously assign tasks to the ones that have already proven to do it well and thus reinforce a vicious cycle. Therefore, if you are managing people (even if entry-level or interns), ensure you don't automatically assign tasks based on assumptions or past distribution, but create a space where everyone feels comfortable to step up, take on a challenge, learn and improve.

4. Voice encouragement and give credit

While men definitely suffer from imposter syndrome as well, it hits women (and especially women of colour!) harder. What is clear is that many women struggle with feelings of inadequacy, self-doubt, low self-confidence and confusion about how they reached their current positions. So what can be done about that? Give credit and remember that small words of appreciation and encouragement can go a long way. Interesting research suggests that men get credit for voicing ideas, not problems, and women don't get credit for either. And going back to point 1 from this list - if you notice someone taking credit in an unjustified manner or skipping a well-deserved shoutout, jump in!

5. Suggest to support women-owned businesses

Is everyone chipping in for a colleague's birthday gift? Suggest to get something from a female entrepreneur! Or for your next team lunch, suggest to go to a women-owned restaurant. I was positively surprised to see that Google Maps is trying to make this easier as more and more businesses are tagging themselves as "women-led". Going further, next time you're talking to a colleague from the procurement team ask them whether they're tracking procurement spend with women-owned businesses. Data from the WEPs Gender Gap Analysis Tool tells us that the majority will say no (as only 7% of users indicate to do this already). In that case, encourage them to kick-start the conversation in their team.

Please share further ideas in the comments - let's make this list longer! But hopefully eventually it can be erased alltogether as wrapping up I'll steal the words from Steve Kenzie who's implementing the Target Gender Equality initiative in the UK (with a team of awesome women): "Men supporting women should not be noteworthy but should be the norm."