Effective Strategies to Build Up Women in the Workplace

This Women’s History Month, we honor the great strides towards equality that have been made in the workforce and also acknowledge the gaps that still persist across the board.?

Earlier this month, Mogul AI hosted an event where Melissa Kaplan Enbar , our Chief People Officer, spoke about effective strategies to build up women in the workplace. She leads the People Operations, Talent, and Legal departments at TrialSpark, all of which focus on building a talented, diverse team and creating an equitable, inclusive environment.?

At this event, Melissa shared insights about the experience of women in the workforce, challenges they still face, as well as suggested strategies we can implement to move the needle forward for women.? Read on for the highlights!

What Still Holds Women Back in the Workplace?

A report from LeanIn.org found that “for every 100 men who are promoted from entry-level to manager, only 87 women are promoted, and only 82 women of color are promoted.” While women have made strides in the workforce, there are remaining gaps that persist across the board.?

Biases and traditional gender norms still hold women back. There are expectations of the roles that women will play in the workplace and biases around what they are and are not capable of or “good” at. Women receive less credit and give themselves less credit than men and, over time, this can create self-doubt and break down self-confidence.

Melissa says a big driver of this is that most workplaces are not built to be inclusive and are not set up for everyone to succeed. Companies need to recognize this and do more to set women up for success. There needs to be more mentorship, more advocacy, and more efforts made to help women successfully navigate their way through an organization. She says, “We need better awareness, better company structures, and better engagement from leadership to provide mentorship and sponsorship for women in order to close these gaps.”

Bringing Your “Full Self” to Work

Melissa came to TrialSpark from Birchbox, a beauty e-commerce company, where the company was 80% women and the leadership team was 80% women. Transitioning to a new role at TrialSpark was an adjustment. Even though she had an accomplished career running a Global People function, she had never been in the healthcare or pharma industry.

But over time, she learned to trust what she brought to the table and embrace her strengths. In Melissa’s words, “Once I stopped trying to be someone else and accepted that my style is different from my colleagues and that is not just okay, but actually how I can add unique value, once I started to embrace who I am to be my authentic self, I started to perform my job better.

What I realized was that instead of hiding or adapting my style, I could utilize it to my advantage. My superpower is listening, so I’m often not the first to speak in a meeting. I stopped putting so much pressure on myself to have to say SOMETHING and just really gave myself a chance to listen and then consider what I could contribute to conversations.”

How to Advocate for Higher, More Equitable Compensation

The gender gap in pay persists in the United States and hasn’t changed much in the last 20 years –?according to data from the Pew Research Center, women earned an average of 82% of what men earned in 2022. While this is a systemic issue that companies must work to combat, Melissa shared a few invaluable tips on how to advocate for higher compensation on a personal level as a woman in the workplace:

1. Know the process at your company. Don’t be afraid to ask questions about how compensation reviews, salary increases, and bonuses are handled at your company.
2. Know your worth and your value. Pull data about what compensation should be for your role, and work to articulate exactly what you are doing and the value you add.
3. Be proactive about compensation. This is one of the biggest mistakes people make –?they wait to see what they will get and then are mad or disappointed when it wasn’t what they wanted. Especially as women, we need to take control of the situation and not just wait to be given what someone else thinks we should get within a system that is not built for us.
4. Don’t fixate on comparisons. This is another mistake that can be a big turnoff for managers. They are not going to pay you something just because someone else makes that, and frankly, you shouldn’t want that. You should want to be paid for your own merits and for the unique work you are doing.
5. Give yourself TIME. More than likely, your manager needs to bring this to someone else for approval. Give them time to do that and talk about it well in advance of a compensation cycle.
6. Be prepared to hear no, and if you do, ask questions. Don’t make assumptions or put yourself down. Rather, figure out what you need to do to get it next time. Remember that compensation conversations take place over time.
7. Advocate for resources and structure as well as compensation. Compensation conversations are very closely tied to how you shape your role – sometimes a company will say, “We will give you more money for taking on more work,” and before you know it, you’ve become a dumping ground for more work. If you are taking on more, talk to your manager about how you can shift some of your current work to someone else on the team. The plus is that this can give someone else an opportunity to take on something new!

How Companies Can Create More Equitable Compensation

Companies also carry great responsibility to make sure women and minorities are paid fairly, and it takes serious effort. Here are a few suggestions Melissa recommends:?

1. Have clear processes. Companies must communicate their processes clearly so everyone is empowered with the knowledge of what to expect and understands how to advocate for themselves effectively.
2. Make it a goal. When designing compensation processes, build them with the intention of being fair and consistent.? At TrialSpark we are meticulous about our approach to compensation and so much of that is due to our people team making it a priority. They care deeply about building equitable processes and ensuring that every person has an understanding of those processes. During each review cycle they run extensive employee training to ensure every employee understands the process and can feel empowered to engage with their manager about the topic.
3. Be prepared to do the work. At TrialSpark, we run compensation reviews company-wide twice a year. During these cycles, we look at EVERYONE across the company, whether or not they are technically eligible for a salary increase at that time. This helps us see if someone is low within their comp band or against the market. We also pull new market data for each role 2x a year so we make sure our team is aligned with the market and that there are no pay gaps on the basis of gender, race, ethnicity, or other demographic factors.

On Setting Work/Home Boundaries

According to McKinsey and LeanIn, in 2020, mothers were 1.5 times more likely than fathers to be spending an extra three or more hours a day on housework. That’s 20 extra hours of unpaid work being done a week by women.

As a mother of 4 young children, setting boundaries at work as well as at home has been crucial for Melissa.?

“I think the first thing a person needs to do is know what boundaries they actually need to have for their OWN sanity. You first have to know it for yourself in order to know what to ask other people to do. For me, that means no meetings from 6-8 pm so I can be around for dinner and bedtime. It also means no meetings before 9 am so I can get the kids to school, a responsibility I share with my husband, but I enjoy doing.”

Melissa shared a few tips she found useful for sharing boundaries with others:

• Proactively communicate your scheduling needs to your managers and team. Block them on the calendar so that they are clear. If someone requests your time during one of those blocks, don’t just accept it and try to work around it – first, reach out and ask them if it is necessary for you to be there and if there are any alternatives.
• Set expectations. If you might get interrupted by a kid who is at home, mention it at the beginning of a meeting so it’s not a surprise when they appear and you don’t find yourself apologizing.
• Set aside your space. Give yourself the physical space you need to be successful so you can focus on what you need to focus on to do your job, even at home.
• Set boundaries at home, too. Set up carpools, divide up home responsibilities, assign tasks to others in the family, and arrange childcare so you’re able to focus on work when you need to and home life when you need to.

And as for allies, employers, and managers, it is important to create the space and flexibility to support the personal needs of employees as well as make sure that expectations are clear.

How to Make the Workplace an Equitable Space for Women of Color & Other Marginalized Identities

Women of color face unique challenges in the workplace, having to navigate misogyny, discrimination, racism, biases, and unfair treatment. According to a 2018 report by Catalyst, 58% of Black women reported being “highly on guard” in the workplace. What’s more, Latinas and Asian women are more likely than women of other races and ethnicities to have colleagues comment on their culture or nationality. This creates feelings of not belonging and being othered. When an individual feels that they need to be on guard, it is impossible for them to bring their full, confident self to work.

To help women of color progress, Melissa suggests that companies, managers, and allies must proactively create inclusive environments of psychological safety, where this guard doesn’t need to be up. Companies can create programming to bring awareness to microaggressions, comments, and actions that can make WOC feel like outsiders.?

Melissa’s Golden Rule for Women in the Workplace

When asked about her golden rule for women in the workplace, Melissa’s didn’t come from a business book or a boardroom – she heard it while on the seat of her Peloton. “In a recent class, one of my favorite instructors Tunde Oyeneyin said, “Your mindset influences your actions and your actions are what you meet the world with.” And so, my golden rule for women is to keep the right mindset – especially when things are hard.

“When you feel moments of doubt creep up into your mind, remind yourself that you are worthy. You are not an imposter, you are in your role for a reason. You are there because you are adding value. Find and build a community and leverage that network of supporters, especially when you find that you are doubting yourself. As Tunde says, tell yourself, “YES, I CAN. YES, I CAN. YES, I CAN. WATCH ME!” Because you can!”

Here is the link if you would like to see the full video.