What it means to include women in the workplace

The #metoo movement revealed a deep, underlying need: the need for women to speak up and be heard, in a society still largely dominated by men. 

It served – or should serve – as a giant wake-up call for all companies, institutions, bosses, co-workers to take a long, hard look at where they stand on the subject and correct what needs to be corrected: harassment per se, but also gender pay gap, women’s access to senior management positions, everyday sexism.  We at Thales are, of course, not exempt from taking these steps, and we have already made it our goal to have more women embrace scientific careers.

These goals we set for ourselves on specific issues are essential. But they are not, in themselves, enough. What we need is a more global cultural change, an evolution from a simple non-discrimination policy to actual inclusion.

Non-discrimination is of course the first – crucial – step.  It’s quite simple really: sexism must be eradicated from the workplace, along with all other forms of exclusion, such as racism, homophobia and discrimination whatever the criteria. All actions falling under these categories must be approached with a zero tolerance policy. It’s a constant battle if we are to create a workplace in which people feel they are treated equally.

The second step after non-discrimination is diversity.

A company’s workforce should be as rich and varied as society itself in terms of gender, age, ethnic origin, social and educational background, religion, sexual orientation, but also skills, work practices, communication styles, etc.

Non-discrimination and diversity are important issues that need to be addressed, in combination with a third aim: inclusion, meaning the ability of an organisation to value all profiles and enable them to contribute to collective success. In other words people should feel that they can be themselves at all times.

Inclusion is essential in avoiding the three pitfalls that are: assimilation – the idea that everyone should conform to the dominant culture; integration – meaning that different subgroups will co-exist but never be fully included – and exclusion. 

Granted – that’s a lot of concepts to be throwing around. What does it mean concretely with reference to the role of women in the workplace?

What we must move away from is the assimilation of women – making women feel as though they need to adopt the dominant male codes in order to be fully accepted as peers. This notion of “behaving like men” is tricky: the idea behind that phrase is obviously not that men are stronger, show their emotions less and make better leaders, but rather, to a certain extent, one has to put on the whole manly act in order to succeed – a stereotype that excludes women, but also men who don’t correspond to the perceived norm. 

So let us move away from assimilation and reach actual inclusion. This will happen when gender is no longer an issue, no longer the filter through which people are assessed; when everyone is able to take parental leave, find their right work/life balance – and this applies to both men and women. This means: opening up daycare facilities, avoiding meetings past a certain hour, not requiring people to be available at all times, not making women feel as though they should justify how many children they have or might still want when they apply for a position.

What is true for gender is true for all other forms of diversity – the idea is to not separate people into categories or reduce them to one component but on the contrary to welcome all differences; to find the right balance between the uniqueness of each individual and create a sense of belonging, a commitment to common objectives and values.

As a CEO, I truly believe that diversity & inclusion are fantastic levers for innovation and performance. First, enabling people to be themselves, to be valued and respected as such, results in having workers who are fully committed. Second, a company whose culture is not embracing diversity and inclusion might see its best talents go somewhere else. And third, having people bring to the table their different insights, stemming from background, education or experience, is the only way to move beyond cognitive bias, to think creatively and outside the box, to anticipate future trends and, ultimately, to innovate. This is absolutely essential for all companies who want to stay ahead of the game.

But for that to happen, this question of inclusion must be tackled head-on. That means embracing all employees.

We need everyone to be engaged if we want to have a real impact on our global performance.

What is certain – what will stay with me from the #metoo movement - is that we need to be able to speak about these things openly and without taboos. We need to make sure that women, and men, know that they will be listened to, that harassment and sexism will be dealt with. If we are to truly make a difference, we need to ensure that all employees, whoever they are, wherever they come from, are heard in all circumstances, that they know their point of view matters, that they can be themselves. Only then will we have created a truly inclusive environment for all.

#PressForProgress #IWD18