Productivity. Giving all workers an opportunity to contribute their full potential

Gender discrimination in the workplace can have a negative effect on productivity. Sources of discrimination and ways to improve fairness of treatment are not always easy to identify, but action to eliminate unfairness based on gender and to improve the opportunities offered to women can make a difference to an organization's efficiency.

Much discrimination is not deliberate and simply arises from implicit, traditional assumptions about men and women, and what certain jobs require.

Direct discrimination involves a preference for men over equally qualified women for given positions, and offering women less development opportunities. Evaluation is always subjective to some extent, and equivalent qualifications may be regarded less favourably for women than for men. Assumptions about women being less ambitious, less able to speak in public, less able to exercise authority, etc., may be built into the assignments given to women. The same characteristics may also be assessed differently in women and in men. For example, what is regarded as leadership in a man may be seen as a domineering attitude in a woman, and reserve may be interpreted as wisdom in a man but as shyness in a woman.

Indirect discrimination occurs when procedures and criteria for selection, promotion, access to benefits, etc., are such that the majority of women end up being excluded even though they were not intended to be. For example, employees may be recruited through networks of professional acquaintances so that for the most part only men will be contacted for a given position. Only employees on long-term or full-time contracts may be eligible for benefits, etc. Indirect discrimination may also occur when social patterns of behaviour which are more often found among men than among women are considered the right way to do things.

Pay: To many people, pay is a measure of fairness and a measure of the value their employer puts on their work. Women who are paid less than men with similar qualifications are likely to feel less motivated and may not stay with their employer as long.

Choosing the best person for the job: Discrimination, whether direct or indirect, means that hiring and promotions are based on a restricted group of potential applicants. Removing discrimination implies selecting from a larger pool of talent, with a better chance of finding the best person for the job. In many cases, this may require more open and systematic procedures, which can further improve the selection process.

Encouraging people to contribute to their full potential: Good work often involves initiative and creativity, even in carrying out apparently simple tasks. Many human resource practices are designed to encourage employees to do good work by providing them with opportunities to exercise initiative and creativity, and with incentives to do so. For example, enterprises may set up problem-solving groups or quality circles and offer employee share-ownership plans or incentive pay schemes. However, some of these schemes have been less than successful because management involved women less than men in participatory processes. Teams were formed and the team leaders appointed were men, or it was not thought necessary to include certain units or certain skill groups in consultative processes, and those happened to be primarily female. Women may also work in jobs which are not covered by incentive pay schemes, whether because they are lower down in the organization or because they do not meet eligibility criteria based on hours, duration of contract or length of service.

Discrimination-related stress: Feeling underutilized, unfairly treated or undervalued creates stress, and perceptions of discrimination have been associated with extra stress among discriminated groups. Discriminatory environments also foster sexual harassment, with the attendant ill effects on health, absenteeism and resignations among victims.

By underutilising their employees' skills and exposing a share of their workforce to demoralisation and stressful harassment, discriminatory workplaces undermine their potential efficiency and productivity. Furthermore, discriminatory organizations may be exposed to costly lawsuits in an increasing number of countries. Gender-conscious enterprises may also be better able to respond to changing markets, as shown by the recent example of sports equipment manufacturers' development of products adapted to women's anatomy.

Management of public and private sector workplaces have a crucial role in improving fairness of treatment by actively implementing comprehensive equal opportunities measures in their organizations. Over two decades of experience in several countries have shown a number of practices to be effective in correcting and preventing discrimination in the workplace. Available evidence suggests fair treatment policies have been associated with better performance.

Practices to improve fairness of treatment in the workplace

Examples of effective practices include:

Training employees in equal-opportunity issues
Monitoring the composition of the workforce at all levels
Setting quantitative objectives for improving the gender balance at all levels
Reviewing hiring and promotion procedures
Reviewing eligibility criteria for benefits
Ensuring that women sit on all evaluation committees
Requiring all "short lists" for hiring and promotion to include female applicants
Setting up hotlines and formal complaint procedures for sexual harassment
etc.

In all cases, making management accountable for the implementation of these policies has been found especially important to their success.

Gender! A Partnership of Equals
Geneve: International Labour Office, 2000. 115 p.

Productivity
Giving all workers an opportunity to contribute their full potential

Gender! A Partnership of Equals Geneve: International Labour Office, 2000. 115 p.

Productivity Giving all workers an opportunity to contribute their full potential

Gender! A Partnership of Equals
Geneve: International Labour Office, 2000. 115 p.

Productivity
Giving all workers an opportunity to contribute their full potential