Today’s celebrations of International Woman’s Day (IWD) feel somewhat poignant given the disproportionate negative impact the pandemic has had on women with PwC recently reporting that COVID-19 is causing a “shecession” which has seen the reversal of important gains made for women in the workplace over the last decade.
So while this annual event might appear to be a great PR opportunity for organisations wishing to demonstrate solidarity with the unarguably positive message of gender inclusion and equality, there are potential traps for the unwary.
Firms need to take a good look at their own credentials before jumping on this particular bandwagon – merely paying lip service to the idea of gender equality could backfire in PR terms.
If you have very few women in your senior management teams or, you have a large gender pay gap then the question of how committed you really are to inclusion is likely to be asked and the authenticity of your support for initiatives such as IWD starts to look challengeable. In contrast, when one of my legal sector clients asked me last week if I thought it would be a good idea to promote IWD on social media, I said absolutely. This particular firm has excellent gender credentials with woman making up nearly half of the partners so it was absolutely the right thing to do.
Luckily, professional services firms do tend to be ahead of many other sectors in being able to demonstrate their commitment to gender equality. For example, The Big Four accountancy firms have long been regarded as leaders on inclusion of all kinds, not just gender. In law, the numbers of women entering the profession has been greater than men for several years and continues to grow. This inevitably results in more women getting to the upper echelons which traditionally has proved challenging. For example, Freshfields, recently appointed its first female senior partner, Georgia Dawson, which clearly sends a very strong message and is a great role model for junior lawyers coming through. This interview with Georgia in The Times is well worth a read for those of you who have a moment.
While Freshfields has also announced five year diversity and inclusion targets, there are more subtle ways that firms can champion diversity throughout the year – such as making sure women from the firm get put forward for media interviews, to speak at conferences and are nominated for industry awards.
One real positive to come out of lockdown has been the acceptance of homeworking (it’s no longer “just” mothers who are reaping the benefits) and the ubiquity of new technology that works to enable this. As we hopefully return to a more normal world, there is a golden opportunity for firms to properly embrace more flexible working for all staff. This is something which has been shown to significantly aide retention of women in the workplace and enable them to climb the ladder.
However, it’s helpful to remember that Rome wasn’t built in a day! If your equality data already look good then you have a great story to tell. But, if it’s not yet where you would like it to be, focus on the journey you are taking and everything you are doing to achieve a more equal workplace. Once this has been achieved you will be able to reap some PR benefits when IOW comes around again.
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