Kiran Babu’s Post

As a #workingmother, I find the recent trend of women leaving the workforce concerning. Let's be clear- making the choice to step away from a career to care for one's family is 💯 worthwhile and valid! However, it needs to be a choice and not the only option because lack of access to flexible work arrangements or affordable childcare. Thank you Fast Company Middle East for sharing 5 Ways to #Support and #Retain Women in the Workplace 🕒 Offer #Flexibility: Provide flexible work arrangements to help balance professional and personal responsibilities. ⚖️ Ensure #Fairness: Implement policies that promote gender equality and fair career advancement opportunities. 🤝 Promote #Inclusivity: Cultivate an inclusive company culture that supports women, especially working mothers. 👶 Provide #Childcare Support: Facilitate access to affordable childcare to alleviate the burden on working mothers. 🚀 Encourage #FemaleLeadership: Create pathways for women to advance into leadership roles, recognizing their potential and contributions.

According to new research from Perceptyx, most employees also still lack access to two of these three key benefits, and many lack the third: - 53% of employees said they lacked coverage for mental health - 51% lacked access to maternity leave  - 25% don’t have medical benefits 🚨And alarmingly, men were 1.5x times more likely than women to say their employer was delivering the benefits they needed.🚨 🤔 What can you do to help improve equity in your benefits offering? Perceptyx found one trio of benefits that efficiently closed the gap: “Medical, maternity, and mental health are the magic trifecta when it comes to benefits equity,” said Emily Killham, Senior Director of People Analytics, Research & Insights. “When employees have access to all three, women and men feel equally that their needs are met.” 👉 Read “New Research Shows Urgent Need to Address Gender Inequity in Benefits” to learn about the major implications of the "magic trifecta" for women's success at work: https://lnkd.in/gzKb5tB2 #employeewellbeing #employeebenefits #workplaceequity #research

Women in the corporate sector often encounter significant hurdles, particularly when they are married or have children. Challenges such as limited maternity leave, lack of flexible work options, and workplace biases can impede their career advancement. Empowering women means creating an environment where they can thrive both personally and professionally. Companies must prioritize policies that support work-life balance, such as extended parental leave, remote work options, and comprehensive childcare support. By fostering a culture of inclusivity and understanding, organizations can unlock the full potential of their female employees. When women are empowered to pursue their careers without compromising their family responsibilities, everyone benefits. Let's work together to create a corporate landscape that champions women's empowerment and equality. #WomenEmpowerment #GenderEquality

If I read another performative post about International Women's Day I might scream... We are never going to achieve the gender equality in the workplace without true change in the way we support women. Attracting, retaining, and supporting women through all life stages during their career requires serious policy reviews. Here’s my take on the top 4: 🤰 Enhanced Maternity Leave and Pay: Offering enhanced maternity leave and pay is a necessity, not just a benefit, supporting women through key life transitions, helping them balance family and career without financial strain. If you can tell the difference between the government’s minimum wage and paying a competitive salary to keep people, you should be able to apply the same logic to maternity leave. #MaternityMatters 🤸♀️ Flexible Work Environments: Providing flexibility in work hours and locations to accommodate different life circumstances is particularly important for working mothers. And don't leave your employees waiting when they make flexible working requests; their childcare decisions and finances are hanging on your decision.#FlexForFamilies ⚖ Equal Pay and Advancement Opportunities: Ensuring women receive equal pay for equal work and have transparent opportunities for career progression. #EqualPayEveryday 🏥 Female Health Support: Recognising the full spectrum of female health needs, including support for women going through menopause, fertility treatments or miscarriage. #WellnessForWomen We often talk about breaking glass ceilings, but let’s first focus on removing barriers. Too many women face the tough decision between career and family planning, personal and professional growth, due to inadequate workplace policies. It’s time for companies to realise that supporting their female employees is not just ethical; it’s essential for a diverse and dynamic workforce. #InternationalWomensDay #DiversityInBusiness #EnhancedMaternity #PolicyOverCakesAndSocialPosts #NotJustLipService #EqualityIsntExtra 📣 What policies has your company or could your company implement to support women?

40% of  #2slgbtqia + employees we’ve surveyed report experiencing equity and inclusion barriers with regard to benefits and reward. Drawing from our meta-analysis of over 7,500 employees in Canada & U.S, 2SLGBTQIA+ employees showed the highest level of discontent with employee benefits across all equity-deserving groups in the workforce. What can you do to design a 2SLGBTQ+ inclusive and equitable benefits offering?  ➡ Inclusive parental leave - ensure that parental leave policies cover all types of families, irrespective of gender or sexual orientation ➡ Gender affirmation - include coverage for hormone treatments, surgery, and  extended counseling supports ➡ Recovery time - provide employees with time to recover from surgery (which could include gender affirmation surgery) without having to use sick days or go on short-term disability ➡ Drug coverage - provide top-up funding to support costs not covered by your benefit plan ➡ 2SLGBTQ+ EAP services - ensure representation of 2SLGBTQ+ counsellors/support providers via  your employee assistance plan. Offer to cover providers not listed on your EAP ➡ Flexible spending accounts- which can be applied in numerous ways, including to cover procedures vital to gender affirmation, including laser hair removal and chest contouring What other ideas would you add to make your benefits offerings more inclusive and equitable to 2SLGBTQIA+ people? #rewardandbenefits #benefits #equitydiversityinclusion

"The unequal gender distribution of unpaid care work remains a detriment to women's labour market outcomes throughout their career lifecycle. Redistributing this load is key to narrowing the gender pay gap. "This could be achieved through more flexible work policies, more affordable childcare provision and progressive parental leave policies. "Employers should also promote a proactive dialogue and provide health and wellbeing support in the workplace in response to health issues typically faced by women (including the menopause." Key findings from the PwC Women in Work report released today. YES to the need to focus on redistributing the unequal burden of unpaid care and YES YES YES to providing wellbeing support for mothers at all stages of the life cycle, especially after having children when career confidence can be at an all time low. Coaching can be a huge help in this area! #motherhoodpenalty #genderpaygap #genderequality #coaching #pwc #womeninwork #flexiblework #parentalleave #coachformothers

Read our article, 'A wake up call to employers: gender equity is losing ground,' published in Personnel Today to discover the challenges faced by over 3,000 randomly-selected working parents, and what businesses should be doing to improve support and avoid talent loss. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/ebhw-Y2s #BrightHorizonsUK #HR #HRCommunity

Experts say a report by Bupa demonstrates how ‘caring is the norm, not the exception’ for the modern workforce. The report - which draws upon findings from a survey of over 8,000 UK adults - revealed that 51% of the UK workforce say their career has been impacted by taking on responsibility for different generations of their family’s health and wellbeing. So, what does this mean for gender equality in the workplace? According to Charlotte Woodworth, gender equality director at Business in the Community, the report highlighted how care obligations were the "norm not the exception" for the modern workforce. Woodworth added that caring responsibilities were frequently assigned to women but, by encouraging men to take on caring responsibilities and making caring the norm rather than the exception, employers would benefit their businesses and facilitate career advancement for all employees, regardless of gender. She comments: “We urgently need to see employer policy and practice catch up to the reality that most workers have someone to care for. That means employers must do everything they can to ensure that all employees can balance work and wider life – embedding flexible working and family-friendly policies into their organisational strategy so that no one gets left behind." #familyfriendly #workingparents #flexibleworking https://lnkd.in/eCuGeNP6

Happy International Women’s Day! As the owner of Beyond Words, it's my privilege to be able to support and elevate women during their job search and throughout their career growth. Why do I have such a passion for supporting professional Women? 👩💼 42% of women claim they have been discriminated at work because of their gender 💡 50.2% of the college-educated workforce are women, but women only make up 10.6% of Fortune 500 CEOs 🤯 The United States is the only developed economy without paid maternity leave 👶 92.5% of Dad's are able to continue their career after parenthood, whereas only 71.7% of women are able to due to our country's childcare crisis The women I support are unheard, underpaid, and tired. . . So, instead of a blanket obligatory post on IWD, what do women really want from their employers? 🌟 Paid maternity leave and paid parental leave for the non-birth giving partner 🌟 Fair and Equal wages 🌟 Flexible Schedules 🌟 Comprehensive Health & Wellness Benefit Packages #InternationalWomensDay2024 #ResumeWriting #WomanOwnedBusiness #VeteranOwnedBusiness

The Gender Pay Gap After Maternity Leave: A Global Issue Returning to work after maternity leave can be challenging for women worldwide, with many facing a stark reality: The Gender Pay Gap. 👉In India, women returning from maternity leave can earn up to 20% less than men. 👉The United States sees women paid 82 cents for every dollar a man earns. 👉In the United Kingdom, the gap stands at 7.4%, despite policy efforts. 👉Australia reports a 13.4% gap. I personally fail to understand the reason behind the persistence of these disparities. Various studies and reports suggests that they might be due to factors like unconscious bias and lack of support for working mothers. But dont you all think that: In the 21st century, amidst unprecedented growth in all areas, shouldn't the issue of the post-maternity leave gender pay gap have been resolved long ago?!!