Robin - How IMPower is Actually Breaking the Bias on IWD
Did you know that this year’s theme for International Women’s Day is “Break the Bias”? The theme imagines a gender equal world, a world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination.
Over the next 8 days in the lead up to International Women’s Day (March 8th), I’m introducing a personal story each day, from one of my friends who has faced bias – in the form of misogyny, racism, sexual discrimination, or just plain negative stereotypes that they fought against.
I’ll be honest - some of them were a bit nervous to share their personal story, but I implored with them how inspirational they are to me and how they will inspire others too.
We will discuss their stories of same sex marriage, misogyny, growing up as a Chinese Australian, bullying because of being a foreigner, and even the topic of arranged marriage.
I am very proud of their stories, and I hope you love them too.
In speaking of bias, I certainly have experienced my own. Many of my friends and family know the topic closest to my heart is gender equality, and one of the factors that saddens me is gender pay disparity.
In fact, the gender pay gap in Australia sits at 14.1% and in the US, it sits at 18.1%. This means that women continue to make less money than men doing the exact same jobs. Oh, and by the way Covid has caused us to slide backwards in the last 24 months because women have been disproportionately affected by leaving their jobs to care for children.
While much of my career was spent in Technologies, a male dominated industry, I was shocked when I had approved access to salaries for the department or company.
I studied how so many women made much less pay for doing the same job, and even observing equal job titles receiving equal performance ratings, the pay increase was still lopsided. Surely this had to be a mistake. What could I do?
At first, I politely raised the issue directly with the leaders and most of the time salary adjustments were made. But when I became an HR Director, I became bolder, and I raised the disparities in executive meetings. I found when I shone a light on the inequity, people were forced to take action.
I learned that even my own director salary was far below my peers, yet my leader told me during my performance review, “WOW! I didn’t realise how much you’ve delivered.” I got a 5% increase, however some of my peers got 10-20%, it was infuriating.
After noticing that only 12% of my company were female and the employee feedback was that many felt they were not being given opportunities, I decided to start a women’s “mentoring network” where I would recruit female mentors and then offer to our female staff to be paired with a mentor senior to them. My intent was that it would help build women’s confidence and the ability to negotiate promotions and raises.
What surprised me was how much effort it took to convince the female leaders that YES, they would indeed make a great mentor to other female employees in the company. I wrote and delivered a ‘Mentor Training Course’, and the program was a resounding success.
All the women were ecstatic that finally we ‘see them’. They were delighted to receive positive career advice and now they had connected with role models they normally wouldn’t have, and these connections stuck with them. I got a thank you note on LinkedIn years later from a female CEO of a tech start-up, saying how much this inspired her.
Other things I did was lobby executive leadership to introduce a new Performance Management system that introduced ratings and removed the bias in the old ratings system that was based on the ‘old boys club’. I was ecstatic when the first year this new rating system was rolled out, and 100% of employees received performance appraisals where the previous year only 15% of reviews had been completed.
Fast forward to the last 4 years as a small business owner, I have gained my biggest joy in coaching women and migrants to land a job or salary that they wouldn’t have achieved without my help. I insist everyone I meet with to educate themselves on the benchmark salary data so that they are equipped to have the salary discussion in a fair and objective way.
My purpose in sharing these stories is in the hope that collectively, we can help break the bias that many minorities continue to face today.
I have shared a photo of my blended family, Kimberley – high school teacher (26), Matt - business consultant, myself, Liam – film maker (22) and Carly – nurse (24). All of our kids have forged their own path in their careers, and I am so proud of them. When they encounter bias throughout their lives, either experiencing it themselves or through others close to them, my hope is that they do speak up because it really does matter.
Are you in? Will you actively call out gender bias, discrimination and stereotyping each time you see it?
Will you help us #BreakTheBias?
Please look out for eight AMAZING stories of vulnerability and courage over the next week - it would be the BOMB if you were to like or comment on each article and tell them that you're happy they shared their story.
