A recent survey of nearly 1000 people in Asia by Hays found that 43% of respondents see diversity as a barrier to career progression at their organisations while 57% indicate the opposite.
In Hong Kong, 53% of respondents believed diversity was a barrier to career progression at their organisations — the highest in Asia, the recruitment agency said.
“Considering that 91% of respondents in Hong Kong said they found a company’s diversity and inclusion policies and progress important when evaluating a job offer, it is concerning to see that over half of respondents believed diversity to be a barrier to career progression,” said Sue Wei, Managing Director of Hays Hong Kong SAR.
Employers should continue to demonstrate their commitment to diversity and inclusion not just by enacting policies, but ensuring they are communicated and adhered to, Wei added.
Concurrently, a global survey of more than 11,400 people was also conducted to find out whether professionals thought gender bias existed within their organisations and whether it was being addressed, said Hays.
Though 47% think there isn’t an issue with gender bias in their organisations, 26% believe there is gender issue which is not being addressed by their organisations , survey results indicate.
In addition, the remaining 11% of respondents were unsure as to whether there is an issue with gender bias within their workplace.
How to eradicate gender bias in organisations
According to Sandra Henke, Hays Group Head of People and Culture, organisations could eradicate gender bias by the following ways.
Investigate and evaluate bias within your organisation. Business leaders must inform themselves about unconscious biases and then ask themselves what biases may exist within their company.
Initially it might not be obvious that some form of bias is prevalent within an organisation, so speak to a wide range of individuals from within your business and seek their insights into what they conceive to be biases within your organisation.
Educate your workforce. There is an opportunity for organisations to educate their workforce on unconscious bias, by showcasing examples of everyday bias and offering exercises to help demonstrate its impact.
Individuals being aware of their own bias is incredibly powerful in being able to tackle the issue as an organisation.
There’s also an opportunity to educate employees on why it’s everybody’s responsibility, not just those who are negatively impacted by bias.
Encourage a discussion about bias. It’s important for organisations to encourage their employees to speak up about bias and create an environment in which people feel comfortable to speak up about their experiences.
This is the only way you will learn as a leader and as a business. You can’t eradicate bias without knowing where it exists, and that means opening up ways of communicating and listening.”
Take action. Organisations and business leaders can proactively take positive steps to permanently removing bias from your place of work. Start by providing training on unconscious bias to all employees and then look to set to remove bias from the recruitment process. For example, one step organisations can take is when writing job descriptions, avoid using words that have a masculine connotation.
