#breakthebias
At vivoHR in our team we are professional, educated, knowledgeable women and we’ve worked really bloody hard to get where we are. Sam has grown the business from a spare room venture to a professional full-service consultancy, Rachel and Sarah-Louise have continued to develop their skills and knowledge whilst raising families and Kate has pursued degree level studies whilst working at weekends – we are damn proud of ourselves! We are proud to continue to work hard for our achievements whether they are work, home, family or studies.
We know and love a whole bunch of amazing men who do fantastic things and achieve their goals too – no man bashing here. But the reality is still even in 2022 that bias can create additional challenges for women. And we sure recognise the even greater challenges that those who are non-binary or trans are likely to have experienced when it comes to bias.
This year the theme of International Women’s Day 2022 is #breakthebias
Bias is a way of our brains making shortcuts in processing information and it can lead to incorrect assumptions, stereotypes, unfair judgements, prejudice and unacceptable treatment.
#breakthebias because after all most of us cherish and all look up to the women in our lives, whether they’re our mothers, sisters, friends, partners or colleagues – so let’s use that to ensure we are all treated equally – here’s to seeing women for who they are as individuals and valuing what they can do
#breakthebias in poor recruitment decisions and stereotypical thinking that is made because the applicant is a woman
#breakthebias in unequal pay for men and women doing the same or comparable jobs and challenge the gender pay gap
#breakthebias of women being under represented at senior management and executive levels. The more diverse the executive leadership team, the more innovative and balanced the thinking.
#breakthebias of women undermined in decision making at board level when they do get there
#breakthebias of nonsense and demeaning dress codes
#breakthebias of women being denied progression at work in case they decide to start a family – embrace the opportunities of shared parental leave. There is a HUGE untapped market of mothers with a wealth of experience and knowledge that struggle to get back into work due to the lack of part time roles. Embrace the part time/job share market.