Why We Need to Involve Men If Were Going to Achieve True Gender Equity in the Workplace

Why We Need to Involve Men If Were Going to Achieve True Gender Equity in the Workplace With the launch of the Men as Allies program last year, Fort and PNC know that achieving equity in the workplace requires men to be part of the equation.Men as Allies drives participants toward embracing a model of inclusive leadership and champions corporate HR strategies that strengthen the link between the companys talent management processes and efforts to support the promotion of women and other diverse employees.Forte jointly created Men as Allies (MAA) with PNC, which piloted the program with a group of the companys employees in 2018. Caitlin (Cat) McLaughlin, Senior Vice President with responsibility for Talent and Total Rewards at PNC, and a Fort board member, helped steer the dialogue and identify the program as the kind of ground-breaking effort that PNC wanted to champion.The MAA modules that Stewart helped to craft encourage men to notice how gender influences both womens and mens wo rk experiences. The objectives are to increase their comfort with discussing gender issues, help them to develop and refine their gender lens and enable them to create action plans to make a difference within their individual work settings.As each module welches created, Stewarts particular lens as a member of the LGBTQ community enabled him to push the dialogue further regarding our cultures many assumptions based on gender.Stewart said one of the most impactful activities in the studienordnung is a homework assignment to ask three women from different realms of life mothers, daughters, spouses or colleagues specific questions about their experiences around gender. What do they wish men would know or think about?Throughout the program, men hear about and read research on gender inequity and bias, but it isnt until they engage in this one-on-one dialogue that they realize its not something thats out there, happening to other women it impacts the women who they know in very real an d tangible ways, Stewart said.Stewart points out that the MAA program cant give allies a specific list of things to do. An allys role is very individualized it requires them to know women, have working relationships with them and look for clues and cues on how and when to demonstrate allyship. An allys role is going to be different from conference room to conference room, setting to setting and this can be challenging for men to navigate.After running the pilot program last year, PNC is retooling and refining a bit. We want to target the right audience were looking for influencers, folks who can both take individual action and then teach and influence others to do the same, Stewart said. The company is also considering where PNCs womens leadership development program can intersect with MAA and how they can serve as resources for one another.Learn more about the Men as Allies program and how it can impact your school or workplace.Written by Pam Bixby, Staff Writer forFort a nonprofi t alliance of schools, companies and donors working to launch women into fulfilling, significant careers in business. MoreWomenLeadingThis article was originally published onFort.--Fairygodboss is proud to partner with PNC.