What We Women Want in the Workplace

Periodically we hear another story about what women want in the workplace. I’ve been thinking about that issue a bit lately, as well as the slams we hear against so-called “political correctness.” I found a very good treatment about both issues in a March 2016 article by Cord Himelstein, Vice president of Marketing and Communications at Michael C. Fina. I greatly appreciated several of the points he made:

• “The ‘PC’ debate wants you to believe that watching what you say is an admission of defeat or surrender, when it’s actually a simple act of empathy from one person to another, just like the millions of empathetic acts that happen every day.”
• We should be developing empathy and mutual respect in the workplace. One suggestion is to call women by their names, not “baby,” “sweetie,” or other terms that might seem to be endearing but are actually offensive.
• Pay women equally.
• Cultivate professionalism.

Let’s add to the mix the proposals out there to enact family-friendly legislation that would help not only women but men trying to be good husbands and fathers (noting once again that our peer nations have had such legislation for decades, and the EU now does):

• Paid parental leave;
• Paid sick leave;
• Paid vacation leave;
• Work week regulations;
• Availability of high-quality child care;
• A living wage;
• Job security.

Until and unless all of these factors come together throughout the workplace – large, small and in-between companies – we will all remain …