Every year on March 8th we celebrate International Women’s Day. What started in the early part of the 20th century as a single-day strike for better working hours, pay, and the right to vote in New York City has since become an emblem raising awareness of women’s equality and the need for a truly gender-equal world. International Women’s Day commemorates the achievements of women from all different backgrounds and cultures in social, economic, cultural, scientific, and political spheres. It also recognizes that there are still many challenges to overcome.
At Get Staffed Up, we are proud of our commitment to gender parity and demonstrate it in many ways throughout our organization and the work we do on behalf of our clients.
How WE support women
As a woman working in Get Staffed Up, I can confidently say that we stand up for gender equality 365 days a year. We believe that commitment to gender inclusion needs to come from the top, in order to generate and portray an increasingly progressive workplace. We can certainly say that one of Get Staffed Up’s proudest achievements is our diversity, inclusion, and equity – all essential values to continue breaking down barriers.
It’s one thing to say that, but the numbers back us up. For instance, of the 475 staffers we placed with clients, 382 are female – that’s 80% of the overall staffers we have under our wing. In addition, 75% of our internal team members are female. Not only that, the amazing GSU team is led by 14 Directors and Junior Directors – 71% of whom are women.
We welcome and celebrate talented ambitious women from all walks of life. For instance, our Directors and Junior Directors are between the ages of 25 to 32, they all have different specialties ranging from Neuropsychology for Education, History, Art, Creative writing, Marketing to Business Administration and speak from 2 to 4 different languages. They are also in different stages of their lives – married, single, or in long-term relationships; with and without children.
We asked our Directors how they feel about working at GSU, and here is what they said:
How YOU can support your women employees
The best way to support your women employees during this and every day is to not only talk about gender diversity and inclusion but actually implement it. You can do this by trusting women’s organizational responsibilities and placing them in leadership roles – with fair pay.
Do not let preconceptions rule your decisions and trust your internal data. Don’t just assume you have an inclusive and balanced workplace, but actually, look at the statistics. Watch out for the narrative you’re constructing to analyze who applies for jobs and why. It is also important to remember that any hint of family commitments or needing to leave early for caring responsibilities is not a sign of weakness. In this day in age, both men and women are equally responsible for family affairs and they are both on the same level in that regard (maternity and paternity leaves).
Last but not least, create an environment where people can be their genuine selves. Meaning, allow people to be mothers, fathers, happily single, or whatever that may look like. This will show your employees they are welcomed, appreciated, and celebrated. Because happy people who feel valued are more loyal and productive. In fact, at Get Staffed Up, we make sure to stand up to justice, dignity, equality, appreciation, respect, and empathy as we believe this translates into a great work environment, allowing our employees to be themselves resulting in their 100% performance.
As a final note, I want to highlight that as the workplace has become fairer for women, this does not mean that the fight is over. Celebrating International Women’s Day is remembering that no country has achieved gender equality. Empower the women around you and help create the awareness that we still need to keep working to fix gender parity from the home to the office.
By Juanita Rojas, Junior Marketing Director at Get Staffed Up.
