One-third of Singaporeans believe employers can do more to promote inclusivity

Despite reports of employers investing more on DEI initiatives, 33% of Singapore-based employees believe that more needs to be done to ensure women have equal opportunities to participate in the workforce.

This is according to a survey by Hays of more than 5,000 professionals, including 500 Asia-based employees, on the topic of inclusivity at work.

Singapore logged a higher percentage of employees who believe more needs to be done for inclusivity, registering 33% compared to the Asian average of 19%.

Globally, 38% feel that gender bias and discrimination are the most significant barriers to women's inclusion in the workplace.

Stronger inclusivity initiatives

The findings come as recent research from WorkDay revealed that 72% of organisations in Singapore said they put more importance on their DEI efforts in the past year.

In fact, another 55% said they will likely increase their investment on related initiatives this 2024.

But according to Hays, employers still need to address a significant gap to ensure all employees have equal economic opportunity in the workplace.

"While organisations may be cognisant of the need to be inclusive, it takes a concentrated effort to pivot towards true inclusivity in the workplace," said John Borneman, regional director at Hays Singapore, in a statement.

"Leaders will need to adopt the right mindset, establish the necessary processes, and promote equal opportunities to embed DE&I into their workplace cultures."

Globally, 44% of Hays' respondents believe that being able to achieve gender balance in the workplace will help drive inclusive growth and positively affect organisations.

Improving women's workforce participation

To address the issue of gender bias in the workplace, Borneman suggested adjusting flexible work options towards equity.

According to the Hays official, it is important to evaluate the workforce and formulate policies to help employees unlock their full potential at work.

"It is easy to think of flexible work options as a work-life balancer without understanding how much this impacts certain groups," he said. "In the context of women, flexibility around caregiving and maternity are significant drivers to equal participation and employers can benefit from highlighting these options and successes in this space."

He also recommended adopting pay equality principles, such as salary benchmarking for roles within the organisation and being open about pay ranges within job advertisements.

"Consider introducing objective and inclusive hiring, assessment, and promotion processes to help managers responsible for pay decisions and periodic equal pay audits to review your remuneration practices," he said.

"Apply a systematic approach to determine that salaries are free from gender bias and do this with consistency when handling appraisals for promotions and raises to ensure everyone gets a fair chance."

Borneman also suggested communicating the organisation's initiatives, as employees want to know what their leaders are doing to address their concerns.

"Share your initiatives, goals and achievements on a regular basis to let workers know that there is progress being made towards fostering equality in the workplace," he said.

"When senior leaders take a visible role in promoting their commitments, employees report more trust and satisfaction that equity is valued and attainable within the company."