While women made up only 16% of seniority level in the meetings, incentives, conferences and events (MICE) industry in comparison to 32% of men, 76.9% of the workforce within the industry are women, an IBTM report said.

The event management industry is not one that would appear to succumb to gender inequality at first glance, added the IBTM Event Management Gender Equality Report, highlighting that this disparity will not surprise anyone who has ever looked below the surface of gender within the workplace.

As part of the report, Gabrielle Austen Browne, founder of Diversity Alliance and co-founder of the Diverse Speaker Bureau, has shared her five useful tips on how to create a more diverse and gender-balanced workplace.

#1 Ensure everyone understands and models inclusive behaviours
One of the most important aspects of creating a more diverse and inclusive workplace is ensuring that everyone in the company, from employees to board members, understands and models inclusive behaviours.

Often, people do require some level of training in the different forms of bias that may exist as well as how they can remove these from the organisational practices and business processes such as recruitment and talent development.

Only when everyone is on the same page can you start to create a truly inclusive and diverse workplace culture, Gabrielle concludes.

At the end of the day, all of these strategies require time, resources and budget to be implemented as well as commitment from those in decision-making positions.

#2 Make sure diversity is reflected at all levels
There is no point talking the talk if you’re not walking the walk. Diversity should be reflected at all levels, including at the top.

If there is a lack of diversity in leadership positions, you should address this and come up with a plan to change it. An effective way to do this is by collecting data to benchmark those underrepresented in leadership positions.

It can also be useful to enlist the help of an external independent consultant or professional to facilitate these conversations and encourage more openness, honesty and a plan of action in the collection and usage of the data.

#3 Reflect on recruitment data and assess the shortcomings
Who is applying for and/or being shortlisted for leadership roles? Are the applicants on the shortlist balanced in terms of background, gender and other diversity? Does it reflect the sort of workplace culture you’re looking to create, Gabrielle asks?

If not, look at your recruitment practices and data. Ask yourself, could there be bias in the job description? Could there be bias in the interview and selection process?

Are there any patterns between those accepting job offers and those who are not? Was there a salary difference, for example? If the answer is yes, Gabrielle claims that it is best practice to develop an inclusive recruitment practice to address this.

#4 Look at gender gaps and normalise conversations around this
When it comes to these diversity and inclusion gaps, such as an unbalanced leadership team, biased practices or a gender pay gap, encourage people to speak up about them..

Issues won’t go away if we ignore them and will only contribute to poor productivity, motivation and retention in the long run, according to Gabrielle.

Another way to address this is to monitor carefully exit interview feedback and data for any patterns emerging when it comes to gender issues or potentially underrepresented groups.

#5 Establish initiatives that will create a more gender-balanced workplace.
But it’s not all data-crunching and discussions. To create a more diverse and inclusive workplace, you need to establish initiatives that will contribute towards this, Gabrielle claims, with examples being mentorships or female leadership programmes or a talent development plan that will directly support those looking to move into leadership positions.

Similarly, Gabrielle advises that organisations and companies create a feedback process that monitors the team members’ progress and offers frequent feedback. – TradeArabia News Service