International Women's Day: 5 ways to create a more equitable workplace for women in work

The rise of the #MeToo movement and the social and political upheavals caused by the Covid pandemic created more awareness about women’s experiences and the structural and cultural barriers to women’s equality.
Most importantly, companies in greater numbers are realizing that the onus is on them to break those barriers down.
This month’s International Women’s Day emphasizes that message with its #EmbraceEquity campaign, which calls on people to imagine — and take steps toward — a gender-equal world that’s free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination. In the business world, an estimated $15.4 billion is set to be spent annually on diversity, equity, and inclusion-related efforts by 2026 (almost double what was spent in 2020). But progress is slow. In some areas, especially in leadership, it has stalled altogether or slid backward.
The Garage sat down with HP’s Chief Public Policy Officer Brittany Masalosalo to talk about the ways that companies (and hopefully, governments) can shift their cultures in the right direction.

Masalosalo is no stranger to breaking down barriers of her own: An outspoken advocate for advancing women and diversity in tech, she is also a woman of color, a mother of three, and a veteran who served two active duty deployments in Iraq before landing roles at the Pentagon, in the White House, and global manufacturer 3M.
She has experienced firsthand what it’s like to be second-guessed due to her intersectional identities, recalling her first day in a new role when a colleague said, ‘Wow, I wasn't expecting them to hire somebody that looked like you.’
“I just burst out laughing because I didn't know what he meant,” she says. “Was it my gender he was reacting to? My age? My skin color? Which part of me is it that he wasn’t expecting in that senior-level job?”
That experience has stayed with her throughout her career, and today at HP, where she works closely with global business units to help shape HP’s growth and development strategies and leads a staff of 50 in representing HP’s positions before policymakers, legislators, and regulators around the world. Masalosalo is set to chair HP’s Racial Equality and Social Justice Task Force, an employee group that aims to identify and execute on the biggest opportunities HP has to drive societal change for Black and African American people in the US.

Here she shares five actions that can help companies affect real change within their cultures and build more equitable workplaces for women, from recruiting young workers up through the C-suite.
“Empowering women at work is not only the right thing to do, it's to the benefit of society at large,” she says.

Left: Chief Public Policy Officer Brittany Masalosalo speaks on a panel about caregiving and work, hosted by the Female Quotient at the World Economic Forum in January. Right: Sharon Marcil, Chair, North America, Boston Consulting Group

Embrace flexwork

Masalosalo explains how having a flexible workplace — one that values how work gets done over where and when — can help overcome one of the biggest hurdles that women face. “We need flexibility so that we can continue to be rock stars at home, but also come to work and kick ass,” she says. “I have a young family also, and so I live that reality every single day. Embracing flex work is not just good for women, it’s appreciated by workers of all ages and at all life stages.”

Legitimize caregiving

Caregiving is an area that has an outsized impact on women — particularly mothers — but also those caring for older parents, a loved one with a chronic or acute illness, or other special needs. Masalosalo cites a staggering statistic: The Gates Foundation said that providing free or low-cost childcare could add $3 trillion to the global economy each year. “Legitimizing caregiving is imperative from societal perspective, from a business perspective, and, of course, from a women's economic empowerment perspective,” she says. “And not just embracing it culturally, but formally through policies, procedures, and benefits that are made allowable to workers.”

“Empowering women at work is not only the right thing to do, it’s to the benefit of society at large.”

— Brittany Masalosalo, Chief Public Policy Officer, HP

Lower barriers to entry to build the talent pipeline

Bringing more women into companies’ ranks means looking for candidates who don’t always fit the traditional mold for education, experience, or work history. “I look at people where they have potential to grow into a role, take full bets on them, and invest in their success,” Masalosalo explains. She says that every hiring manager should ask themselves during their candidate search if a particular number of years of experience or a certain skill set is really a hard requirement to do the job well. She personally looks for soft skills such as excellent communication, curiosity, and grit — attributes that are indicators of future success. Everything else can be learned on the job.

Invest in mentorship programming

Mentorship and sponsorship — and the programs that support them — have to be “defined, nuanced, and structured” to be valuable to women. These relationships have to have intention about what each party gives and how each can benefit, Masalosalo says. “Because when it’s done right, it can be very, very, powerful. Having a mentor to provide you advice and guidance as you navigate your career is important, and it goes hand in hand with having a sponsor that’s willing to act on your behalf,” she explains.

Cultivate allies

Men, too, need to have skin in the game to be considered good allies.
“You’ve got to have men in the room. They need to be joining these conversations,” she says. “The signal needs to come from the top, all the way down, that diversity is something we value, that we encourage, and that we seek to implement with actionable, concrete goals.” She emphasizes that men need to also invest in individual women’s leadership and professional development as well by offering up their time as mentors or sponsors.

… And a quick test for managers

In your next meeting, Masalosalo advises, look around the room (or at the virtual table if in a video conference). “If there aren’t any women, or there is only one, you’ve got to make a change,” she says. “Go invite some more women to that table.”

READ MORE: Can technology help bring women back to the workforce?

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