What men can do to help women advance their careers. This is the headline of an article which has recently been published on the Harvard Business School blog by Debora Spar. Although she is an American author, her recommendations can be equally well applied even on the Czech workplaces. And this is not about any radical feminism.
Debora Spar is the president of Barnard College, the historic liberal arts college for women at Columbia University in New York. Before entering Barnard College, she has worked at Harvard Business School for 17 years. Her research focuses on international political economy, the rules of new and emerging markets and the ways in which companies and governments together shape the global economy. She is married and has three children. She has published several books the latest of which is called Wonder Women: Sex, Power, and the Quest for Perfection. As the title suggests, the book examines whether women can be both mothers and successful in their careers.
According to Spar, today's men have a sincere interest in ensuring that their wives, daughters and girlfriends succeed in their careers. They would like to help them but do not know how to exactly do it. Therefore, Spar recommends the following five steps.
Share your household chores
Do the shopping or the laundry, plan activities for your children ... Just get more involved. Both you and your wife would benefit from it.
Invite your female colleague for lunch
Men at work are often afraid of their young female colleagues. As a result, women become literally out of reach. Try not to be afraid and get your female colleagues more involved in your work group. Do not exclude them from social events.
Do not worry to criticize women
If you do not speak frankly with women, they will not know how they could improve to be more successful. By being insincerely nice, you will do more harm than good. Give feedback to women in the same way as to anyone else.
Appreciate women's contributions
Watch who comes up with good ideas and praise both men and women equally. A woman who presents an interesting issue at a meeting should not watch a man who only repeats her idea being praised for it.
Join the "female" debate in your company
Organizations taking the diversity of their workforce really seriously are recognizable by involving men in the traditionally female debates. These include, for example, work-life balance or flexible work options. If these things are treated only by women, we will not move any further.
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