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A commitment to improving the balance of gender diversity and inclusion in your workplace is a direct investment in your company culture.
A gender diverse workforce has a healthy balance between men and women employees in all levels. This creates an inclusive culture and environment that increases employee productivity and job satisfaction.
Businesses that place importance in promoting gender diversity also creates innovative solutions to complex business challenges.
Despite the benefits of gender diversity in the workplace, there is still a lot of work to be done.
Related: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the workplace: An employers’ guide
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated attitudes toward flexible working, innovation, transparent leadership, the need for more diverse perspectives and empathetic management.
The post-pandemic work-related cultural shifts are particularly relevant when advancing gender equality at work.
The Australian Institute of Management (AIM) highlights emotional intelligence and adaptability as essential for “human-centred leadership” – a style that fosters inclusive cultures and drives stronger outcomes in gender diversity in the workplace.
These qualities are associated more with female leaders than their male counterparts, a shift away from traditionally masculine traits towards capabilities.
In fact, companies who are active in supporting gender diversity are the most highly trusted as they are 1.4 times more likely to have gender diversity targets in their chief executive compensation plans, according to PwC's 25th Annual Global CEO Survey report.
This explains the findings on how hybrid models and digitalisation are helping to narrow employment gaps and support women’s workplace advancement, though disparities remain.
Related: 5 common hiring pain points every hiring manager in Malaysia can relate to
Female leaders are also increasingly vocal about what they need to thrive. Boundary-setting (31%) and flexibility offered by the company (19%) are rising priorities, especially as more women take on leadership roles in hybrid environments.
When organisations listen, respond and actively demonstrate sustained progress – with mentorship, transparent pay equity strategies and inclusive leadership – they see stronger results across the board.
By embedding emotional intelligence into leadership, businesses strengthen not just individual performance, but long-term organisational resilience – making real progress on diversity and inclusion and gender diversity in the workplace.
Despite all the efforts toward gender parity, women are still underrepresented at every level of the corporate ladder, with the gap becoming more significant at senior executive levels.
According to the McKinsey’s Women in the Workplace 2024 Report, women hold 48% of entry-level roles in U.S. companies, though global figures remain closer to 46%. At the managerial level, women represent 39% of roles in the U.S., with global representation of women in senior levels ranging between 31.7% and 33.5%.
Women now occupy 34% of VP positions and 29% of SVP roles in U.S. firms. At the C-suite level, women hold 29% of executive roles in the U.S., while global CEO representation remains significantly lower, hovering between 9% and 10.4%.
Related reading: How to nurture meaningful workplace relationships
While global statistics show gradual progress, employee perceptions of these efforts vary across markets. Our 2025 Talent Trends Malaysia Report reveals notable differences in how female professionals view their employer’s gender equity initiatives:
APAC region: 55% of female professionals are satisfied with their employer's efforts on female leadership representation, with 22% dissatisfied and 23% neutral.
Malaysia: In contrast, only 45% of female professionals express satisfaction with their employer's female leadership representation, while 24% are dissatisfied and 31% remain neutral.
This 10-percentage-point gap in satisfaction between Malaysia and the broader APAC region suggests that organisations in Malaysia may need to accelerate their efforts or improve communication around their gender diversity initiatives.
The good news is that there is steady progress in female representation in the diverse workforce. According to the 2024 Women in Business report by Grant Thornton, women held just 19% of leadership roles globally in 2004. That number rose to 31% in 2021, 32% in 2022, 32.4% in 2023, and 33.5% in 2024.
While the pace of progress may seem slow, it is still encouraging – especially in a post-COVID landscape where many companies faced headcount freezes and budget cuts. Momentum is key, and the latest data suggests that the corporate world is gradually moving toward greater gender parity.
Companies need to strategise effective approaches to attract top female talents into their organisation bearing in mind the current barriers that hinder gender equality at work.
Women tend to network with other women. Given that currently men significantly outnumber women in senior leadership roles, women face barriers of having less access to mentorship and sponsorship from senior leaders, which is a critical gap in inclusive leadership as pointed out in a report by PwC.
Many women still feel hesitant to speak up against workplace norms in their day-to-day experience at work – and that might come down to confidence.
Key findings from a UK study on gender gaps in remuneration, promotion and career progression found that only 36% of women feel empowered to perform at their best.
The report also highlights a persistent gap in how recognition is perceived: women often look to the visibility of their day-to-day work as a source of validation, while men tend to place greater value on company culture.
Shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic, many working mothers have considered exiting the workforce and downshifting their careers due to childcare responsibilities.
Despite businesses across many industries starting to implement workplace flexibility to address this issue, women continue to feel burdened by familial obligations on top of their work.
A 2025 gender equality report by GeoPoll highlights that women remain less satisfied with work-life balance (30% vs. 34% of men) and more likely to anticipate worsening conditions.
At the end of the day, companies want to build a diverse workforce by hiring more female leaders. Organisations should continuously assess and reassess their best practices for gender diversity, and by extension, diversity and inclusion.
While it begins at the recruitment level, corporations need to develop an awareness of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) and decide how to deliver diversity targets at the workplace, as this would contribute to talent retention in the efforts of building diverse teams, according to Rani Nandan, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Director at PageGroup APAC.
Through enough diversity training, recruiters may identify and consider excluding non-essential criteria and referencing broader capability requirements to avoid disproportionate focus on professional qualifications.
Related: What women in Malaysia really think about workplace gender equity
Though it looks like there is still a long way to go to improve gender equality and equity in the workplace, companies need to look at ways to achieve the greatest impact for a gender-inclusive workforce.
The key is to integrate DE&I policies and commitments into the business framework to bring about true cultural change – such as expanding mentorship through formal sponsorship programmes, redesigning flexibility models to better support women’s work-life balance, and conducting data-driven audits to address promotion and equal pay.
There are a few ways to kickstart the promotion of gender diversity in the workplace during hiring.
The impact of gender stereotypes and unconscious biases exists, and it can come from anyone – even from those affected by it, particularly women.
Therefore, it is vital to actively train recruiters, hiring managers and senior leaders who participate in hiring, from those responsible for writing job advertisements, to interviewing and making hiring decisions.
“We have a mandatory training course, which is extensive and comprehensive to educate our employees on eliminating unconscious bias when pre-screening and interviewing candidates,” shares Nic Chambers, Managing Director at Michael Page Malaysia.
He adds, “We cover unconscious bias, finding diverse talent, creating inclusive job descriptions, inclusive shortlisting, and inclusive interviewing practices.
The modules give an in-depth analysis and explore different scenarios, followed by tests that require a 100% passing rate before moving on to the next module.”
Related: A guide to inclusive hiring for People With Disabilities
To aid interviewers to reduce bias, companies could create a defined job criteria checklist when screening job seekers, and hiring decisions should be made against this list, with any additional notes or performance ratings to be added in a separate section.
Nic elaborates, “The interview process must be standardised, fair, and consistent. The questions we ask the candidates must be structured to be evidence-based. There is an expectation of the consultant being able to manage their personal bias.”
“We have a very systematic system of record notes from the interviews, which indicate the correct information presented by the candidate. We ensure we create the right interview environment, ask the right questions, practice active listening skills, make verbatim notes, and classify and evaluate the [feedback].”
It is critical to have a diverse panel of interviewers in order to catch interviewer bias early on. If your company uses external recruiting agencies, it is important to check in with them to see how they handle diverse hiring.
At the hiring manager or talent acquisition manager level, the company could make a regulation that there should always be two hirers present at every interview who demonstrate equal participation throughout the interview process.
To eliminate gender bias, one interviewer could interview for technical skills, while the other could focus on behavioural ones.
With two people accessing an interviewee, you will get different, or similar, professional opinions, which can lead to a fairer and more objective perspective on the applicant.
For senior role interviews, it is even more crucial to have an interview panel that reflects diversity in ethnicity and gender identity.
This approach fosters a gender-inclusive environment and enhances the company's image as committed to improving diversity and eliminating gender disparity, which can positively impact the candidate's view regardless of the interview outcome.
Creating an inclusive workplace culture starts at the very beginning – by attracting a gender-diverse talent pool from the moment the job posting goes live. Here are a few things to note when crafting an inclusive job post:
It is very important for hiring managers to be aware of gender-biased language in job posts. Certain words in the descriptions can affect job appeal for women in terms of personal skill and belongingness.
Even one word can make the difference between attracting female applicants and turning them away.
For instance, words like "dominant", "self-reliant" and "analyse" are perceived as more masculine, while words like "serves", "dependable", "collaborate" and "consider" are considered female-trait words, according to this journal.
78% of women's reasons for not applying, have to do with believing that the job qualifications are real requirements, according to a Harvard Business Review survey. According to Nandan:
Recruiters may consider excluding non-essential criteria and reference broader capability requirements to avoid disproportionate focus on professional qualifications.
There can also be a reduced focus on required qualifications and experience, and more emphasis on the objectives of the role.
Related: Why recognising women in leadership and their achievements matter
Add a statement to show your organisation's commitment as an Equal Opportunity Employer that expresses the company's approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion, providing support, equal opportunities to career advancements and reasonable adjustments to all.
Nandan adds, go further by including family-friendly benefits like flexible working arrangements and parental leave.
Hiring with gender diversity in mind is only the beginning. Once your company has onboarded female talents, it is crucial to support them with career advancement opportunities, mentorship, and leadership pathways.
Over time, consider intersectionality factors to sustain healthy gender diversity. For example, be mindful of bias or preferential treatment based on a female employee’s appearance, ethnicity, beliefs, sexual orientation, or gender identity.
You will also need to assess internal processes like performance reviews and promotions to ensure they are equitable, transparent, and free from any conscious or unconscious unfair treatment within your team.
Organisations that build true cultures of inclusion tend to see better retention, stronger morale, and a more compelling employer brand
As advocates for equality and innovation, we understand the vital role language plays in shaping workplace culture and fostering diversity.
Start your journey towards a more equitable workplace today with our free Gender Decoder tool – a powerful resource designed to highlight gender bias in your job ads.
Our tool scans job posts, identifying gender-coded language to ensure inclusivity for all applicants. By embracing neutral language, you not only attract a wider pool of talent but also cultivate an environment where everyone feels valued and respected.
Further reading:11 traits you need to be a highly effective leaderHow employers and employees can match their priorities in 2024Leading Women: Navigate complex teams with respect and effective communication
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