This Father’s Day Give Your Daughter A Gift

Father of a Daughter Initiative - Jeffery Tobias Halter YWomen

Women in the Workplace: 10 Things Fathers of Daughters Can Do to Advocate For Women

Women’s leadership advancement is stuck.

Real change with a sense of urgency will never take place until fathers of daughters realize the responsibility they have to be change agents.

We can talk about the business case, strategies and talent initiatives and even tying compensation to gender goals, but without a personal connection, men will never feel the true need to be committed.

Simply stated, men never make a connection between advocating for women in the workplace and the impact this will have until the time their daughter enters the job market. The wage gap and gender bias are real.

Based on current rate of change women will not reach true pay equity until 2048. The same is true for moving women ahead in companies.

Change has to take place now as it will take YEARS to get close to parity. We need real commitment and real commitment will drive change when fathers of daughters realize the unique responsibility to lead this change.

Father of a Daughter Initiative - Jeffery Tobias Halter YWomenI believe up to 20 percent of men in the workplace do want to help but don’t know what to do on a daily basis. This is where the idea for Father of a Daughter came in.

I created this initiative as a simple opt-in program.

You simply commit to doing a minimum of one thing (hopefully more) to advance women.
Read it, print it and sign it, post it in your workplace and you immediately demonstrate to women that you are advocating for women because you understand the responsibility a Father of a Daughter has because what better gift can a father give his daughter than a shot at a brighter future.

This Father’s Day Give Your Daughter A Gift

What is the Father of Daughter Initiative? (click here to download pledge)

As the Father of a Daughter, I pledge to do one or more of the following…

  1. Seek to Understand. Find a female co-worker, someone I can have an honest conversation with, and listen to the experiences she is having as a woman in my company
  2. Mentor and Sponsor. Mentor a female co-worker. If applicable, become a sponsor for a woman
  3. Create a Business Case. Write a brief business case for my department or area of responsibility for women regarding revenue, talent or engagement and discuss it with my team once a month during the coming year
  4. Champion Gender Pay Equity. Deepen my understanding of my company’s HR practices, specifically gender pay equity issues and work to correct issues I discover
  5. Set An Example to Correct Bias. Act to correct micro bias; from simple things like always having a woman take notes, to women being talked over in meetings or other actions that serve to exclude women from conversations and activities
  6. Support Workplace Flexibility. Support and demonstrate workplace flexibility for all employees, so that women don’t feel they are being singled out for special treatment
  7. Offer Encouragement. I will encourage women to take more risks, volunteer for stretch projects, and discuss and support their developmental needs
  8. Encourage Qualified Women to Apply. Urge qualified women to interview for positions when they become available, and if I cannot find a qualified one, commit to developing a woman for the next opening
  9. Engage other Men. Engage other fathers of daughters in the discussion of advancing women
  10. Be Visible. Demonstrate my commitment by joining/attending a women’s resource group or event

The Father of a Daughter Initiative is a roadmap for men to make the connection between women at work and their daughters and to stand up for women. To drive real change please consider sharing this with every father you know!

To find out more about the Father of a Daughter Initiative and see how you can be part of this movement, click here.

HuffPost logoThis post was originally published in the HuffPost.

Jeffery Tobias Halter is the country’s leading male expert on engaging men in women’s leadership issues. He is the author of two books, WHY WOMEN, The Leadership Imperative to Advancing Women and Engaging Men and Selling to Men, Selling to Women.

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