How to close the gender gap?

There is a need for women in leadership positions, no doubt. Even though there are 37% of women in the parliament in Switzerland there are 0% of femal CEO in SMI listed companies. This is something we have to work on in Switzerland. But how do we do that? There is a huge need to educate young people and men. According to female Liipers we need to invest in education to raise awareness and understanding of what patriarchy and systemic bias against women means.

Organisations like Ellexx contribute to closing the gender gap by talking about money and finances, putting the needs of women in the focus, and making financial topics more accessible to women. Especially in financial topics there is still a huge gap between men and women. Furthermore, men need to speak up and take stands to get rid of historical family roles. As a society it should be normal that men can be stay-home dads. That’s why Liip offered paid paternity leave long before it was compulsory.

For women to have the same opportunities and chances in their career to shine and grow, a change in the childcare and after-school care system is essential.
Other answers female Liipers mentioned are gap years for various reasons. And part time work should be normal for all genders, regardless of the reason for this decision.

Why a transparent non-negotiable salary-system helps

Transparent salaries and salary systems with non-negotiable and transparent compensation deals are a huge need to eliminate the gender salary gap according to the Liipers we asked. In terms of salary negotiation, women usually end up with lower salaries. Non negotiable salaries mean it’s your skills and expertise that are crucial, not your ability to negotiate. A salary commensurate with your skills should not only be for the extroverted.
Salary transparency is the best protection against gender, racial and orientation bias because it enables conversation about salaries and potential inequality is open for everyone to see.
What does Liips salary system do to foster salary equality? Liips salary system is fully transparent, everyone within the company knows what other Liipers earn and how this is calculated. Liipers salaries are set within the same system and evolve in time and based on experience and feedback rounds. Leaving no room for inequality.

What women need to be empowered

We asked the Liip-ladies what they need to be empowered. It turns out that the most important things are security and acceptance. Many female role models help the acceptance of femininity. We know how essential it is to support each other and encourage others. And support from women for women can be intensified. “Fail fast, fail often” is used in an agile context a lot. Women need a safe work environment where they have the security and confidence that it is OK to fail. Not only that, it even helps to grow, learn and improve. We need a space where everyone is heard, also the introverted. To make this happen it needs male allies, helping too to address and speak up and stepping back to provide stages to women.

What else does Liip do to empower women

All our open positions are formulated in an inclusive manner to address all genders. Getting rid of competitive language in job positions helps to attract all people. Our salary system is transparent and all salaries are too. We are continuously working on our salary system to move it to the next level in terms of equality.
Self organisation for sure is a game changer in many ways. There are people staffed in roles because they have the skills rather than power. The rigid holacracy meeting structures help to provide the space for everyone to be heard, not only the loud ones.
Due to the role based work in holacracy part time work is possible, and done by more than 50% of Liipers. The list goes on, so if you are interested in working with us or for us we are happy to hearing from you