Dirty toilets. Creaking beds. Seeping walls.

This is what welcomed the new engineer to his workplace. He had to share his room with 2 other engineers. Cursing was common in the workplace. The seniors were rude. They smoked openly, chewed on betel-nut.

He quit. 

5 years. He joined a consultancy firm. The pay was good. They had separate rooms. Attached toilets. Privacy, at last! Good food. Clean talk. Work-load was there definitely but the basic hygiene conditions were present.

All differences apart, he wondered about that one distinct difference! 

The gender ratio. In the former, the ratio was somewhere around 5% (women in the entire workforce). In the latter, the firm touched somewhere around 35%. He wondered if the working conditions of male employees would always be better in an organization that had more women than the ones that did not.

He knew about all the benefits of diversity. He knew how leadership qualities that organizations need in this age are feminine in nature. But now he saw how a good gender ratio not only benefits an organization but the male employee too.

This is no paradox. This is a new perspective.

Bottomline: If you wish that your working condition improves, pray that your organization employs more women.

Amartya Dey, India

Post Script: Many would argue how in the garment industry of Bangladesh, the working conditions are horrible although most of the workers are women. But this article is not about Bangladesh or sweat shops. This is about regulated industries in countries like India where unions exist and exercise power, where there is a platform already for workers to voice their opinion, where the talented youth cannot be taken for granted and can switch companies if they do not like the job. This is for them.

Other Articles by the Author:

• The First Rule of Negotiation 
• Human Aspect: Beware of the Exceptional Employee
• Human Aspect: Importance of Precedent
• Two Levers: Potential & Tacit Knowledge (Part I)
• Breaking Organizational Silos (Part I)
• Breaking Organizational Silos (Part II)
• Working More than 12 Hours?
• The Abuse of the 360º Feedback System 
• Human Aspect: The Context of Power

 Credits:

• Wikimedia Commons