The Equity Opportunity – what this means for women, wellbeing and work

Last month, Cognomie launched The Equity Opportunity – Women, Wellbeing & Work, a new white paper that interrogates the state of play of the female experience in today’s workplace.

As a business, Cognomie has always been deeply committed to how we support clients in developing meaningful women-led programmes and ensuring their female employees – at all levels – can truly step into who they want to be at work.

So that they can show up with courage and confidence to lead fulfilling, rewarding careers – without a personal cost – be it their emotional wellbeing, mental health or family dynamics.

This project meant a great deal to us in terms of opening up a deeper conversation, where we explore the strategies in place that impact women’s lives at work. And in a world of Great Resignations, quiet quitting, and career cushioning, what’s holding women back?

You may ask why we’re still having this conversation in 2023. Isn’t equality in the workplace, access to opportunities, and flexibility a given for women today?

The equity gap

Despite more organisations prioritising Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DEI) programmes, women are changing jobs at the highest rates ever; 1 in 10 women are reported to have left their job due to menopausal symptoms in 2022 in the UK.

For genuine, sustainable progress to be made, we need to go beyond targets and tick boxes. We need to see gender equality through the lens of opportunity, inclusion, and shaping the future, rather than pure policy and processes. This is the thread running through the conversations in our white paper.

Transforming cultures

Within The Equity Opportunity, we bring together HR leaders from within the Cognomie community with organisations including the NHS, Foot Locker and Mambu.

From breaking down glass ceilings, invisible barriers and socialised blocks through to developing high-performance equity habits – networks, sponsorship, and psychological safety – our contributors unpack how we can re-write old playbooks, to ensure that a commitment to women’s wellbeing in the workplace is grounded in equity, accessibility, and inclusivity.

Cornerstones for the future

We know that women’s wellbeing needs to be a business imperative. Our white paper shows us that truly future-focused organisations collaborate with their female employees to shift cultures and nurture the co-creation of a relevant, flexible, empowering workplace. So that women can perform at their best and fullest potential, with confidence, self-trust, purpose.

In the coming weeks, we’ll be sharing more of the white paper with you here.

We’ll look at where DEI strategies are starting from and how organisations can ensure their programmes are accessible to, support and empower women at all levels.

We’ll unpack the barriers still in play across women’s careers and the ways that committed organisations are proactively dismantling them by designing high-performance equity strategies – new, workable strategies from female focused organisations

As well as decoding barriers, culture, environmental influences, we want to move closer to normalising a culture where women thrive. So we’ll reimagine the future for women at work sharing findings on how equity-driven organisations can create parity and opportunity across their workforces, from the cafeteria into the boardroom and drive real momentum in equity.
Don’t miss being part of this important conversation.

By signing up to our newsletter, you can receive these insights as they go live.

Or to download the whitepaper here.