Glass Ceiling

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Glass Ceiling

What is Glass Ceiling?

The glass ceiling symbolizes the intangible divide that prohibits women and minorities from rising to levels of leadership and executive in businesses. This term was first used in the 1980s to reflect the limitations placed on women in the workplace. However, it has since been expanded to encompass racial and ethnic minorities who are still at a disadvantage when moving up the corporate ladder.

How HR can help reduce this terminological taboo persistent in the US for common good?

For the common good of the people residing and working in the US, HR departments of the organizations working towards the goal completion of the employers’ mission and vision, the glass ceiling taboo can be reduced if not completely eliminated at once through:

  • Improvising gender equality not only as an equal opportunity employer but as the empower enhancer for the marginalized to escalate to the ladder of progressive leadership positions
  • Have diversified workforce i.e. from different ethnic backgrounds, color, caste, and creed
  • Making performance reviews as neutral as possible
  • End gender biases by having training and brainstorming sessions of the employees, but the employers especially, to help reduce the said
  • Provision of chances for training and development; and career enhancement to everyone irrespective of anything, save performance
  • Pay for performance and Promotions to a higher position for performance
  • Wake the general public up for the end of the glass ceiling taboo and have the image in the corporate world better, taking the employees as the customers buying your salary packages and benefits against the services they offer – create a win-win situation and give up a win-lose one.