As the Head of Consulting Business Unit and People & Culture at Great Place To Work® Sri Lanka, I spend much of my time listening to employees and advising leaders on building inclusive, high-trust, high-performance™ cultures. One thing is clear: while women make up a significant share of today’s workforce, they still lag behind in equal representation, and their experiences often differ from men’s.
Data from the Great Place To Work® Trust Index™ survey which measures credibility, respect, fairness, pride, and camaraderie reveals a consistent story across industries and countries: women face unique challenges at work, including pay gaps, slower career progression, exclusion from informal networks, and the added pressure of balancing professional and caregiving responsibilities due to traditional societal norms.
The good news? Organizations that intentionally cultivate trust, fairness, and inclusion show that women can thrive and when women thrive, business thrives too.
In this article, I share both the challenges women face and the lessons organizations can learn from workplaces getting it right.
The Reality of Women’s Experience at Work
Despite decades of initiative, women’s workplace experiences often differ markedly from men’s.
Common challenges include:
- Bias and Stereotypes: Women leaders often face double standards – Assertiveness may be labeled “aggressive,” while collaboration can go unnoticed. These subtle biases affect promotions and confidence. These biases can stem from both men and women.
- The Motherhood Penalty: Men with children are often seen as more committed; women with children may be perceived as less ambitious or unavailable. They may not be in the position to put in ‘extra hours’. This can slow career progression and limit opportunities.
- Work-Life Strain: Working women still shoulder more caregiving and household responsibilities, often leading to burnout. Women are expected to do it all. Without a supportive network or flexible policies, many have no choice but to leave jobs or refuse career advancement opportunities in lieu of personal commitments.
- Pay Gaps: Women continue to earn less than men in similar roles. It can be due to natural tendencies to ask or bargain less. Lack of standardization and low transparency can lead to opportunistic behaviour that fuels mistrust and disengagement.
- Exclusion and Harassment: Women often face environments where informal networks and internal influence are dominated by men. They are constantly put in positions of unwanted attention and can be subject to indirect or direct harassment where reporting concerns feels unsafe, or hinders progression – therefore creating hidden trauma and barriers to advancement.
Lessons from High-Trust Workplaces
High-trust, inclusive workplaces show that women’s experiences can be dramatically different:
- Among Sri Lanka’s Best WorkplacesTM for Women 2025, 91% of women report being treated fairly,
- With an Innovation Velocity Ratio of 06 among the Best vs 02 among the rest in the study, women in these organizations are far more likely to contribute meaningfully to innovation and organizational performance. The Key driver for great workplace experience among women is that of ethical managers who are role models – having leaders in place who consistently demonstrate integrity, fairness, and empathy instead of just good policies on paper.
In practice, this means embedding equity into promotions, pay reviews, flexible schedules, and career development and addressing the key challenges described above through policy, support & mentorship, training & development, and sensitization action.
Why Gender Equity Matters for Business
Gender equity isn’t just a “nice to have” – it drives results:
- Retention: Women leave workplaces that don’t support them, increasing recruitment and training costs, weakening leadership pipelines and leading to loss of tacit knowledge
- Innovation: Diverse teams outperform peers in creativity and problem-solving. Women’s perspectives strengthen decisions, creating more organizational value and impact in quality of goods and services.
- Reputation: New generations of Millennials and Gen Z expect fairness and inclusion. Organizations that fall short of providing the right environment risk losing talent and customer loyalty.
In short, helping women succeed is both ethical and strategic.
Global Insights on Women in the Workplace
Great Place To Work® analyzed survey responses from nearly 605,000 women who work for Great Place To Work Certified™ organizations that were eligible for the Fortune Best Workplaces™ for Women’s list. .
Key findings showed that:
- Nine in 10 (90%) women at Best Workplaces™ give extra effort at work, compared to 57% at a typical U.S. workplace (58% higher)
- Eight in 10 (81%) women at Best Workplaces™ say promotions are fair, 65% higher than the 49% of women at typical U.S. organizations
- Nine in 10 (91%) women at winning companies want to stay with their employer long-term, compared to 61% of women at typical organizations.
Post-pandemic, flexible work has helped make a shift in mindset, but gains are far greater in high-trust workplaces offering fair pay, meaningful work, and support for mental and emotional health.
Practices Leaders Can Adopt Today
Organizations making progress on equity share common practices:
- Transparent Pay and Promotions: Clear salary and promotion criteria build trust and fairness.
- Normalize Flexibility: Flexible hours and hybrid work shouldn’t be “special accommodations.”
- Safe, Inclusive Cultures: Zero-tolerance harassment policies, confidential reporting, and everyday respect matters.
- Sponsorship, not just Mentorship: Sponsors actively advocate for women’s growth and visibility.
- Employee Resource Groups (ERGs): Networks for women provide support and normalize open conversations about previously taboo topics.
How Leaders Can Start
Action Impact
- Conduct periodic employee surveys – Hear directly from women and identify equity gaps
- Benchmark against Best Workplaces™ – Learn what top-performing organizations do differently
- Train leaders on bias and inclusion – Build accountability across management
- Measure progress, not just intent – Track relevant metrics and real outcomes over time
At Great Place To Work®, we help organizations move from good intentions to measurable results. Equity isn’t “extra programs” for women, it’s implementing systems of fairness that create balance.
When Women Thrive, Work Thrives
A workplace where women feel respected, supported, and empowered is not just fair – it’s smarter, stronger, and more innovative. Organizations that prioritize trust, inclusion, and equity see higher engagement, better retention, and more creative problem-solving from women.
The most successful organizations don’t wait for problems to surface – they listen, measure, and act proactively. They embed fairness into systems, not just programs, ensuring real change that benefits everyone.
Invest in women’s success today, and your organization will reap the rewards tomorrow.
When women thrive, work thrives, and the future of business is defined by those who lead with equity.
How does your female employee experience measure up?
Take the first step: Assess and benchmark your female employee experience against Sri Lanka’s Best Workplaces™ for Women.
