These 29 Executives Show How We Can Close The Gender Wage Gap
By: Rania Hoteit and Yitzi Weiner
Background: Rona Borre, CEO & Founder of Instant Alliance
Rona Borre founded Instant Alliance in 2001 and her company has since become a nationally recognized, woman-owned business enterprise, consistently increasing revenue year over year. She continues to prove good talent can be a major differentiating factor in an organization’s success, and she works closely with each of her employees to ensure that clients are partnered with the premier talent in order to get the job done. Rona is most comfortable working directly with her clients and alongside her employees, helping to foster the collaborative environment Instant Alliance has become known for. Her unique approach leading Instant Alliance is in the recruitment process that sets them apart from the competition. Rona’s approach allows her clients to focus on what they do best and leave finding key resources up to her and her team. Her playbook is original and innovative , she offers white glove, high-touch niche expertise and treats each opening as an original search, constantly evaluating the impact that each position will have on the future growth of that organization. She believes in having at least one member of her leadership team involved in every search to ensure the most creative and agile recruiting methods are being implemented. Instant Alliance is known for its unconventional recruiting methods and goes beyond just searching from its database. This equation has led to a 97% client return rate and the continued opportunity to work with clients for several years as a trusted advisor and partner. As a leader in the Chicago community, Rona sits on the board and holds leadership roles with the Economic Club of Chicago, the Young Presidents Organization and The Chicago Network. She has received several awards including The Business Ledger’s Influential Women in Business and Enterprising Woman of the Year by Enterprising Women Magazine. She received her BS in Business from University of Arizona. Rona is passionate about her three children and helping companies achieving their goals by pairing them with the absolute best talent.
What I Believe Are The Root Causes of The Gender Wage Gap
I think the gender wage gap is caused by a combination of factors, the largest of them being institutionalized gender discrimination. Put simply, women have been paid less than men for years, and changing this standard will not happen overnight. I still can’t believe that it was less than 100 years ago that women earned the right to vote in our country, but that’s the way it is. Women have traditionally been seen as mothers first and breadwinners second, and even in modern day America, this underlying perception of our roles in society persists. So we’re held up against this standard of being able to raise children while simultaneously excelling at the office. I don’t mean to blame all of this on men, either. We women hold ourselves and each other to extremely high standards, and we’re really hard on one another. If we’re too focused on our careers, we’re bad mothers and wives. If we’re too focused on raising our families, we aren’t putting enough effort in at work. And I think we hold ourselves back sometimes too. Whether we don’t think we’re good enough for the promotion we want, or we don’t think we’re qualified to be managing men, we sell ourselves short and actually get in our own way.
What We Need To Do To Narrow The Gender Wage Gap
I would challenge women first to start pursuing the jobs that they are passionate about, whether or not those jobs fall within traditionally male-dominated fields. I started in the tech world at a young age and worked really hard to get to where I am today, but I realize how intimidating those industries can be. Success in these fields for women isn’t impossible, but I think too many of us women assume it won’t be worth the hard work. We think that we won’t be considered for a role because of our gender or will be immediately out-qualified by the men in the room. This is evident in the fact that women only apply for jobs they are 100% qualified for, while men apply for jobs even if they only meet 60% of the required skills. We need to start giving ourselves more credit and demanding the respect and job recognition that we deserve. Then, we need to support one another. We need to make sure both men and women alike are supporting women in their endeavors in these traditionally male fields. That being said, if we’re going to ask that men respect us in our careers, we need to make sure we as women as giving each other that support and respect as well. I see way too many situations in which women are tearing each other down, and it is so frustrating. We’re all up against the same obstacles, and the last thing we need is to add further challenges for our female counterparts.
From: Thrive Global
Read the Full article Here.
Recent Comments
Interesting article, except….. I know two young people very well that were recently hired at Rona at the same time; both seasonal. Having a fair degree of knowledge in tools and woodworking, she was allocated to the hardware department. Having fewer skills and less knowledge of building, he was allocated to the paint department. He’s being paid $14.50/hr. She’s being paid 14.25/hr. Same store. Can you explain?