Still earning .23 cents less than your male counterparts? Don’t fret. Getting ahead at work has never been easier. Just douche. Or flirt. Or douche then flirt.
Summer’s Eve® Feminine Wash is full of advice for women looking for a raise. In a promotional piece in the current issue of Woman’s Day, the personal hygiene company outlines eight steps to getting a raise. Step 1 is shower with a feminine wash and schedule a “freshness pick-me up during the day.” So simple, isn’t it?
I can understand Summer’s Eve’s bad advice. After all, it’s got to be tough to come up with marketing campaigns for a useless product. But what is Forbes.com’s excuse? Recently, the “Home Page for the World’s Business Leaders” ran a professional guide to flirting.
From Forbes: “Need a new job or a promotion? Want sign-off on a new initiative that you’ve pored over? Career experts say that flirting can work to your advantage, if done right. We’ve outlined how to use flirting to get your way in the workplace without crossing the line.”
With career advice like this, who needs glass ceilings, institutional sexism, unfriendly work/life policies? Where’s the companion piece for men? Here’s our take.
Men, want to help women get ahead at work? Have you seen the studies showing diversity at the top leads to a stronger bottom line? We’ve outlined how to help advance a woman’s career and secure a brighter future for half the population.
1. Examine the informal networks in your company. Do golf outings and beer summits inadvertently exclude the women at work? Use the lunch hour to mentor women, broker deals and talk shop.
2. Fight for better work/life policies. Fair pay, access to childcare, paid maternity leave and sick time aren’t women’s issues. They are family issues. Get on board.
3. Examine your marketing department. Do you have an all-male team targeting your customers? Women make 85 percent of consumer purchasing decisions, so ask for their input. They’ll tell you “freshness pick-me ups” are a bad idea and the iPad is a stupid name for a product – before you invest millions in ad campaigns.
4. Examine the management team. If everyone in the boardroom looks the same, advocate for change. Do it for your shareholders, your customers, your daughters.
4. And finally, embrace the idea women are at work to make money and contribute to the organizations’ success – not to make you feel good about yourself by flirting. Call your wife or your mother if you need a compliment from a woman to get you through the day.
