How a sponsorship program can help you execute equal opportunities for your employees

The heightened demand for providing equal opportunities in the workplace over the last decade has resulted in an increased awareness of why implementing it universally is so essential. To create the best culture and equal opportunities for the workforce, every employee must feel supported, valued, and heard by their employer. While it is important to make sure everyone is treated fairly, individuals from minority groups may face different obstacles on their way to career success. One solution to this is through corporate sponsorship programs which operate on the basis of creating meaningful connections between proteges and senior leaders who will advocate on their behalf, create opportunities, and open up networks to support them to advance in their careers. So what exactly does a sponsorship program involve? 

Mentorship vs Sponsorship

Sponsorship can be frankly mistaken with mentorship, even though they are related and share certain similarities, they are not the same. Mentorship and sponsorship are both powerful tools for personal growth and building useful connections. However, mentorship is mainly about sharing advice, knowledge and guidance, whereas sponsorship is the next step. A sponsor is a senior executive who uses their position and influence to advance the career of an individual in a much lower position. In comparison, and unlike a mentor, a sponsor has an active and accountable role. For instance, the sponsor can recommend their protege for a promotion, or increase their visibility in the company. 

Stay aware of unconscious biases

Supporting employees can look different from company to company. One of the most effective forms you can adopt is sponsorship to maximise the provision of equal opportunities, including for individuals from minority groups. 

To understand why we need sponsorship programs in the corporate world, it is important to note what indecorous tendencies keep appearing. The similarity (also known as affinity) bias, in particular, has a considerable impact on how equal opportunities are executed in the workplace. For instance, if the hiring manager believes that older individuals are outdated and behind the times, the recruitment process will exclude older candidates. 

Similarity bias refers to the tendency of individuals to gravitate towards others with shared characteristics such as gender, appearance, beliefs, and race, the similarity bias highlights the risk of hiring similar candidates. This significantly and adversely limits diversity and equal opportunities across the business world. If you are interested in learning more about the similarity bias, visit our blog where we take a deeper look at cases of how unconscious biases can impact the behaviour and decision-making of individuals.

Considering that 85% of executive positions in large and mid-size companies around the world are occupied by white men, this becomes problematic for ensuring equal opportunities for others. For instance, we can see how the similarity bias could perpetuate the cycle, reducing the chance of those not matching the white male demographic from accessing these positions and limiting diversity as a direct result.  

Equal opportunities for everyone

Sponsorship offers a great chance to effectively ensure that all of your employees feel heard and are given equal opportunities in their workplace. By leveraging the power that higher positioned individuals hold, the sponsorship program can direct this towards those who would significantly benefit from support. Sponsors can widen the visibility of a protege in their firm by openly advocating their accomplishments with other senior leaders. 

Moreover, sponsors can share their valuable and unique perspectives on the company as well as guide their proteges to identify and make contributions that will increase the value they add to the company and help them gain recognition. Over time, this will improve the opportunities these individuals may have not received before. Besides executing equal opportunities for employees, sponsor programs also connect their proteges with influential and powerful individuals within their organisation or industry who can assist them in their career development. In line with this, sponsors can be a useful source of knowledge and feedback to improve the expertise of the proteges.

Managing equal opportunities through a sponsorship program with Ikigai Authentic

Why should it be so important for aspiring companies to have more diverse teams? According to Harvard Business Review, firms with gender-balanced teams alone achieve increased financial results, innovation, decision-making, retention, and job satisfaction. 

To effectively manage diversity, it is essential to ensure that equal opportunities are available for all of your employees in your organisation. Launching a sponsorship program is one of the most effective ways to achieve such objectives and having specialist training will clarify how you can truly benefit from diversity. This is among the top changes your company can make to improve its performance. For more insightful and useful information on how our training can deliver, get in touch with our experienced team today.