As a tribute to International Women’s Day, ServiceNow engages people around the world to recognize women’s social, economic, cultural, and political achievements. This year’s theme, “Break the Bias,” invites us to call out gender bias, discrimination, and stereotyping when we see it in the workplace and in our wider community.
We invite ServiceNow employees around the world to share their experiences and ideas to help eliminate bias against women.
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Looking for your voice
Senior Financial Analyst Michelle C. said she has experienced both gender and racial bias throughout her career. One incident that sticks with him is a public speaking training session he participated in shortly after joining ServiceNow.
One of the trainers, a Caucasian man brought to the program from a third party, told her, “You should speak louder because you are an Asian woman.”
His first reaction was shock. “I didn’t know what to say. I don’t even think I said anything,” Michelle recalled. He was so affected by the experience that he decided to join another public speaking workshop to overcome this feedback.
This time, Michelle received the exact opposite feedback from a female Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) instructor. “He said it doesn’t matter how strong or soft you are. The most important thing is the connection you have with your audience and the meaning behind your content.”
This advice gave Michelle the validation she sought and destroyed her bias in herself — not being strong enough to speak in public because she was an Asian woman.
Building alliance
International Women’s Day is not just for women. “I think it’s very important for men to be allies and have conversations on both a personal and professional level,” said Terence C., vice president of customer and industry workflows at ServiceNow.
Terence personally witnessed how the pandemic affected the female members on his team. “We had a team meeting, and we were talking about burnout. It became uniquely clear that our women’s team members were carrying a bigger burden for caring for their children, who is in a disrupted situation at school. ”
To develop alliance, Terence uses a personal approach and has one-on-one conversations with his female colleagues to better understand their experiences. “For me, it’s just valuing that person as a person and as a team member and wanting to do whatever it takes to help them be successful,” he said.
“If you start with that, I’m sure you can figure out what a good allyship would look like.”
Run into the fire
Throughout her career, Anita M., director of delivering IT applications at ServiceNow, has been very vocal about the importance of enhancing skills. “I always say, ‘Run to the fire. Don’t run away from it.’ I’d rather run on fire, burn, learn, and then come back. That learning can be anything. ”
That “anything” can be in the form of mentorship. Anita recognizes the Women and Now Belonging Group for giving women and their allies the opportunities to seek, obtain, and give women the help they need to build strong support systems.
“ServiceNow gives us a very good platform to express ourselves, to do better, to change, to thrive, and to change. So, why can’t I be optimistic?” he says.
Anita’s mission is to make the world a better place than yesterday. She wholeheartedly believes she does that simply by raising her voice and sharing her stories with the world.
Hear more of these employees ’experiences in this short video:
We hope you have been as inspired as we are by the opportunity to advance women’s equality. Let us come together around the world to learn, grow, and develop — not just now, but every day. We have the power to make change and destroy bias.
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