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Talented women leaving the firm – puzzling? Not really, the fact is women or men not moving ahead will leave. Nothing new there. Yet, employers continue to wring their hands, hire high priced consultants to help the female brain drain. Yes the problem is complex, if we want it to be. But there are simple measures to put in place that may slow down the departures. One of the biggest issues is the lack of role models or opportunities to move ahead.
To change this, organizations need to stop thinking women have different family priorities. Women and men both have responsibilities for family commitments. According to recent McKinsey research most women don’t choose to leave as some do not have this option. And, if they stay they want opportunities to advance – just like anyone else. If not, they will find opportunities elsewhere. Simple.
It is not only family friendly policies and certainly policies only for women exacerbate the problem. By the way, these policies for women only – does not make sense. The policy is family, so why not include both.
Deloitte & Touche, one of the top four audit firms has looked into “certain measures to encourage female employees to stay…” Great, but how about opportunities outside of audit? And does taking family friendly time off hamper careers – most women (and some men) think so…. but Deloitte says otherwise….thinking that more women will remain with the firm (and in Audit) if they know there will be equal career opportunities offered to them even if they take on a reduced workload.
Yet some organizations realize even with family flexible policies, women still leave. Why? Could it be the manager, compensation, opportunities for advancement, or how about I am just bored and need a new opportunity?
Find out what people want and give it to them. Stop with the blanket approach, one size fits all, and one sided policies. Smart companies use a marketing approach segmenting benefits to fit the needs of their employees. In so doing, they increase engagement and save money. Similar to focus groups for customers, when an employee leaves they call them to find out why. Great idea and best to use an external firm for these calls; savvy employees learn never to burn bridges or swap war stories about a narcissistic boss. Most feel comfortable sharing the real reason for leaving with an anonymous third party.
So what is the number one reason why people leave or stay? Typically – the boss – nothing new here.
Research states that adding women to boardrooms offers better governance and performance; that diversity in boardrooms and executive suites ensures complex problem-solving and generates sustainable innovative thinking.
So why are women still shut out?
On May 16th, Women Corporate Directors (WCD) a global organization of over 1,000 women directors representing companies around the world– held an invitation-only, inaugural meeting in New York.
In the announcement of the meeting, Susan Stautberg Co-chair of WCD states it will take courage and disruptive change to ensure the percentage of women on boards increases globally. At the meeting, the participants – corporate directors – reviewed current conditions and analyzed possible solutions.
There are more than a few challenges to address and many solutions to consider.
I would start with a mind-shift change on board qualifications and ask if these loftier-than-thou requirements are relevant to the challenges a board faces. For example, last month LinkedIn posted a board search with the following qualifications:
“Global Brand, Responsible for Profit & Loss, Make Tough Decisions, Oversee multiple billion revenue, and have extensive international experience…” (etc., ad nauseum)
The problem is the solution. And, begins with changing the questions and moving away from out-dated paradigms and mental roadmaps regarding what constitutes leadership and sound business acumen. Fundamentally, the conversation should examine opportunities, and the answers should come from the wisdom in the room.
When women and men are actively involved on boards, things will change… but not until. Stautberg suggests an astute revision for complex problems: How about tossing out the current analysis paradigm and re-thinking the model?
We need a change in perspective and more innovative thinking to find a workable solution. WCD’s Global Institute, with a phenomenal line-up of executives, supplies this thinking. But will need an innovative thinking method to challenge entrenched beliefs to solve this one.
Look at the facts and face the truth. The discussion on boardroom diversity will not work unless organizations stop the haemorrhaging of women leaving businesses while at the management level, never reaching the the executive suite. The truth is most organizations struggle mightily to retain talented mid-career women. The New York Times reports that even Norway (poster country for board diversity) faces these same challenges, too few women in line for the C suite.
While researching MNC’s across Asia Pacific recently, I heard business leaders vehemently state, ‘We have a robust pipeline of women in the workforce – slight pause – in middle-management.’ Probing further into this ‘percentages and pipeline’ beyond management, the number of women mysteriously and significantly dwindle.
Given this drop- off rate, disparity in the boardroom will clearly continue to be an issue unless organizations rethink how to address a looming problem.
The recent frenetic talk of women in board rooms is often built on the hope that it will lift women to the top, and having women in senior roles will trickle down to the others.
But such a board focus and subsequent ‘trickle-down theory’ undermines the real issues, stalling progress. There are fundamental issues at stake, some more obvious than others, that need addressing.
Sally Krawcheck, President of Global Wealth and Investment Management at Bank of America, has it right: ‘ Hang on to women in their 30’s.’ If nothing else ensues, this should be the primary focus for the next decade. At midlife, women re-evaluate purpose, an introspective time and a critical period for leadership development.
The real cost to organizations is losing talented women at this pivotal juncture. While significant energy, resources, and research have focused on board diversity, women continue to be stuck in the middle, and fewer numbers rising to the top.
What’s the hold up? The dearth of women in executive roles is attributed to lack of networks, experience, and role models, but the big hurdle to overcome is bias and mindsets.
Not everyone sees the world in the same way, more of a truth in leadership. Ask about great leaders across cultures, and it generates lists of interesting people; infamous, notorious, good, bad and different. Leadership is often in the eye of the beholder, and very different across cultures. We thus need to fundamentally broaden our view of what defines leadership.
Most view leadership through a cultural filter, but inside an organizations this frame of reference needs to expand, as leaders come in all shapes, sizes and colours.
Widening this view requires a focus on bias awareness. Bias impacts every aspect of the employee life cycle from selection to promotion to redundancy. To ensure talented women thrive and move towards the executive suite, consider these three steps:
- Focus on mid-career talent
- Expand leadership definitions
- Embed bias awareness
Researchers contend that women in Asia are moving into management positions in greater numbers. While true for some countries, others lag far behind. In those countries, moving from management to leadership or decision-making roles is hindered by workplace bias, family obligations and being stuck in dead-end roles. Women in Asia today face challenges that require a different perspective and new way of thinking in order to ensure percentages change positively in the executive suite.
Let’s look at how some Asian countries are doing.
Malaysia outranks Japan and Korea in terms of gender equality, but falls far well below in representation of women in business. Since 1995 the number of women in the workforce has increased 3.4%. If present numbers continue to decline, Malaysia will not reach its 2020 goal of becoming a developed nation. Adding to this challenge, over a half a million Malaysians exited the country between 2007 and 2009, and far too few have returned, or are interested in returning.
A UN report states, “Women are crucial to the nation’s economic engine to further propel Malaysia up the value chain [and] further the nation’s development efforts.”
Similar to Malaysia, Japan needs women in the workforce to support long term growth and economic stability. Kathy Matsui of Goldman Sachs states, “Increased female participation implies higher income and consumption growth which we estimate could lift trend GDP growth by 0.3 pp to 1.5% from 1.2% and boost per-capita income by 5.8% over the next 20 years.”
The issue facing Japan, in addition to the recent natural and nuclear disasters, is an aging population and declining birth rate. There is a genuine economic need for women’s participation in the workforce to support growth.
In Korea, the number of women in the work force hovers around 47%. The government is trying to drive change by recruiting more women, creating a Presidential Commission, and reviving Gender Equality initiatives. While advances have been made in terms of ‘family-friendly’ policies and the creation of the Ministry of Gender Equality, pay inequity and internal conflicts remain at many Korean firms. Most Korean women prefer to work for U.S. multinationals with equal opportunity policies rather than Korean firms with traditional mindset and values.
China seems to fare much better, allowing more promotional opportunities and protecting women’s rights. China has a higher percentage of women’s employment than other countries (which makes sense given its size). Yet, looking into the statistics in China, the vast majority of women remain in administrative positions, seldom conducive to getting inside the executive suite.
According to Grant Thornton research, Vietnam and Thailand have a higher percentage of women in senior management positions, but ironically 10% of these roles are in Human Resources, often dead-end stations.
In many Asian societies – China, Taiwan, Korea, India, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Thailand, and Singapore – women are still expected to fulfil traditional roles, including child and elder care. Confucian values remain strong in Chinese families, holding women to higher expectations, although this varies across countries. While the numbers of women in the workforce may be increasing, stereotypes, bias, and perceptions have remained the same.
Given the strong family values, increasing women’s roles in business requires balancing family obligations and organizational commitments.
Interviewing women across Asia, most senior executive women mentioned, “family support and having access to outside help — is critical – otherwise we couldn’t do what we do…”
In addition to family support, flexible work schedules fills the gap. Cicso, HP, Microsoft and other high-tech organizations provide telecommuting as a solution, but this option comes with a stark reality; working from home is not viewed as real work, so mindsets need to shift.
While many organizations across Asia claim to have a pipeline of talented women, few have made a dent in the executive ranks. Moving from middle management to leadership is never easy. To do so,organizations must ensure that women remain engaged with real opportunities to reach the executive suite. Understanding and appreciating the cultural norms of each country and finding a strategy that builds an inclusive workforce allows for innovative thinking and provides a competitive advantage – and ultimately benefits everyone.
