 |
 |
 |
Greetings!
Welcome to July 2012 GenderSmart Tips...Wow has it been hot here in the Midwest! So I thought I'd give you some 'hot' tips on why women leave before reaching top levels, and how to keep them from doing so.
I hope you find this month's issue valuable and interesting!
Warm Regards,
Jane Sanders |
|
 | Why Few Women Reach the Top Rungs! |
| |  |
Studies Indicate Several Reasons:
...by Jane Sanders
Recent studies suggest that women sometimes pull themselves out of the race for top positions - but not for reasons some executives think.
 Findings from research conducted by New-York based Catalyst and Hudson Critical Thinking (Chicago) suggest that the lack of women in senior management indicates barriers to their advancement, not less ambition. Women look ahead, see few women at the top, and lower their expectations. The longer they work in the business world, the more evident it becomes to them that women are held to different standards and rules. They see women above them in middle management not achieving their aspirations and figure the same will happen with them.
Compared to men, women have similar levels of ambition when they first begin their careers, and, once they reach senior management, women entertain the same desire for the top spots (board directors, corporate officers, CEO or equivalent). But the in-between levels, where most employees are, present the danger for losing talented women.
The corporate barriers include a lack of female role models, limited access to men's informal networks, and gender stereotyping (assumptions that women are less authoritative, decisive, managerial, competent, etc.).
Other barriers exist as well, consisting of work/life challenges. Women still have most of the caretaker responsibilities, with children and with elderly parents, and this often curtails their ability to maintain a consistent level of commitment to their work compared to men. So women lower their ambitions or leave to start their own business where they have control over their schedules, or to join a company that provides the flexibility and genuine advancement potential they desire.
(Source: Kristen B. Frasch, www.hreonline.com, 3/17/08)
If your company, like many, is experiencing attrition of women in mid-management levels, check out the GenderSmart Tips below for strategies to help increase the retention of this talented resource.
|
| GenderSmart Tips |
| | |
Strategies to Help Women Reach the Top
Here are a few programs and activities that many companies are implementing successfully to help retain female managers. Detailed tactics would depend upon your industry and specific company profile. As you read them, take inventory as to how many of these strategies are in play at your company. And these are just a few...
- Genuine and visible CEO commitment
- Linking executive bonuses to diversity and women's retention and advancement performance
- Meaningful work/life programs and flexibility
- Focused and comprehensive talent and pipeline development in/from all departments
- Executive coaching for high-potential women (influencing up, executive image, leadership confidence, etc.)
- Strategic mentoring programs
- Gender difference training for all managers, male and female, on how to communicate with, manage and work effectively with each other
- Strong employee resource groups
|
 |
Quote(s) Of The Day |
| | "Keep close to Nature's heart...and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean." ...John Muir
"Every cowboy gets a nickname. Just pray that if they start calling you 'Lightnin'' it's because your horse is fast. Not because you peed on an electric fence." ...David Stevenson, Cowboy Wisdom
|
|
| |
 |
|
You are welcome to reprint any part of this newsletter as long as you include "By Jane Sanders, GenderSmart® Solutions, 618-204-5540.
Contact Information
Phone: 618-204-5540
|
Join our mailing list
Click Here
|
|
| |
|
|
