A Weird Disconnect

Jane
(26 posts)

Written April 09 2011

A Weird Disconnect

Alarming Stats - women exceed 20 trillion global annual consumer spend, 80% purchasing decisions, 51% of the workforce, yet only 3% of CEO's and 15% executive levels - safe to say, there's a weird disconnect in the corporate world when it comes to acceding to the immense power of women to transform and drive organizations from the top down.

Why hasn’t this “glass ceiling” been shattered into ten billion shards by now?

Diversity takes a nosedive during a reorganization - typically women are often forced out as downsizing or mergers and acquisitions take place - and according to research by Hewlett and Luce they start looking for greener pastures when they’re valued only in positions with little growth potential. Those who remain in the work place out of necessity but feel “stuck” often engage at lower levels, since doing more than what is required of them earns no greater benefits or prestige.

And because women are traditionally considered to be the family’s primary caregivers, the burden of overseeing elderly parents or chronically sick children falls to them, frequently sidelining them for considerable periods of time.
Given a choice—abandon the workplace or a loved one with crucial needs—women will generally lead with their integrity and let their pocketbooks take the hit.

But there’s more—far more—than these issues at play: Women between the ages of 30 and 55 re-evaluate life, gaze inward, and re-define their purpose.

While a man’s “midlife crisis” is often narcissistic as they try to push away thoughts of their declining abilities and eventual mortality, a maturing woman’s thoughts focus on critical self-awareness and an accumulating wisdom and usefulness. This re-awakening often occurs for women during a critical career junction, when moving from management to leadership seems not only possible, but entirely logical.

So to thrive, organizations need to stop focusing on diversity spreadsheets and policy makeovers and begin looking at the individuals and employee segments and realize that the dearth of women at the executive levels seriously impacts the bottom line.

The talent pool is shrinking globally. Governments are beginning to get involved in Asia as business continues to expand. Malaysia is one example - a high percentage of women attending university but a scandalously (and dangerously) low percentage of professional working women.

To solve this problem, companies need to start thinking like marketing professionals and ask themselves ‘What does the talent we seek (and employ) want and need? And how do their wants and needs drive their levels of engagement and the organization’s bottom line?

A few points to consider:

Link the three elements of role and engagement:

Autonomy - Let me do my job!
Authenticity - Let me be who I am!
Acknowledgement - Ttell me when I’m doing well and when I’m off-track.

A couple more to think about:

Give credit for ideas: Don’t steal my ideas and claim them as yours.
Don’t take shortcuts or offer one-off solutions

And finally, remember this: Employees make the decisions to leave 6 to 9 months before they actually announce their plans – and they’ll jump ship unexpectedly these days when they find an environment that seeks to help them thrive.