What are employers doing to working women’s performance?
Research about women in the workplace may surprise you. Harvard Business Review TV (HBR video) presented a shocking video on the differences in the engagement of men and women in the workplace.
Click Here to Watch the Video.
According to this research study, women start out their careers with more ambition than men, but after 2 years women’s confidence and ambition plummets by over 50%. This result comes after controlling for or removing the easy excuses of marriage and child rearing that, some may say, affect women’s workplace performance. Conversely, men experience no decline in their workplace confidence levels and only a slight decline in ambition levels.
One of the largest drivers that is reported for this change, is that after two years in the working world, women feel their own personal values do not match the organization’s corporate values. Also, women perceive that their supervisors are not supportive of their career goals. According to the research, women are not getting the role model support or exposure that they need in order to progress in the workplace.
Click Here to Read the Article.
Support and progression of all employees is a key function in succession planning. Currently, organizations are not meeting the needs of almost half of the working population. This is such a loss of opportunity that could provide exceptional gains through conscious, pro-active employee engagement based on values, consideration,s and a commitment to improvements in organizational culture.
Discussion Questions:
- As a leader of an HR department, what strategies do you think an organization could implement to ensure women do not lose their workplace ambition and confidence?
- What are the barriers that need to be removed in order to make the above strategies workable?
- How would these strategies improve an organization’s succession plans?