The Real Challenges for Women's Career Advancement

It's interesting that articles and research studies continue to be churned out year after year which continue to situate the "blame" on women for not getting ahead as much as men in the workplace. Rarely is there any analysis of the way that traditional corporate environments continue to limit, and even punish, women because of their gender. 

Canada will soon be dealing with the immense problems associated with low birth rates in every area. Women specifically have borne the costs of being the ones who take time off work to have children and give them the best start to life by staying home to take care of them. Yet, studies continue to provide evidence that women's careers take a hit because of this and that they often don't catch up in terms of career advancement and salaries. So even in 2011, women are being essentially punished due to biological factors they have no control over. 

I've been thinking about the fact that women going into business for themselves is a growing demographic and I've been pondering why that is. This is a personal issue to me as well, because I'm an enterpreneur and business woman who left "secure" public sector employment to start my own business. I felt trapped and stifled and found out early on that the majority of public sector jobs lead nowhere fast.

One of the conclusions I have come to is that corporate life and organizations are failing women. In spite of years of analysis, encouragement to "change corporate culture" and advocacy to assist more women in moving higher up the ranks and increasing numbers of women on Boards, the numbers reflect the majority of organizations have done little to improve culture and advance more women in their careers. 

Instead of blaming women, like the article below, which does have some valid points, there needs to be much more analysis of how organizations are failing women and that, as a result, more and more women are taking their knowledge, skills and abilities and setting up businesses that will give them the respect and balance they are seeking in their lives. 

The latest reports from Catalyst, (no relation to my business) linked below, explode the myths that women employing the same career strategies will enjoy the same success and advancement as male counterparts. Key findings included that men moved higher up the ranks and that their compensation increased over women and the gaps in salary were significant, although the individuals studied used the same career advancement tactics and there were no differences as to continuous time spent in the workplace (no time taken off for personal, or family needs, such as having children). 

So boldy, I'm going to conclude that it isn't just "organizations" that are failing women, it is the men in those organizations, that are at every level of authority, that are failing women. They are failing their wives, their daughters, their granddaughters. If after decades of women fighting for equality and parity in the workplace women have made so little progress, the only conclusion one can make is that the majority of men who advance to senior positions have little interest in equality and opportunity for women and that they will use their power and authority to continue to oppress and limit women's opportunities for career advancement and equal pay. 

The ramifications of this structural inequality and oppression is going to come home to roost as more and more women of the 21st century leave behind these limiting, stifling and unrewarding organizations. They are taking their wisdom, skills and abilities with them to organizations that do offer them more recognition, opportinities and advancement. They're also starting their own businesses, where women can shine and feel recognized and valued for their expertise and work and more often, lead the kind of healthier, more balanced lives that modern women want and deserve.

Four Ways Women Stunt Their Careers Unintentionally

Jill Flynn, Kathryn Heath & Mary Davis Holt, October 19, 2011. Harvard Business Review. 

Having combed through more than a thousand 360-degree performance assessments conducted in recent years, we've found, by a wide margin, that the primary criticism men have about their female colleagues is that the women they work with seem to exhibit low self-confidence.

Looking back through scores of interviews we've conducted in the course of training and coaching engagements, and returning to the 360 reports, these are the four specific low-confidence behaviors cited by managers (male and female alike): 

• Being overly modest  
  Not asking
  Blending in
  Remaining silent   

Read the whole article here. 

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Women in Senior Management: Where Are They?

The Conference Board of Canada, August 2011
Report by Louise Chenier, Elise Wohlbold 

 

Women in Senior Management—Strategies for Creating an Environment Where Women Thrive

 

Exploding Myths About Why Women's Careers Lag Men's

Nancy M. Carter and Christine Silva, October 2011  

Catalyst: Changing Workplaces. Changing Lives.  

 

Catalyst's latest report on high-potential women and men with MBAs reveals that "doing all the right things" to get ahead works well for men, but does not provide as great an advantage for women.

The fourth report,The Myth of the Ideal Worker: Does Doing All the Right Things Really Get Women Ahead?, tackles persistent myths about the gender gap. Career advancement strategies used by women and men were compared to determine if using the same strategies ultimately leads to the same career outcomes. Findings revealed that:

• Men benefited more from adopting proactive strategies.
• When women did all the things they have been told will help them get ahead—using the same tactics as men—they still advanced less than their male counterparts and had slower pay growth.

Social Media Policies: For Business & Private Practice Professionals

I've been receiving some interesting articles and policies that make suggestions for guiding the use of social media for those in private practice and business. This is obviously of concern to me since I'm a user of social media, both as a personal user and as a marketing and business tool.

Here are a couple of good links to check out:

Anatomy of a Social Media Policy

Dr. Sarah Elaine Eaton, October 14, 2011, Social Media Today. 

Over the past 24 months, my phone rings on an almost daily basis with clients, colleagues and friends in a panic about something to do with social media. That led me to start working with organizations to help them develop and then roll out social media policies for their organizations. Through researching and reading over 150 social media policies for corporations, hospitals, universities and non-profit organizations and helping my clients develop their own organizational policies, here’s what I’ve learned. 

Read the whole article here.  

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Social Media Policies: Necessary but Not Sufficient
Courtney Hunt, February 24, 2011, Social Media in Organizations.

Every organization needs to think about and be prepared to manage the risks associated with operating in the Digital Era. It doesn’t matter whether social media is part of the organization’s strategic agenda, or if the organization itself has any digital presence. It also doesn’t matter how large the organization is, whether it’s for-profit, BtoB or BtoC, or which industry or sector it operates in. To put it simply:

If you employ people, you should have a social media policy.

• Recent “What Were They Thinking?” Examples
• The State of the Social Media Policy-sphere
• The Legal Landscape
• Guidance for Leaders

Read the whole article here.

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An Example of a Private Practice Professional's Social Media Policy with Clients
Dr. Keely Kolmes, April 26, 2010.

Workplace Happiness & Leadership Tips

Some articles that resonated for me.

The 5 Drivers of Happiness
Jessica Pryce-Jones, The Source, The Wall Street Journal.

Excerpt:

Our empirical research, involving 9,000 people from around the world, reveals some astonishing findings. Employees who report being happiest at work:

• Stay twice as long in their jobs as their least happy colleagues
• Spend double their time at work focused on what they are paid to do
• Take ten times less sick leave
• Believe they are achieving their potential twice as much

And the “science of happiness at work” has big benefits for individuals too. If you’re really happy at work, you’ll solve problems faster, be more creative, adapt fastest to change, receive better feedback, get promoted quicker and earn more over the long-term.

Drivers:

1. Contribution

2. Conviction

3. Culture

4. Commitment

5. Confidence

Read the whole article here.

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10 Secrets of Successful Leaders

Kara Ohngren, Entrepreneur, Oct. 17, 2011.

Excerpts:

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “A good leader inspires people to have confidence in the leader, a great leader inspires people to have confidence in themselves.”

1. Assemble a dedicated team.
2. Overcommunicate.
3. Don’t assume.
4. Be authentic.
5. Know your obstacles.
6. Create a 'team charter.'
7. Believe in your people.
8. Dole out credit.
9. Keep your team engaged.
10. Stay calm.

Read the whole article here.

Mental Health in the Workplace: Creating Healthy Work Environments

Some new research is out which mirrors something I wrote on this blog earlier this year in my Top 5 Workplace Trends to Watch in 2011, under Workplace Issues
the top issues I highlighted were "bullying and harassment, disabilities, human rights and accommodation in the workplace."

We should all be concerned about the workplace mental health trends and do something to mitigate the personal and organizational impacts. Creating psychologically healthy and safe workplaces takes design, effort and intention.

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More awareness, understanding needed for mental illness on the job: Conference Board
Bradley Bouzane, The Province, June 22, 2011.

Mental-health issues are prominent in Canadian workplaces and many workers are hesitant to come forward due to a lack of understanding on the part of their employers, says report from the Conference Board of Canada, which stresses the need for more training for managers.

"People who experience mental-health issues face incredible challenges in the workplace," said Karla Thorpe, the Conference Board's associate director of compensation and industrial relations. "Many are misunderstood, shunned and underutilized. In a world where shortages of critical skills are top of mind for many organizations, employers cannot afford to allow this situation to continue."

Building Mentally Healthy Workplaces — Perspectives of Canadian Workers and Front-Line Managers, stems from a January 2011 survey of 1,010 employed Canadians, including nearly 500 managers. The initial survey was then followed up by 30 more detailed interviews.

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Building Mentally Healthy Workplaces — Perspectives of Canadian Workers and Front-Line Managers

Conference Board of Canada, 2011

The report highlights the workplace challenges faced by employees with mental health issues, and provides insight into how employers can best support these employees. The research is based on a national survey—conducted by The Conference Board of Canada in January 2011—of 1,010 individuals currently employed on either a part-time or full-time basis, including 479 front-line managers who supervise or manage other people in the workplace. The research is supplemented with a total of 30 follow-up, in-depth interviews.

Mental health was defined as: excessive stress, anxiety, depression, burnout, addictions and substance abuse, mania, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia, among others.

Key findings

• 44 % of Canadian employees have dealt with mental-health issues at some point, with 12 % stating they are currently experiencing mental-health conditions.
• 44 % of managers indicated they had no training in how to work with employees who suffered from mental illness. The report said managers need — and have expressed a keen interest in — increased training to improve that situation.
• 82 % of senior executives surveyed stated that their company promotes a mentally healthy work environment, only 30 % of employees who work in such occupations as service, labour, and production agree.
• 54 % felt disclosure of their condition may prevent opportunities for promotions.
• 36 % of employees said mental-health issues are not discussed openly by management at their places of employment.
• In 2009-10, 78 % of short-term claims and 67 % of long-term claims in Canada were linked to mental-health issues.

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Workplace training needed to rid the stigma of mental illness
KJ Mullins, Digital Journal, June 20, 2011.

Resources on creating Psychologically Healthy Workplaces

Psychologically Healthy Workplace Program

Psychologically healthy workplace practices can be grouped into five categories:

• Employee involvement
• Work-life balance
• Employee growth & development
• Health & safety
• Employee recognition

From Minding the Workplace - Eight questions more likely to reveal the presence (or lack thereof) of a psychologically healthy workplace:

• Is there a sense of zest, ”buzz,” and opportunity in the workplace?
• Do employees feel they are valued and treated with respect and dignity?
• Is the organizational culture friendly, inclusive, and supportive?
• Is organizational decision making fair, transparent, and evenhanded?
• Are diversities of all types accepted or merely tolerated?
• Does the organization face or dodge tough questions concerning employee relations?
• Are allegations of mistreatment of employees handled fairly and honestly, even when the alleged wrongdoers are in positions of power?
• Are compensation and reward systems fair and transparent?

HR Manager Don't's & Boosting Business Communications

9 Signs your HR Manager is Terrible
CBS Business Network

1. S/he Never says "We need to ask the lawyers" - seeking expert opinion is crucial at times. No one person knows everything.
   
2. S/he sends you unqualified candidates to interview - wasting time
3. S/he gives you a blank stare when you talk about the business - doesn't understand
4. S/he always agrees with you
5. S/he never approves an exception - rule bound
6. S/he only fixes messes that s/he created - doesn't help avert crisis
7. S/he never approves firing anyone - weeding out bad apples
8. S/he never met a number s/he liked - HR data and financial numbers
9. Reaction to any problem is to write up new policy - avoiding confrontation

Read more here.

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6 Tips to Improve your Business Communication Skills

Linda Finkle, Incendo, June 16, 2011.

1. Practice makes perfect. Don’t assume you try once or twice and get results. Every day, every interaction, requires you to practice. Watch for where you see improvements and what is still not working, as well as you would like, and then make the adjustments.

2. Listen like you’ve never listened before. We all think we listen but mostly we listen with filters, assumptions and judgments. Don’t just hear the words; listen to what isn’t being said and the meaning underneath the words. You’ll be surprised at what you will learn.

3. Critical conversations need the right environment. Any conversation that is important needs the right environment to ensure success. That includes the where…where is it going to take place; the how…on the phone or face-to-face; and the time…it can’t be rushed.

4. Ask more questions. Most of us don’t ask enough questions; we assume we know or understand. Keep asking questions to drill down to the core issues of what is being said.

5. It is not all about you. Even if you initiated the conversation, it’s not all about you. The other person needs to believe they are heard, that they are important, that the relationship is a partnership…all the warm, fuzzy stuff that is critical to communication.

6. Pay attention. This means not thinking about your next meeting or what you need to do. It means totally being present to the conversation without your mind distracting you in a million different directions. And don’t respond to emails while you are on the phone with someone!

Much of what doesn’t work in organizations is directly or indirectly related to communications. I’ve written dozens of posts on this topic which you can find here.

You’ll see subtle shifts in your relationships, in performance…in a variety of areas inside your organization as your business communication skills improve. Don’t take my word for it, find out for yourself.

Bits & Bytes: Articles on Networking & Age in the Workplace

I found these articles to be quite informative, I hope you do too.

Networking is not a one-off event
By Guest Blogger: Desiree Dupuis, @threesixtyfg
From Networking in Vancouver

The key to networking is building long-lasting solid relationships, this doesn’t happen over night and it definitely does not happen by attending one event one time.

Being a good networker means being consistent and following up. Here are my top 5 tips to being a successful networker:

1. Commit to a Niche

2. Do your research

3. Set your intention

4. Follow up, follow up, follow up

5. Use social networking

Read here for more on each topic.

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Age Discrimination in the Workplace: 2 Mistakes You Must Avoid

Contributor: Scott Esposito, Posted: 06/06/2011. Human Resources IQ
Excerpt:

Age discrimination is unique among other forms of discrimination. Regardless of any worker’s gender, race, religion, color or national origin, with the passage of time and more miles added to the odometer, we all have the potential of falling victim to this form of discrimination.

Currently with the surge of baby boomers moving toward later career stages and retirement, we are witnessing the full impact of this shift in our labor force demographic profile and its implications: diminishing social security funds; greater demands on our health care system; and skill shortages that weaken our economic capacity. Age is here to stay and we need to act decisively in order to stay on the right side of the law and fully harness available human capital.

Gathering the right talent, tapping the power of diversity and gaining the full participation of the workforce in driving business strategy should be the ultimate goal of every manager.

Can you harness the potential of an aging workforce, breaking down self imposed barriers, creating new approaches to work and, in the process, redesign and redirect careers? This will turn age into experience and experience into better business performance.

Top 5 Workplace Trends to Watch in 2011 – Part 5

Today is the final installment of this five part series on the top workplace trends to pay attention to in 2011.

Entreprenuerism

Many organizations have become bogged down in bureaucracy, in top-down, management heavy hierarchies where the most simple questions and business issues have to go up and down and all around before an answer can be delivered. In business this might involve layers of managers, and consultations with boards of directors.

In the non-profit sector, this may be the interface between the Executive Director and the elected Board.

Having worked in bureaucracies and held leadership and governance positions at local, regional, provincial and national levels in a variety of organizations, I’ve learned that many organizations become paralyzed in inertia at various points in time. They become stuck and have a difficult time moving forward, or driving innovation in their organizations, creating new products or services. All of this will eventually impact the bottom line.

A specific example I would use is the lack of diversity and the glass ceiling that most corporate and even non-profit boards still labour under. It’s really quite astonishing to many that the ceiling is still firmly in place, limiting the opportunities of women and people of diverse cultures from bringing their assets, wisdom and experience to these levels.

The statistics on the numbers of new businesses is not yet bearing out that a lot of people are jumping into entrepreneurism and moving from paid employment into their own businesses. We may see some movement in the statistics though because there really appears to be a growing interest in self-employment.

This is particularly noteworthy for women. Today’s workplace environments are not working for a growing number of individuals who simply do not want to work under the old rules. They don’t want to expose themselves to some of the toxic and unhealthy work environments so many employers create and sustain for their employees. They want the kind of work-life balance that can be had in self-employment. They want more freedom and the ability to access and use their creativity and innovation in their work. Many organizations simply do not value, or make real space for these things and they want the top-down status quo management ethos to continue to be the only game in town.

Many of the younger generations also find these traditional workplace cultures to be in opposition to the values that have been instilled in them. They are used to and comfortable with rapid change, growth and innovation of technology. Many have been socialized to provide significant input, feedback and leadership into various facets of their lives. Once in organizations that are designed in the more traditional way, they find them stifling, lack of opportunities to share and have their ideas and creativity used, or acknowledged. They find these organizations stagnating and running around in circles doing the same things over and over, whether they work or not. When told “this is the way it’s always been done” or discouraged from trying new ways of doing things, they become disheartened, bored and disconnected. They feel like their efforts and ideas have no traction and this translates to feeling like they have no place in the organization and no future. They don’t like feeling like cogs.

People believe in themselves, in their abilities to provide services and products and help others in ways that they find larger organizations cannot respond to in the same way. The idea of building their own value-driven organizations is going to become an increasingly desirable career option as mid and new career individuals realize their ability to develop their careers, change employers and “working for the man” is just not as fun, or as rewarding as being their own boss.

How can employers compete with the concept of becoming entrepreneurs? As organizations begin the important work of succession planning leaders need to start analyzing their organizational structures and mandates. Here are some questions that can guide this strategic assessment and analysis.

• Are all divisions and workers clear on the mission, mandate and purpose of the business, or organization?
• Is the current structure achieving the best results, the most profit?
• Could the organization be less top-heavy?
• Would innovation and decision-making be improved by a different structure?
• Do work groups and teams all fit together and share an interconnected understanding of being part of the greater whole of the organization and what it’s purpose is?
• How are top performers and high potential employees identified? Is there a plan to develop these employees?
• Is there a mentoring program in place?
• Is the organization engaging its’ employees in activities that encourage and reward creativity and innovation?
• Are there opportunities for employees at all levels of the organization to develop their knowledge, skills and abilities and in their careers within the organization?
• Does the organization encourage fresh ideas, goal setting and action planning and reward employees for timely resolution of problems and challenges?
• Is there a way to utilize entrepreneurial values and vision within different work teams and divisions of an organization?
• For non-profits, is there a way to become more involved in creating social enterprises opportunities within the agency and for clients?
• Is there a way to speed up decision-making and responses to immediate needs and demands?
• What are the short-term and long-term visions for the organization? Is it enough to just stay the course and keep doing what the organization does best? What are the pros and cons of this? Will this be enough to survive and thrive in a rapidly changing environment?
• Is the original vision and purpose of the organization still relevant?
• Is there a need for strategic analysis and planning for the vision going into the future?
• Is the team you have now able to carry the vision of the organization forward?

Conclusion

It is not an option for today’s businesses, or other organizations to remain treading water in one place. As we’ve seen over the last few years, survival is not a given for any organizational entity. Change is the only consistent variable most organizations are faced with in today’s world. How the leaders of today’s organizations chose to dance with change is doing to make the biggest impact for the future.

Paying heed to these top five workplace trends in 2011 will go a long way toward creating successful and sustainable organizations in the future.

About the Author:

Tracey Young, MSW, RSW is a Labour Relations and Forensic Social Work Consultant with Catalyst Enterprises BC, based in British Columbia. Find out more about the services we provide here: http://www.catalystbc.ca/

Top 5 Workplace Trends to Watch in 2011 – Part 4

The Fight to Recruit & Retain Top Talent

Many organizations aren’t even aware of it, but they are in the fight of their lives to recruit and retain top talent. Due to demographic shifts and the loss of the Baby Boomer cohort, employers and organizations will be kept on their toes trying to capture the interest and skills of top performers and high potential employees in all fields and industries.

The numbers of younger workers entering the workforce is not enough to fill the looming labour shortages, so employers are going to have to be strategic in identifying and capturing the attention of the best and brightest. How does an employer compete for the top talent?

Compensation, benefits and perks - I always find it funny to read these lists that put this lower than other things. People work to get paid and they will leave your organization if they aren’t getting adequate compensation and benefits for an organization that will provide them. They will feel taken advantage of and maybe even embarrassed to not get paid what they are worth.

Work-life balance – Today’s generation of workers are much different than older ones. They work to live and play. They want a better, healthier balance. More men want to spend time parenting their children and being part of their lives. Women are still primarily caring for children and their parents too. The demands are real and people want employers who offer flexible options to balance work and life. Some of these include part-time work, job sharing, telecommuting, work from home, and flexible work hours.

Workplace culture – Respect, dignity, recognition, acknowledgment, healthy work environments. Many of today’s younger employees have grown up having their opinions and ideas canvassed on everything. Everyone got a ribbon at sports day and a gold star for the most inane “achievements.” There were no “winners” and “losers.” Workers want to be employed in healthy organizations that provide them with respect, that treat them with dignity, that recognize and acknowledge their work and efforts. Those that do not create workplace cultures like this are not perceived as “employers of choice.” They are looked at as temporary stops on the path to the next better employer.

I want to also say a little something about those “Top 100 Employer” lists. When Gen X and Y go to work with these organizations that proudly proclaim their top of the employer heap and find quite the opposite, feelings of anger, betrayal and cynicism that set in. Not only does this impact organizations internally with respect to staff morale, it also leads these younger social media connectors calling B.S. and letting everyone they know that things are not so golden in these “Top” organizations. This inevitably leads to other workers passing on applying to work for you.

Once your organization loses its’ credibility and reputation good luck attracting and retaining the crucial demographics that will be necessary for succession planning because if there are two things young generations of people can’t stand it’s a phony and someone trying to pull the wool over their eyes.

Career and professional development - Since training budgets are often the first thing to be slashed under budget constraints, career and professional development opportunities often become inaccessible to employees and employers become more reluctant to approve work time to be spent in training. This means that beyond on-the-job learning, many employees will not receive opportunities to build and grow in their work, competency and develop their career potential. This is the death knell to a career in the 21st century.

This isn’t 1955 where most employees joined an employer and expected to work until retirement for that same employer. It’s been my observation that younger employees who are even quite satisfied in their current roles spend some time scrolling through the help wanted ads. The thought behind this is that there is always something better out there than where they are now.

Most of today’s employees are simply not built to stay in one job year after year. They will hold many, sometimes dozens, over the course of their lives. The other side of this, is that many workers have seen their parents, co-workers and peers pushed out the door in previous rounds of “downsizing,” layoffs, “outsourcing” overseas and cuts. One major implication of this is that there really is no such thing as company loyalty anymore. Everyone knows anyone can be grist for the mill and is dispensable when times get tough.

This is why it has never been more important for employers to identify and position their high potential employees well. Listen to them when they share their observations, thoughts and ideas. Provide ways for them to contribute to the organization. Provide them with opportunities to develop their skills, talents and abilities and careers. If you do none of these things, these top performers will leave and your organization will be worse off because of that.

When a series of employees leaves, ask why. Do exit surveys to find out why they are leaving. Their answers might bring a new understanding. High potential employees will not usually stay in organizations where they cannot develop their personal competencies, their careers and talents. They will also leave if the organization has an unhealthy and/or toxic work culture. They don’t have to stay, because other organizations will identify and recognize their potential and bring them on board and give them what they want. Smart, forward thinking employers know they will get an excellent return on the investment they make in top performers. Part of that investment is making them happy and treating them with respect.

Mediocre employees are a dime a dozen and fill many organizations. True high potential employees are rare and their talents and abilities should be nurtured because they are the future leaders of organizations that prioritize developing them. They will be the very future of the organization, because without vision, leadership and everything that high potential employees bring to the table, things will grind to a halt and the organization will become stale and lack innovation.

With the pending loss of current employees, the key organizational activity of identifying, developing and planning for the retention of high potential employees cannot be over-stated. Success in this area will be the difference between organizations that thrive and survive and those that accomplish neither of those goals.