The Female Leadership Gap
How will your company respond? BY JULIE MOORE RAPACKI
MUCH HAS BEEN WRITTEN about the business case for, and
advantages of, a diverse leadership bench and the societal strides made
in increasing women’s participation in the paid workforce. Yet, women
continue to make less than 79 cents to a man’s dollar, women in the
executive and board ranks are still a minority and their retention rates
are half that of men. Allowing this trend to continue makes bad sense
for your business, the economy and our society as a whole.
According to studies conducted by Carnegie Mellon professor
Linda Babcock, given the opportunity, men ask for more money at ratio
of nine to one, and men ask for what they want and initiate negotiations
two to three times for more often than women. These studies have direct
implications for gender equality and for the success of your business.
There are at least 10 strategies your company and you as leader
can employ to increase pay equity, diverse leadership, and retention
rates for women:
1 If men are asking for more money more often than women, you
can openly communicate that such requests are considered on a
case by case basis. At a minimum, you can disclose to all employees
that it is her responsibility to identify what she wants and request it,
and that vocalizing it more than once may be required. Encourage female employees to vocalize individual desires and make it clear that
her requests need not represent the needs of all women as a group but
must be tied to a benefit to the company.
2 If you’re a female leader, learn to ignore the majority of requests
that men make. If male employees ask that much, isn’t it possible that
they don’t expect a response all the time? It is possible that they are
asking for things out of cultural reflex. Similarly, women may apologize
on a more frequent basis, not because they are admitting fault but out
of courtesy and cultural reflex. Learn to treat men’s requests the same
way. Just give a courteous “sorry.”
3 Learn to respond to both the man and the woman. If a man asks
for something, it’s possible he is asking for something that others, men
and women, also want but haven’t vocalized. Or, worse yet, that they
asked for but were ignored. Assume that is the case. When a man asks
for something, assume the woman would have asked too and respond
appropriately.
4 Listen harder. Women are asking just as often but using indirect language that is misinterpreted or ignored. When a woman makes an indirect statement, implies that she wants something or thinks it is valuable,
listen and respond. Failure to do so may result in her turning to another
employer who does openly acknowledge and recognize her value.
5 Teach and expect the men in your organization to ask not what you can do for
them, but rather what they can do for the
team. Monitor the balance and require as
much contribution from each party as they
are receiving.
6 Understand that some men simply can’t
see what they can’t do themselves. For example, a male boss may not understand the
level of work involved in a project and the efficiency of multi-tasking because he isn’t capable of performing the same task. If he can’t
do it, he reasons, it simply can’t be done. To
compensate against this bias, include a member of each gender when evaluating performance. Compensate for behaviors or styles that a man doesn’t recognize or ignores by including a
woman who displays the valued behaviors or styles and can recognize
them in others.
« JULIE MOORE
RAPACKI is the
founder of Twin
Citie’s-based strategic
career consulting firm
for women Polish
Your Star. (polish
yourstar.com)
7 Teach and expect your male employees to keep it to themselves.
In the same way we teach our children that it isn’t polite to belch
or pass gas in public, teach them it isn’t acceptable to ask for everything that comes to their mind and waste other people’s time and
energy at work.
8 When a woman asks for something, treat it at least twice as seriously. Give it more weight. It’s likely she is expressing the needs of the
broader group.
9 Identify and acknowledge your own biases relating to gender.
Ask a trusted advisor to help you recognize instances in which
your biases get in the way of recognizing or understanding different
ideas/solutions.
10 Don’t question or expect your high performing female employees to justify or explain why a workplace changes or different solution
would make her more productive. Assume, first, that she has the same
good judgment and concern for the company success, but different
needs than her male colleagues.
If your organization is serious about maximizing its profits and
making a positive impact on the community it serves, adapting some
simple strategies can make all the difference. Do it for your company,
do it for yourself, do it for your community.
