The corporate world has been primarily male for generations. Today, companies are striving to hire more female executives in an attempt to even the playing field and have more diversity. Data shows that 71% of companies focus on gender diversity within their organization, according to LinkedIn’s 2018 Global Recruiting Trends report, but why then are companies still struggling to close the gender gap?
Companies are feeling the pressure now more than ever to recruit female executives in an attempt to remedy their internal gender unbalance. The issue is companies are setting a mandate for recruiters to only hire a female executive, with executive experience. While there are many outstanding women who can meet those qualifications, unfortunately, hiring one will only shuffle these women around, and does nothing to address the larger issue of gender imbalance. If we want to make real change, then we need to make more room. Now What? You may be surprised to know, female executives have advantages over their male counterparts in many areas. For example, women consistently outpace men in terms of higher-education degrees. Women over age 25 make up more than half of the college-educated labor force today. And in a recent piece from Crunchbase.com, it’s been found that more female-founded ‘unicorns’ were born in 2019 than before, according to the data. Slowly but surely, women are climbing to the top of the corporate ladder. A study from Deloitte Insights found that the number of women in some C-suite roles increased in recent years. The study determined that the proportion of women in the C-suite rose to 27.9% in 2019. That’s an increase of almost 10% from 2010. However, hiring female executives is often easier said than done. The workforce is increasingly competitive, and many companies fail to meet women’s specific needs, particularly around maternity benefits and culture. If you want to hire a female executive, don’t expect it to happen overnight. What many companies don’t realize is that a woman is going to have different concerns when assessing a potential C-suite position, and this is especially true for a woman who is already established at another company. Some women spend years making their voice heard and solidifying their seat at the table, and this is often taken into consideration when weighing the risk of changing companies. Today, we’re going to discuss some of the key challenges of putting women in the C-suite, such as how women assess jobs compared to men, and how your organization can appeal to more female executives. The Benefits of Women in the C-suite More women in management has been a step in the right direction, but it’s 2020, and we need to start talking about why it’s crucial to have women in the C-suite through changes in HR norms and development within the organization. It’s a practice that many companies are putting into place—and for good reason. Multiple studies have shown that women have a positive impact on corporate organizations. McKinsey’s 2020 Women in the Workplace report found that women have a profound impact on organizational and cultural change, particularly around diversity. More than 50% of female executives say they consistently stand up for racial and gender diversity in the workplace, compared to just 40% of senior-level men. Additionally, companies that hire female executives are more likely to boost revenue. The McKinsey study found that company profits and share performance can increase by as much as 50% when women fill top leadership roles. That means hiring and retaining female employees should be a key priority for businesses today. Understanding the hidden obstacles to hire women is the first step toward making your company more female-friendly. When we say “female-friendly”, some people believe this means that women aren’t as hard-working, but that’s not the case. Female executives often work just as hard or harder, but they require more flexibility due to additional responsibilities such as childcare. Why Many Companies Struggle to Successfully Hire Women For some, the benefits of women in the workplace still aren’t clear. But for those who realize how women can help a company thrive, most companies still struggle to hire women in executive roles. And once a woman is hired, it’s even more difficult to keep her on board. If your company doesn’t offer the benefits a woman is looking for, another company surely does. Oftentimes, companies have a hard time hiring female leaders because they don’t really know what to look for. While it’s excellent to find women with years of experience, there are some other opportunities when it comes to hiring female executives. In reality, women who serve in upper-level management positions or VP roles could be better poised to take on a C-suite role, even if they aren’t already there. Another obstacle is that companies want to hire women for the wrong reasons. Maybe their board of directors wants to see more gender diversity in the company but doesn’t understand the actual benefits. Hiring women for optics alone is not an effective strategy. The most important thing you can understand when hiring a female executive is that they want to be assured that they’ll have the opportunity to make an impact. Far too many companies hire female executives purely for optics. One of the biggest reasons why companies have a hard time hiring women is that their workplace doesn’t take into consideration that female executives are going to assess the position differently than men by asking questions like, “Are there currently women in leadership roles who are respected?” and, “What have female employees said about their experience working at the company?”. Remember that many women have kids at home. They’re hard-working, but they also need some flexibility. There are plenty of companies out there that offer perks specifically for women, and those are the businesses that usually have the most success with hiring. 3 Ways to Bring More Women into Your Company Hiring a female executive isn’t impossible, but it does take some careful consideration. Start by taking a look at your company culture and policies. Be ready to make some changes and revise your hiring strategy. Here are some effective ways to attract more female talent: 1. Be transparent with salaries Make sure you’re offering a competitive salary and compensation package. A report from Glassdoor found that 48% of women prefer employers that are upfront with pay and benefits, compared to just 40% of men. Unfortunately, some organizations think they can get away with low-balling a female hire. While many men are willing to negotiate compensation further into the interview process, women prefer to have a full view of compensation earlier on. 2. Make your workplace flexible Organizations hear that the workplace needs to be “female-friendly”, and it makes them believe that women aren’t hard-working or that they’re going to be bouncing a toddler on their lap at their desk. This isn’t the case. Women will work long, hard hours, and will often go above and beyond, but they want to know the organization has flexibility. This can include compensation for daycare, quality family and maternity leave policies, and an option to work from home when necessary. 3. Promote from within One of the easiest ways to put more women in C-suite positions is to promote from within, but this isn’t just about giving women the opportunity to move up. This is about changing the overall culture. When you have an organization that makes HR strategies and career development a norm for women to have a track to the C-suite, you’ll no longer be scrambling for diversity hires. Instead, you’ll be known as an inclusive organization that provides women with opportunities as part of your company culture. Hiring a female executive poses some unique challenges. However, the benefits far outweigh the struggle. Having women in leadership roles can impact everything from revenue to culture to inclusion. If you’re looking to hire more female executives, consider what women want in a company and make some improvements to attract more female talent. Comments are closed.
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