Let's Celebrate Women's History Month
Since 1995, presidents have issued a series of annual proclamations designating the month of March as “Women's History Month.” These proclamations celebrate the
contributions women have made to the United States and recognize the specific achievements women have made over the course of American history.
How to Support Women in the Workplace
Closing the gender leadership gap is an imperative for organizations that want to perform at the highest levels. Leveraging the full talents of the population provides a competitive advantage; companies with more women in leadership roles perform better, and employees on diverse and inclusive teams put in more effort, stay longer, and demonstrate more commitment. To change the numbers, gender bias and stereotypes have to be understood and counteracted.
Challenge the "Likeability Penalty." Success and likeability are positively correlated for men and negatively correlated for women. When a man is successful, his peers often like him more; when a woman is successful, both men and women often like her less. This trade-off between success and likeability creates a double-bind for women. If a woman is competent she does not seem nice enough, but if a woman seems really nice, she is considered less competent. This can have a big impact on a woman's career.
Evaluate Performance Fairly. This bias is even more pronounced when review criteria are unclear, making individuals more likely to rely on gut feelings and personal inferences. Over time, even small deviations in performance evaluation have a significant impact on women’s careers. This difference in the perceived performance of men and women also helps explain why women are hired and promoted based on what they have already accomplished, while men are hired and promoted based on their potential.
Give Women Credit. Men typically attribute success to innate qualities and skills, while women often attribute success to external factors such as “working hard,” “getting lucky,” or “help from others.” Women and men also differ when it comes to explaining their failures. Moreover, women are often undervalued by others. Because women receive less credit—and give themselves less credit—their confidence often erodes. As a result, they are less likely to put themselves forward for promotions and stretch assignments.
Share Office Housework. Women take on more “office housework”—service and support work such as taking notes, organizing events, and training new hires. These tasks steal valuable time away from core responsibilities and can keep a team member from participating fully; the person taking diligent notes in the meeting almost never makes the killer point. In keeping with deeply held gender stereotypes, people expect help from women but not from men, so when women do favors at work, they earn no points for doing so—but when they say no, they are penalized. Men, on the other hand, gain points for saying yes and face minimal consequences for saying no.
Make Work Work for Parents. Motherhood triggers assumptions that a woman is less
competent and less committed to her career. Many studies show that the pushback—or “maternal wall”—women experience when they have kids is the strongest gender bias. As a result, she is held to higher standards and presented with fewer opportunities. Women also often “leave before they leave,” compromising their careers in anticipation of family responsibilities they do not yet have. They turn down projects, don’t apply for promotions, or choose more flexible paths to accommodate families they plan to have someday, closing doors to opportunities and limiting their options even before they become parents.
Make Negotiating a Norm. Women negotiate as often as men — but they face pushback when they do. We expect men to be assertive and advocate on their own behalf, so there’s little downside when they negotiate. In contrast, we expect women to be communal and collaborative, so when they negotiate or advocate for themselves, we often react unfavorably.
Support Mentorship & Sponsorship. Mentorship and sponsorship are key drivers of success, yet women can have a harder time finding mentors and sponsors, especially ones with influence. Mentoring relationships often form between individuals with common interests, and junior women and senior men often avoid mentoring relationships out of concern that time spent together will look inappropriate. In fact, according to a recent report, almost two-thirds of male senior leaders are hesitant to have one-on-one meetings with a more junior woman. As a result, men end up mentoring other men, and women miss out.
Article adapted from LeanIn.org.
NEW Training Programs
Diversity Training Series
Unlike traditional diversity programs, InvigorateHR's diversity, equity, and inclusion program recognizes that diversity alone is not enough; equal attention must be given to creating and cultivating an inclusive environment. Our program offers realistic, practical guidelines for creating an inclusive, respectful workplace and addresses some of diversity and inclusion’s biggest challenges, like unconscious bias and micro-inequities.
Emotional Intelligence Training Series
Our training series strengthens critical skills for personal and professional success. Approximately 90% of all high performers in the workplace have high Emotional Intelligence (also known as EI or EQ). This transformational experience for participants will provide participants with greater self-awareness and others awareness. In addition, this series offers a deep understanding of the core skills of healthy emotional intelligence which will influence interpersonal communication, how to deal with difficult situations, building trust and team cohesiveness, and empathy, and the ability to connect with others.
Management Development Training Series
Our management development training program focuses on developing essential people management skills. This training series will better prepare managers to hire and engage the best people to help them achieve their potential. Our program will assist managers to explore their individual management styles, learn behavior-based interviewing techniques, discuss creating a results-driven environment, and how to engage your team.
Women and Leadership Development Series
This program is unique in that it was developed by women for women and is crafted based on research and theories relevant to successful women leaders. It provides a unique platform for continuous engagement and interaction as participants. Participants who complete this series can expect to gain confidence in their communication abilities, increase executive presence, elevate passion for work and life through inspiring conversations, powerful insights, and encouragement, and embody leadership skills that can create higher levels of confidence and lasting change.
Let InvigorateHR be your partner for continuous learning. Our programs are created to ensure your employees' learning and development opportunities continue. All of our programs are available in virtual and other formats. For more information please contact Jeremy York at jeremy@invigoratehr.com.
Looking for a new book to read?
This month we will highlight, Think Again: The Power of Knowing
What You Don't Know
Find out more about the book here.