I don't know if it's got anything to do with the new year, but there's been a pile of "helpful advice" articles of late on what women should do to get what they (presumably) need in terms of their pay, position and profile. Build relationships and get a male mentor. Learn to sing your own praises. Be more of this, less of that.
The problem is, as much as we try to fix the women, very little is being done to fix the work places that are still operating in an old world paradigm that just isn't attractive to women (and many men too). I've written about this before.
So what if you've been following all the advice, sticking your neck out, putting in the effort... and nothing seems to work? Turns out, you're not alone.
Feministing reported this week that - according to a new Catalyst study - women do ask, but they don’t get. At least, not at the same rates as men do. So maybe it's not that you have to ask more, or for more, but that you need to find a workplace where you'll be valued for who you are and what you bring to the table.
Question is: do these workplaces exist?
Your thoughts?
Comments (4) | Trackbacks (0) | Permalink
Anonymous commented on 16-Jan-2012 10:20 AM
Anonymous commented on 18-Jan-2012 04:54 PM
Ginger commented on 19-Jan-2012 04:06 PM
The SheEO commented on 19-Jan-2012 06:03 PM
Anonymous commented on 16-Jan-2012 10:20 AM
I agree with you that initiatives to improve women's success in the workplace largely focus on the women, and changing their behaviour - ie, how to make them more like the men they compete with. Unfortunately, in large organisations, self promotion and
raising your profile is necessary at a minimum, or you are overlooked, and that is a perhaps a reflection of poor management, ie, managers who have little idea what their individual staff members actually do, or awareness of their achievements or what skills
they used to make such achievements. More needs to be done to make managers better managers, and better understand what their staff bring to the table. Perhaps this means you are more likely to be valued in smaller organisations? K
raising your profile is necessary at a minimum, or you are overlooked, and that is a perhaps a reflection of poor management, ie, managers who have little idea what their individual staff members actually do, or awareness of their achievements or what skills
they used to make such achievements. More needs to be done to make managers better managers, and better understand what their staff bring to the table. Perhaps this means you are more likely to be valued in smaller organisations? K
Anonymous commented on 18-Jan-2012 04:54 PM
Whilst the advice you cite is worthwhile in my view (i.e. better to be assertive, get a mentor etc than not to do it) I agree that of itself it is not going to fix the problem. On the one hand, it is a complex multi-faceted issue. On the other hand, there
is no need to overcomplicate the analysis: since it is ridiculous to suggest that the highly qualified women are less talented than their male peers, then the the conclusion to be drawn from the statistics is that there is systematic bias against women. Not
sure what else you can conclude. The bias might be unintended and these days, it probably is, but that is not the point. The bias exists and it is costing business and the economy. I see first hand the talent that corporate women possess and I see how often
that talent is not fully recognised by their bosses (far too often to be a coincidence). The unnecessary wastage of this talent is a shameful loss of shareholder value. Yes, dear shareholders, I can tell you first hand that those listed companies that have
low percentages of women in leadership roles are wasting your money! It is so hard to compete for new market share, to innovate, to squeeze out extra performance and yet we see CEO's and boards sweating over these kinds of initiatives. So much effort, time
and money! And yet, the low hanging fruit is right under our noses - the global economic power of women is staggering and according to Boston Consulting is a bigger growth story than China, India, Brasil and Russia combined. Go figure. And since I get to work
within various corporations, I am quite staggered, in the face of a big increase in media commentary on gender, at how little strategic priority is given to this issue - sure it's up there on the radar along with a multitude of other priorities but I do not
hear of CEO's beating the drum on a weekly basis to capitalise on the low hanging opportunity that women present - as consumers, as buyers, as producers, as internal resources. Not one single corporate woman client of mine mentions what their CEO is saying
to address this issue. If the CEO's are saying anything, it is not filtering down to the consciousness and every day work experience of their female talent. I think boards should be questioning their CEO's a lot harder on this issue otherwise (as a general
proposition) shareholders are being poorly served. As a female consumer, I frequently experience the lost opportunity - really simple ways, companies can engage me and earn my business - big name listed companies: really quite clueless. Get it wrong (which
happens frequently) I move on to the next competitor, tell my friends, tell my acquaintances, tell my female audiences. Get it right and I am very loyal and tell everyone. So in summary, I don't see this issue being fixed any time in the next decade other
than improvement at the edges unless companies have this issue within their top 3 priorities. And if the current CEO cannot grasp this, find one that does. The destruction of shareholder value by the lost opportunity of women should be headline news!! In the
meantime, all that talent has to go somewhere. For the futurists out there, the businesses that get this right will enjoy significant competitive advantage. Keep doing what you have always done and slowly, slowly, slowly you will die on the vine. Those women
whose talent you wasted will become your competitors, will become your competitors clients, will innovate and develop new technologies/ways of doing things, they will generate and claim the white space that the economic opportunity of women represents. You
might not be seeing it right now, but that doesn't mean to say the momentum isn't there and building. So many bright qualified women, so much brainpower.... The women will continue to try to be assertive, get mentors and ultimately keep voting with their feet
- as ex employees, as consumers, as business allies and the statistics will not move other than single digit around-the-margins-change unit this issue is taken much more seriously and much more urgently. CEO's - step one, you need to hold your managers accountable
and don't listen to their excuses. At the same time, be a role model and show your managers the way - daily.
is no need to overcomplicate the analysis: since it is ridiculous to suggest that the highly qualified women are less talented than their male peers, then the the conclusion to be drawn from the statistics is that there is systematic bias against women. Not
sure what else you can conclude. The bias might be unintended and these days, it probably is, but that is not the point. The bias exists and it is costing business and the economy. I see first hand the talent that corporate women possess and I see how often
that talent is not fully recognised by their bosses (far too often to be a coincidence). The unnecessary wastage of this talent is a shameful loss of shareholder value. Yes, dear shareholders, I can tell you first hand that those listed companies that have
low percentages of women in leadership roles are wasting your money! It is so hard to compete for new market share, to innovate, to squeeze out extra performance and yet we see CEO's and boards sweating over these kinds of initiatives. So much effort, time
and money! And yet, the low hanging fruit is right under our noses - the global economic power of women is staggering and according to Boston Consulting is a bigger growth story than China, India, Brasil and Russia combined. Go figure. And since I get to work
within various corporations, I am quite staggered, in the face of a big increase in media commentary on gender, at how little strategic priority is given to this issue - sure it's up there on the radar along with a multitude of other priorities but I do not
hear of CEO's beating the drum on a weekly basis to capitalise on the low hanging opportunity that women present - as consumers, as buyers, as producers, as internal resources. Not one single corporate woman client of mine mentions what their CEO is saying
to address this issue. If the CEO's are saying anything, it is not filtering down to the consciousness and every day work experience of their female talent. I think boards should be questioning their CEO's a lot harder on this issue otherwise (as a general
proposition) shareholders are being poorly served. As a female consumer, I frequently experience the lost opportunity - really simple ways, companies can engage me and earn my business - big name listed companies: really quite clueless. Get it wrong (which
happens frequently) I move on to the next competitor, tell my friends, tell my acquaintances, tell my female audiences. Get it right and I am very loyal and tell everyone. So in summary, I don't see this issue being fixed any time in the next decade other
than improvement at the edges unless companies have this issue within their top 3 priorities. And if the current CEO cannot grasp this, find one that does. The destruction of shareholder value by the lost opportunity of women should be headline news!! In the
meantime, all that talent has to go somewhere. For the futurists out there, the businesses that get this right will enjoy significant competitive advantage. Keep doing what you have always done and slowly, slowly, slowly you will die on the vine. Those women
whose talent you wasted will become your competitors, will become your competitors clients, will innovate and develop new technologies/ways of doing things, they will generate and claim the white space that the economic opportunity of women represents. You
might not be seeing it right now, but that doesn't mean to say the momentum isn't there and building. So many bright qualified women, so much brainpower.... The women will continue to try to be assertive, get mentors and ultimately keep voting with their feet
- as ex employees, as consumers, as business allies and the statistics will not move other than single digit around-the-margins-change unit this issue is taken much more seriously and much more urgently. CEO's - step one, you need to hold your managers accountable
and don't listen to their excuses. At the same time, be a role model and show your managers the way - daily.
Ginger commented on 19-Jan-2012 04:06 PM
Have you ever thought about adding a little bit more than just your articles? I mean, what you say is fundamental and all. However just imagine if you added some great graphics or video clips to give your posts more, "pop"! Your content is excellent but
with images and videos, this site could definitely be one of the greatest in its field. Wonderful blog!
with images and videos, this site could definitely be one of the greatest in its field. Wonderful blog!
The SheEO commented on 19-Jan-2012 06:03 PM
To the Anon posters- wow, great insights, thanks for sharing. I'm going to post your comments in a future blog. And Ginger - thanks for the advice - will absolutely look to spice things up in 2012 - great suggestion :-)
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