© netwomen.co | Women In Networking
If you had more women executives on your team, by what percent would your profits increase?
According to global management consultancy McKinsey in 2020 ‘Companies with over 30% female executives outperform others by 25%’
So if your profitability is 1M right now, you could increase that to 1.25M.
Women in leadership positions can improve productivity, innovation, team dynamics, and decision-making processes. They are typically good at stakeholder understanding and engagement, building organisational sustainability and people management.
Yet there seems to be a huge disconnect between the good intentions of leaders and the progress on closing the gender gap. The loss of experienced female leaders is damaging to organisations and the global economy.
After 10 years of executive leadership coaching and developing emerging leaders to exceptional leaders, listening to the challenges and pain points of 100s of women from all over the world. I have tailored my approach to help leaders grow and build organisation succession pipelines. Succession planning can help retain talented individuals as they are aware of internal opportunities to progress their careers. It’s therefore central to the internal elements of talent management programmes.
In the age of the great resignation and covid where talent has left the building- quite literally- I wanted to find out what keeps leaders up at night.
77% said attracting and retaining their female employees.
90% said diversity, equity and inclusion are a priority in their agenda – gender diversity being the core of this and building a sustainable future.
When surveyed these are the top 3 things that keep coming up during my conversations with employees.
The 3 key reasons that retention is dropping- the pressure of always being “on” and giving 110% to make it to the executive level is a challenge that all women grapple with.
With 90% of companies recruiting nationally in 2022, the war for talent is the top issue companies face right now.
Lack of communication & collaboration for 90% of women working remotely is proving to be a struggle, As is communicating with teams and connecting with colleagues.
Sounds like Lucy a new recruit for an organisation and member of netwomen, working from home in a different country, alone. She was struggling with not feeling like she was good enough to be in her new role. Prior to this, she was used to working in a team, since covid she had changed jobs and she noticed the lack of interaction and communication with clients and colleagues, that feeling siloed was affecting her mental health. During the first session of being coached with me, she revealed loneliness and anxiety about job security, lack of understanding of her job in a remote environment with no support or role models and struggling to retain contracts. This is especially acute for new recruits and new roles. It’s a tough market right now.
This is a loop that most employees face. Because of the lack of communication, this leads to the fact that 90% of women wished there were more role models peer to peer support and personal development opportunities in their organisation. Lack of Community kept coming up and being able to speak to role models and ambitious women.
Women are tired of being the only one or the other and feeling like they don’t belong. It is exhausting and is a barrier to growth for only them but also for the organisation.
The lack of diversity in leadership positions put Clare, another member, off from applying for roles. She said “leadership is dominated by men, I feel less likely to believe climbing the corporate ladder is worthwhile. Esp when I feel like I am a token or a tick box.”
When companies lack the representation of females, leadership programmes and women’s communities have been and continue to be a huge confidence boost to help elevate females giving them the support to become exceptional leaders. Leadership coaching, mastermind groups and global D&I meetings have proved to be successful for many organisations.
Peer to peer support and connection groups offer a diverse and inclusive space to develop and grow female leaders. Which includes role models where new recruits thrive, learn, grow and are lifted up. Sharing challenges and celebrating wins, improving communication, engagement and relationships to truly make a difference to them and the organisation.
Toxic culture was the biggest predictor of the great resignation. When one of our members Jess invested in herself and experienced coaches after struggling with feeling like she didn’t belong and was limited by her own inner voice. She benefited not only for herself but for all the of her colleagues around her, she said “the best investment I have ever made is in myself from the moment I have been coached, it’s taken me from feeling underconfident and like a fraud to confident and I believe in myself. It has meant that I can apply for promotions without feeling like an imposter. I can lead my team with more confidence and I have since been promoted to senior management.”
You see, you miss 100% of the opportunities you don’t take.
Joining a global network of ambitious women and meeting people outside of an organisation that better connects and supports professionals is invaluable.
Women thrive in networks that support and champion them where they feel valued, heard and belong, with peers and coaches helping to empower them.
Now you are probably thinking to yourself well that’s a lot of work. Well, this is where we come in.
Here are the key benefits amongst many that we have been able to offer at netwomen
1.Greater innovation and higher retention by elevation, through coaching and community creating an inclusive diverse culture
2. Better decision making through diversity of thought and engagement – employees feel they are valued, heard and accepted for who they are.
3. Improve company reputation and therefore make it easier to attract top talent.
4. Higher productivity and performance which increases your profitability by upto 36%
It’s obvious from the great resignation that companies are struggling to bridge the gender gap.
There are women in your organisation who don’t need to struggle with imposter syndrome like I did or like you did. The easiest and fastest way to see inclusion and retention is with a community and coaching.
Netwomen.co elevates females by inspiring, supporting, including, and developing women to help organisations attract and retain talented female leaders and bridge the gender gap. Now you can act and commit to your social responsibility and sustainability.
Your women have incredible potential. With the right support, they could increase your profitability, create innovation and even become future leaders, so let’s work together to end imposter syndrome and help your women reach their full potential.
By Pinky founder and CEO netwomen and Mindset by Pinky
© netwomen.co | Women In Networking
