The Great Breakup: How To Retain Women
Women report considering leaving their job due to burnout (38%), insufficient pay (27%), and lack of career growth opportunities (13%).
We know it by a few names: The Great Resignation, The Big Reshuffle, Quiet Quitters, Quitfluencers, etc. Employee turnover has been a rising trend for the past 10 years, and COVID-19 undeniably catalyzed this trend. According to Microsoft’s Work Trend Index, approximately 40% of employees were considering quitting their job in 2021. This figure is alarming to organizations that understand the expense of employee turnover.
Also concerning: Just 63% of women report an intention to stay with their current employer (Mullen, 2021). Women report considering leaving their job due to burnout (38%), insufficient pay (27%), and lack of career growth opportunities (13%). For this reason, many researchers are now beginning to refer to the Great Resignation as “The Great Breakup” (Teachout, 2022).
For more information visit how to identify gender discrimination and how to call out gender discrimination when you see it.
In this article we will explore 3 methods to retaining women talent.
Ensure Fair Distribution of Workload and Equitable Coaching
In 2021, research found women to be “even more burned out now than they were a year ago, and [that] the gap in burnout between women and men has almost doubled” (Burns, Huang, Krivkovich, Rambachan, Trkulja, Yee, 2021). This is due to many factors, one of which is distribution of administrative tasks which women tend to be disproportionately assigned. In contrast, men tend to disproportionally be offered training opportunities and assigned responsibilities with more glory and focus on skill acquisition. This discrepancy can contribute to different perspectives of career growth opportunities between men and women in the same role and to more burned-out women. By ensuring equal distribution of administrative tasks and tracking who receives career development opportunities, leaders can uncover and eliminate such effects.
A study referenced by Ammerman, Colleen, and Groysberg (2021) found the language used in coaching to vary based on gender. For example, women tend to be given less useful feedback. However, the study found this bias to be overcome by simply making oneself aware of their bias:
“One group of supervisors was shown research on the lack of difference between men’s and women’s self- confidence, subtly encouraging them to question gendered assumptions, while a control group was not shown the research. The control group gave less actionable, relevant feedback to women employees, instead relying on vague praise and feel-good language, while the first group provided constructive comments to both men and women. It became clear that default behavior toward women provided them with less useful feedback, which was likely the true underlying cause of the advancement gap.”
2. Develop an Objective Eye for Recruiting and Rewarding
It’s important for leaders to educate themselves and others on how unconscious bias can influence performance appraisals. In addition to self-education, instituting objective appraisal processes can help reduce reliance on subjective assessment, ensuring more equitable reviews of employees. Examples of objective appraisal tools include formal rubrics or enforcing a process of reviewing evaluations across teams and departments in order to identify and address systemic biases.
The same can be done proactively with job applicants by clarifying negotiation parameters for compensation discussions and tying compensation to market averages as opposed to candidates’ previous salary which can perpetuate gender pay gaps. Salary, compensation, performance, and promotions should be reviewed periodically with a focus on analyzing potential gender differences.
3. Make consequences for sexual harassment known and meaningful
As the primary victims of sexual harassment, women are often met with consequences when speaking up about such experiences. For this reason, 68% of filed sexual harassment charges result in retaliation from the employer, which in turn prevents victims from speaking out. As such, 71% of incidents go unreported. Much research has pointed to feelings of perceived lack of safety and discomfort as primary reasons for women leaving organizations despite being effective at their jobs. To retain female talent, it is imperative to create safe spaces for women to work and to communicate that priority to women employees.
An unintended side effect of COVID-19 and the move toward more remote work is the increased sense of safety that women experience working from home. Remote work allows people of marginalized groups to avoid experiencing micro-aggressions and reduces opportunities for sexual harassment dramatically. To retain female talent, it is important to assess when face-time is truly needed and to allow employees the flexibility to work remotely when possible.
SOURCES
Ammerman, C., Colleen, & Groysberg, B., (2021). Glass Half-Broken : Shattering the Barriers That Still Hold Women Back at Work, Harvard Business Review Press.
Burns, T., Huang, J., Krivkovich, A., Rambachan, I., Trkulja, T., & Yee, L. (2021). Women In The Workplace 2021. McKinsey & Company. https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/women-in-the-workplace
Teachout, R (2022). “Great Resignation” by Women Will Continue, Deloitte Study Shows. Xpert HR. https://www.xperthr.com/news/great-resignation-by-women-will-continue-deloitte-study-shows/50705/
Mullen, C. (2021). Here’s Why 2022 Could Bring More Turnover Among Women Leaders. BizJournals. https://www.bizjournals.com/bizwomen/news/latest-news/2021/11/2022-could-bring-more-turnover.html?page=all