Nicole C. Sellers says women workers want more than the usual impersonal performance reviews.
Many organisations say they want to increase women in leadership roles and close the gender gap,
While many factors play into this, a good place for employers to start is to focus on engagement.
According to a Right Management Survey of more than 4,400 associates and managers in 15 countries, 82 per cent would be more engaged in their work if their bosses conducted meaningful career conversations with them.
Not performance reviews, but career coaching conversations that focus on how will I develop? How do I fit? What’s next?
Women could leverage these kinds of proactive career conversations to address their individual needs, articulate their value and advance their careers.
Employers could use these conversations to better understand their employees and align their strengths with what the organisation needs.
Taking time to assess one’s strengths and weaknesses, motivators, and career interests is the first step in any meaningful career exploration and discussion.
While it can be hard for anyone to articulate their value to an organisation, women report more discomfort with this than men.
Historically, many women have shied away from talking about their accomplishments and strengths because they fear they will be perceived as bragging.
Yet, to attain leadership roles, women need to answer these kinds of questions:
What do I add to my team? What specific strengths do I have, and what are examples of those in action?
How has the organisation benefited from my work in the past six months?
As an employer, these discussions can be a great place for you to draw out the answers to these questions and help your female employees become more comfortable articulating their value.
To be clear, career conversations need not be a parade of accomplishments.
However, there will be times when you, as a leader, will have to support and model ways that women can and should share how they have added value to the organisation.
Organisational alignment is that magical place and time when an employee is doing work that is consistent with her values, talents, and interest.
Also, that work is seen to be of clear benefit to the organisation.
Continuing career conversations are a great way to talk openly about alignment.
What does the employee need? What does the organisation need? What value do they offer each other?
As an employer, a key path to higher engagement from your female employees may lie in fleshing out their needs, particularly those around flexibility.
Since women traditionally bear the weight of family care giving — childcare and eldercare — the need for flexible work hours and work location top many women’s wish lists.
However, these are not issues many women are comfortable raising for fear of being dismissed as not serious about work.
If the conversations are in place, this could be a path to establishing clear expectations and allowing more flexibility.
When an employee understands what she needs to achieve, when and where the work happens may become less important.
Ongoing and intentional career conversations must also lead to action.
Your job as a leader is to partner with your high potentials to be jointly accountable for identifying the next steps in their careers.
You should plan to conclude every career conversation by soliciting a call to action from the women who work for you.
Hold them accountable for contributing their gifts to the organisation in a meaningful way: Plan the work, then work the plan.
*Nicole C. Sellers is a senior career management consultant.
This article first appeared at www.right.com.
