In addition, people welcome having women as their leaders. Defined as companies with the highest ratio of manager-level to entry-level womens representation. . Finally, companies need to impress upon managers that the work they do to support employee well-being is critical to the health and success of the business. When women are respected and their contributions are valued, they are more likely to be happy in their jobs and to feel connected to their coworkers. By Jess Huang, Alexis Krivkovich, Irina Starikova, Lareina Yee, and Delia Zanoschi. For years, fewer women have risen through the ranks because of the broken rung at the first step up to management. EUGENE, Ore. - The North Dakota State women's basketball team fell short against Oregon, 96-57, in front of 2,703 fans in the first round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) at Matthew Knight Arena on Friday night. The data set this year reflects contributions from 423 participating organizations employing 12 million people and more than 65,000 people surveyed on their workplace experiences; in-depth interviews were also conducted with women of diverse identities, including women of color, LGBTQ+ women, and women with disabilities. Managers can relieve employees stressand refocus on key prioritiesby reassessing performance criteria set before the pandemic to make sure those criteria are still attainable. Just as the status quo is holding women back from leadership positions, it is holding men back from embracing care-taking and support roles. Its the only time of my career that I seriously considered a less demanding job. This is an emergency for corporate America. We often talk about the glass ceiling that prevents women from reaching senior leadership positions. These efforts were in the field from June to August of 2020, although the pipeline data represents employer-provided information from calendar year 2019. This is still higher than under any previous president. And companies say that the crisis has created a feeling of solidarity and fostered empathy and understanding among employees. The events of 2020 put extraordinary pressure on companies and employees. Research shows that this kind of openness and understanding reduces anxiety and builds trust among employees.13Linjuan Rita Men et al., Vision, passion, and care: The impact of charismatic executive leadership communication on employee trust and support for organizational change, Public Relations Review 46, No. To accelerate progress for all women, on all fronts, companies need to double their efforts when it comes to accountability. Thirty-five percent of women in corporate America experience sexual harassment at some point in their careers, from hearing sexist jokes to being touched in a sexual way.23It is important to note that the prevalence of sexual harassment reported in this research may be lower than what some working women experience. Without exception, candidates for the same role should be evaluated using the same criteria. More than 75 percent of CEOs include gender equality in their top ten business priorities, but gender outcomes across the largest companies are not changing. Companies still have work to do to create a culture that fully embraces and leverages diversity. Finally, companies should clearly communicate what is expected of employees and what it means to have an inclusive culture. As companies embrace flexibility, they also need to set clear boundaries. Gathering input from Black women on what is and isnt working for them is critical to this processas is giving Black women a voice in shaping new company norms. A heightened focus on racism and racial violence triggered a reckoning on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Black women are being disproportionately affected by the difficult events of 2020. 2. Women and men see the state of womenand the success of gender-diversity effortsdifferently. Not surprisingly, Black women and women with disabilities are far less likely to feel they have an equal opportunity to grow and advance and are far less likely to think the best opportunities go to the most deserving employees. Women leaders also spend more time than men on DEI work that falls outside their formal job responsibilities, such as supporting employee resource groups and recruiting employees from underrepresented groups. They are more likely than men to educate themselves about the challenges that women of color face at work, to speak out against discrimination, and to mentor or sponsor women of color. The culture of work is equally important. Alexis KrivkovichandIrina Starikova are partners in McKinseys Silicon Valley office;Kelsey Robinson is a partner in the San Francisco office, where Rachel Valentino is a consultant, andLareina Yee is a senior partner. Since 2016, we have seen the same trend: women are promoted to manager at far lower rates than men, and this makes it nearly impossible for companies to lay a foundation for sustained progress at more senior levels. Average hours per day parents spent caring for and helping household children as their main activity, American Time Use Survey, US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2019, bls.gov; Arlie Hochschild, Sundiatu Dixon-Fyle, Kevin Dolan, Vivian Hunt, and Sara Prince, . Under Biden, three of the top Cabinet posts the vice president, secretary of treasury and director of national intelligence would each be held by women for the first time. Not surprisingly, senior-level women are significantly more likely than men at the same level to feel burned out, under pressure to work more, and as though they have to be always on. And they are 1.5 times more likely than senior-level men to think about downshifting their role or leaving the workforce because of COVID-19. In many companies, however, they experience microaggressions that undermine their authority and signal that it will be harder for them to advance. When employees say their company is highly committed to gender diversity, they are happier and plan to stay at their company longer. Notably, nearly one in four employees at the entry level is a woman of color, though this falls to one in 20 at the C-suite levelon par with both the financial-services and cross-industry average. For more information, visit womenintheworkplace.com. Companies would also be well-served to track hiring and promotions to determine whether women, and especially women of color, are being hired and promoted at similar rates to other employees. Plus, Black women are far less likely than White colleagues to say they have strong allies at work. Faced with these challenges, its time to rewrite our gender playbooks so that they do more to change the fabric of everyday work life by encouraging relentless execution, fresh ideas, and courageous personal actions. Diversity leads to stronger business results, as numerous studies have shown. They also feel more reluctant to share their thoughts on racial inequity. Disabilities may or may not be readily apparent in day-to-day interactions and can include a wide range of conditionssuch as physical disabilities, mental illness, neurodivergence, developmental disorders, and chronic health conditionsthat interfere with daily life. Given how unprecedented this crisis is, they should also consider whether their benefits go far enough to support employees. In reality, the biggest obstacle that women face is much earlier in the pipeline, at the first step up to manager. For example, a rating scale is generally more effective than an open-ended assessment. For more than 30 years, theyve been earning more bachelors degrees than men. Allyship from more privileged colleagues can make a big difference in the experiences of women of color: when women of color feel like they have strong allies at work, they are happier in their jobs, less likely to be burned out, and less likely to consider leaving their companies. The chart shows management occupations in which more than half of workers were women. If his slate of nominees is approved by the Senate, Bidens presidential Cabinet will have the highest share of women in history. And theyre more likely to mentor and sponsor other women: 38 percent of senior-level women currently mentor or sponsor one or more women of color, compared with only 23 percent of senior-level men. Many companies have extended policies and programs to support employees during COVID-19, from offering more paid time off to providing resources for homeschooling. For example, if companies evaluate access to formal mentorship, sponsorship, and management training this way, Black women are more likely to get equal access to these critical opportunities. Right now, theres a significant gap between what companies offer and what employees are aware of. The more that companies take into account the unique perspectives and experiences of different groups of employees, the more effectively they can create an inclusive culture. Women who are Onlysmeaning, they are often one of the only people of their race or gender in the room at workhave especially difficult day-to-day experiences. When managers support employee well-being and companies prioritize DEI, employees are happier, less burned out, and less likely to consider leaving their jobs. Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World, Center for American Women and Politics, Rutgers University. 6 (December 1, 2017): 72550, stanford.edu. The number of women decreases at every subsequent level. Black women also deal with more day-to-day bias in their workplaces. Fewer than one in three Black women report their manager has checked in on them in light of recent racial violence or fostered an inclusive culture on their team. But in some management occupations, the percentage of women was even higher than that. And they already anticipate these benefits: 70 percent think remote work will allow them to increase diversity in their hiring. To change the numbers, companies need to focus where the real problem is. By 2013, 37% of women ages 25 to 29 had at least a bachelor's degree, compared with 30% of men in the same age range. Women are far less confident that reporting sexual harassment will lead to a fair investigation. More than three-quarters of senior HR leaders say that allowing employees to work flexible hours is one of the most effective things theyve done to improve employee well-being, and there are clear signs its working. Bias training can also help. To date, 44 women have served as governors in 30 states. As a result, the higher you look in companies, the fewer women you see. Senior-level women are twice as likely as senior-level men to dedicate time to these tasks at least weekly. Done right, efforts to hire and promote more diverse candidates and create a strong culture reinforce each other. Although no study can fully capture the experiences of women with traditionally marginalized identities, this years findings point to these distinct experiences: As I was progressing through my career, people kept telling me I needed to have executive presence. And what they really meant was I needed to look the part. On top of all this, many Black women do not feel supported by managers and coworkers (Exhibit 7). Men are more likely to think the workplace is equitable; women see a workplace that is less fair and offers less support (Exhibit 3). This early inequality has a profound impact on the talent pipeline. And companies need to be sure that they are incorporating the new ideas and tools from training into everyday processes, too. 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