Making The Most Of Your Organisation's Talent

There is an increasing shortage of talent in the workplace and the greatest pool of under-utilised talent is female. Smart companies know that a diverse culture will help them to grow and thrive and that it is not good business to be a team or an organisation that is 'male, pale and stale'.

There is enough research now to indicate that organisations with employees from a diverse range of backgrounds are better at attracting and retaining good staff; and are ultimately more profitable. Diversity makes good business sense.

So it is important for organisations to retain the female talent they already have, to be attractive to women in the market seeking employment and demonstrate that there is opportunity and flexibility to do challenging and meaningful work, and have a balance in life.

Balance means different things to different people so the key is around that combination of flexibility and opportunity. How often do we hear the phrase, 'Oh that really is a full time job', rather than, 'How can we work together to meet the needs of the business and your life?' The latter is about sharing the responsibility and being open and flexible to what could be possible.

There have been many studies on the factors that influence the success of women and why so many women leave large organisations or are simply not promoted as quickly as similarly qualified men. While family issues have some part to play, the evidence suggests that this is a small part of the picture. If the statistics were simply a reflection on the number of women leaving to have children, organisations would still have equal numbers of women and men in senior position, except that the women might just be five to ten years older, (but still paid the same). This is just simply not today's reality.

We need to stop believing that women leave large organisations solely to have babies - they leave large organisations for a host of reasons which include culture and value clashes; lack of flexibility available, (despite an abundance of policy); work/life balance; an inability to get heard; and, to set up their own businesses that allow them to implement their innovative ideas. Corporate Australia 's loss of talented, driven women has certainly been a gain for small business.

How can corporate Australia keep its talented women? A starting point is to simply be aware of style differences - in particular communication styles. Women tend to be more affiliative, building relationships with less focus on 'I did it'. Thus sometimes the credit goes to the wrong party.

These qualities should give women a great advantage in organisations given the most sought after leadership qualities are centered on emotional and social intelligence. However, an affilitative style may be misconstrued as 'weak' or 'indecisive'. We have all come across those fast-paced managers who speak in bullet points, make decisions in a micro-second and are immensely frustrated by an approach that is less than direct.

A classic example is the woman manager who talks about what 'we' did - referring to and including her team - versus her counterpart who tells people what 'I did'. Despite some people being put off by the self promotion, the latter example of someone who is clear about their role, focus and achievement is much more likely to be noticed and recognised come promotion time.

Women tend to be less focused on self-promotion, less articulate about their ambitions and less comfortable in actively seeking higher remuneration. This does not mean that they are satisfied with the state of play. As we see, they just leave - to another employer or to do their own thing.

Xplore for Success has worked with more than 2000 women (and men) over the last five years, building self-awareness, self-confidence and career resiliency building skills to succeed in the workplace. The feedback we receive from managers of our participants is that they become empowered, positive, focused, and more effective leaders.

There is no quick fix - it takes time, commitment and stamina to build confidence and trust and to change cultural norms. Organisations serious about attracting and keeping female talent need to demonstrate - beyond policy - that they are flexible, open to different business styles and approaches and seek a real contribution from all of their staff. "Don't pay your talented people to leave their brains at the door each day."

Many of the factors that continue to affect women's success are micro-inequalities. Small ongoing slights that seem nothing to the senior manager but smolder until the women is no longer prepared to work in the atmosphere that she considers toxic.

Perhaps she is not invited to drinks after work; perhaps the client functions are all targeted to men's interests or at places she may feel uncomfortable. Perhaps it is the way a woman is treated as more junior simply because she pours the coffee in a meeting or volunteers to take the minutes.

Consider the press about women in high profile positions. Is it their business expertise that gets reported or their dress or family situation? So often women's profile is based on 'women's issues'. Let's move from a focus on motherhood to parenthood. Let's ensure those older women are not perceived unable to take on new challenges whilst older men are valued as 'statesmen'.

It is important for each of us to build our self-awareness through profiling, feedback and reflection so that we are aware of how our behaviours affect those around us. We must value diversity and build our emotional intelligence to make those around us feel valued in the workplace. So ask yourself, is your team 'male, pale and stale" and if so, what are you doing to change it?

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