• Causes of turnover among women of colour• Roles for Senior leaders • Behaviours of Front-line managers

Advancing women in business organizationsMattis

Those who intended to stay described their companies as • Appreciative of cultural differences• Requiring few adjustments to fit in• Addressing subtle gender bias• Addressing subtle racism• Respectful of people of different cultural backgrounds• Having targeted hiring practices to increase diversity• Being a supportive environment for women of colour• Having managers with adequate diversity training• Promoting women of colour to senior leadership positions

Organizational Initiatives & Women of Colour’s Turnover Intentions

Catalyst 98; 98 studies

• Not having an influential mentor/sponsor• Lacking informal networks with influential

colleagues• Lacking company role models of the same

ethnic group• Lacking high visibility assignments

Key Barriers to Advancement for Women of Colour

• Those who intended to stay described their managers are described as• Providing opportunities for visibility• Explaining/interpreting organizational politics• Mapping out clear developmental goals for direct

reports

Managerial behaviours &Women of Colour’s Turnover Intentions

1. Develop & communicate business case2. Provide resources for benchmarking3. Build commitment, ownership, sponsorship

for action4. Establish accountability5. Provide strategic direction6. Sponsor women for leadership positions7. Initiate succession planning processes

Roles for Senior Leaders

• Explain how recruiting women fully uses external & internal talent pool

• Identify the cost of the turnover of high potential or performing women

• Explain why company should reflect marketplace (e.g., bec it contains significant number of women buyers)

• Identify costs of not complying w/regulations & of litigation

How Senior leaders can Develop & Communicate the Business Case

• Explain how company can increase its competitive edge via external benchmarking

• Explain and identify how company can improve its relations with stakeholders (e.g., shareholders, employees, communities, etc.)

• Develop company-specific business case • Identify personal advantages of diversity for

employees

How Senior leaders can Develop & Communicate the Business Case

• Identify current rates of recruitment, retention, advancement for men & women

• Develop long and short-term goals for improvement of recruitment, retention & advancement

• Measure progress toward goals

How Senior Leaders canConduct Internal Benchmarking

See also Cox ch 4

• Identify appropriate comparison companies • Collect, analyze & evaluate data from

comparison company• Determine fit between own and comparison

company before replicating a best practice• Tailor & implement selected initiatives, assign

accountability for monitoring results, evaluate & modify based on outcomes & needs– BMO example is VD or MD?

How Senior Leaders canConduct External Benchmarking

See also Cox ch 4

• Define roles & accountabilities for all senior leaders

• Link rewards to diversity performance• Link successful recruitment & training of

women to key business priorities• Make each company executive accountable for

one key component of diversity initiative

How Senior Leaders can build Commitment for action

• Clarify diversity-related roles for each employee

• Appoint HR person in charge of diversity with direct reporting relationship to CEO (see also Cox)

• Establish diversity goals for business units & individual managers

How Senior Leaders canEstablish Accountability

• Focus on diversity-related outcomes when conducting performance reviews (e.g., rates of turnover, promotion & hiring)

• Link diversity-related performance to incentives

• Educate managers on business case, monitoring of results, goals they are held accountable for

How Senior Leaders canEstablish Accountability

• Develop & communicate business case• Provide resources for benchmarking• Build commitment, ownership, sponsorship for

action• Establish accountability• Provide strategic direction• Sponsor women for leadership positions• Initiate succession planning processes

Roles for Senior Level Leaders

• Identify a systemic intervention that– Most immediate & visible change – Impact other systems affecting women’s

advancement & retention– Possible systems to change

• Career practices• Workplace practices & culture• Work-life practices (e.g., Baxter)• Market practices

• Identify financial and staff resources for change

How Senior Leaders canprovide Strategic Direction

• Sponsors are leaders who enable movement of others through the ranks of the organization through leaders’ power & influence

• Sponsors are needed for – Powerful positions in organizations– Membership/chairs of important committees

How Senior Leaders can SponsorWomen for Leadership Positions

• Move high potential candidates through different areas of the organization (via mentors/coaches) to– Allow learning about the business – Establish networks promoting their retention

• Provide support to enable risk-taking

How Senior Leaders can initiate Succession Planning Processes

• Enable people to self-identify an interest in moving up/across organization

• Have performance monitoring systems that identify those with leadership, initiative, skills for developmental assignments & promotions

How Senior Leaders can initiate Succession Planning Processes

• Causes of turnover among women• Roles for Senior leaders

– Develop & communicate business case– Provide resources for benchmarking– Build commitment, ownership, sponsorship for

action– Establish accountability– Provide strategic direction– Sponsor women for leadership positions– Initiate succession planning processes

• Behaviours of Front-line managers

Advancing women in business organizationsMattis

• Communicate verbally & non-verbally to reinforce diversity initiatives

• Managers influence access to • Feedback • Coaching • Insider information on organizational politics• Informal networks• Developmental opportunities • High visibility assignments on task forces/committees

• Behave in ways to reinforce diversity initiatives

Roles for Managers

• Request at least 2 women to be on every list of potential candidates for a vacancy/promotion

• Intervene in meetings where others’ behaviors interrupt/stifle women’s contributions

• Assign a proportional representation of women on projects/task forces/committees

• Include executive women in hiring/promotion interviews

Behaviors for Managers

• Organize two social events/ per year where women can participate comfortably

• Encourage additional training for 2/3rds of female direct reports who have “plateaued”

• Join a committee or professional org where manager is minority

Behaviors for Managers

• Become a diversity-thought leader• Annual attendance on diversity workshops/events• Find woman coach/mentor outside company to

discuss gender-related issues• Cover a diversity-related topic at every employee

meeting• Convene/participate in brainstorming sessions

w/direct reports/peers to identify concrete things a person can do to bring equality to women

Behaviors for Managers

• Initiate an annual gender-issues meting w/female direct reports separate from performance review to discuss barriers to advancement

• Have zero tolerance for overt discrimination, inappropriate behavior or inappropriate entertainment venues

• Send clear & frequent messages re: personal commitment to corporate diversity initiative

Behaviors for Managers

• When providing performance feedback to women direct reports, discuss career path in organization• Shift focus from current performance to next

position in organization, • Identify needed to be done to move to that position

• Promote women on the bases of potential for that next position• Instead of focusing on demonstrated performance

of responsibilities of that position

Behaviors for Managers

• Senior Leaders and Managers have unique and shared roles

• Managers have additional responsibility of displaying diversity-related behaviors to

To advance women in organizations