I recently read an article about how women need to be encouraged and supported to return to work and take on leadership roles after having taken a break. I spent time letting my mind wander around this issue.
It’s generally accepted that money alone doesn’t bring you happiness. You’ve also likely heard "business is a game," and every day, you step onto the field (or into the office) and try to beat your competition (or increase sales, profits, etc). When women choose to transition back into the workforce after taking a leave of absence, they should be supported by the entire organization so they can "be in the game" and positively influence the business and society at large.
I don’t presume to know what is best for any individual, nevertheless, I will argue passionately that women should have the opportunity to build a career if they want to so they can influence that specific industry in a positive way for other women as well as the bottom line.
As the founder of a coaching company that works with and supports a lot of businesswomen, I've developed a few tips for how business leaders — both male and female — can help support women who are choosing to rejoin the workforce:
Embrace a diverse group of applicants.
Diversity insists on including women — of all backgrounds. Women are diverse beyond gender, and without acknowledging that fact, you could miss out on their raw intellectual power and the varied perspectives they can bring to an organization.
Leadership has traditionally been in the hands of men, and women are still greatly outnumbered in leadership positions today. As a result, the design of their organizations, their business' cultures and career advancement decisions likely reflect their thinking and biases. To change this paradigm, women who choose to return to the workforce should know when they are applying that they will be supported to push, nurture, coax and cajole change, no matter their background.
If you are looking to add more women leaders to your team, here are a few tips that might help ensure you find as many candidates as possible:
1. Use gender-neutral language in the job description.
2. Unless you have a very specialized need, avoid posting job descriptions that are too specific unnecessarily, as I've found this could discourage some qualified candidates from applying.
3. Consider using pre-hire assessments or blind hiring techniques to avoid bias when interviewing.
Recognize skills that developed during their break.
In spite of all the progress we have made as a society, I believe some still have a difficult time valuing work done "for free," such as taking a break in one's career to care for their children. According to a recent study by PayScale, women are more likely to have taken a break from the workforce than men to care for aging family members or children.
Business leaders should acknowledge that time off can be a different way of developing skills, such as leadership, negotiating for resources or strategic planning for an organization. It’s incumbent upon leaders to look for, ask about and reward the work and skills how ever they were learned. Here's how to do so:
1. Ask candidates to explicitly describe roles they've held in the past and actions they took during their break, such as caring for children or holding a volunteer position.
2. Describe the role and skills needed in the position for which you are hiring in everyday life terms.
3. Let them know they will be assigned a buddy who will provide support and answer questions should they be hired.
Create a culture for change.
All business leaders must challenge and encourage women re-entering the workforce to take significant positions in big companies. To do this, leadership at the top of any company must create the right environment and culture for change.
It's important that organizations remember existing leaders might need guidance and support when transforming their company's culture in a positive way, so it’s on everyone to be patient with those willing to lead change. Each leader who wants to drive change and encourage more women re-entering work to build bigger careers needs to be prepared to lead his or her team through the process. Going through the change process in itself helps create a positive and empowering environment.
As a leader, make a point to develop a strong, diverse bench of future women leaders. While all leaders must nurture change, men in male-dominated organizations, specifically, must support the change efforts by recognizing women's meaningful voices. And in the companies that already have women in key leadership positions, encourage your colleagues to help you lead the change effort.
Creating a culture is a deliberate action. One way to create a supportive culture is to establish groups that provide support and networking opportunities targeted for women but is open to all employees. Run it like any quarterly business meeting, and rotate the leadership every year among top executives. Ensure it is worthwhile, well-run and well-attended by making it part of the executives' performance results.
Additionally, leaders — men and women both — who can relate to the struggles of re-entering the workforce should remember they are better positioned to challenge and encourage women coming up through the ranks.
