What Women Want - Part 2
Last month, I addressed a survey that revealed a shocking truth:
Half of all working women plan to quit their jobs within two years.
While my last post mentioned some key strategies for how to keep that from happening in your organization, there’s still more to discuss. Because, while you might have thought that losing half of the women who work for you was bad, there’s sadder news. Diving deeper into the survey results, it turns out that dissatisfaction rates are worse(!) for women of color, for those in middle-management and in part-time roles, and for women ages 18-25. If you have employees who fall into those categories (and please tell me you do!), you have even more work ahead of you.
But don’t despair! There are ways to keep your workers happy and productive, and you’re probably already doing some of them. You don’t have to start from nothing.
Let me break down why I think these categories of women are most at-risk in the workplace (read: least happy and most likely to leave), and then I’ll share with you some ideas for what you can do about it.
Women of color – In fairness, this could be an entire textbook, so there’s no way I’m going to be able to tackle the enormity of this experience in one small paragraph. But I believe the essence of the dissatisfaction here can be boiled down to what I’ve talked about in my previous articles on a feeling of belonging. Many people who are of an ethnic minority (Deloitte’s wording) feel like… well, a minority. They may feel out of place or like they don’t truly belong, or even that everyone else does belong and the difference – the sense of wrongness – is them.
If you want to keep your women (people) of color, you need to look at what you are doing (or not doing) to make them feel that they belong. (If you don’t know, ask your women of color! Ask candidates who apply but who do not take the job with you. Ask your friends who are people of color. Let them know you are trying to create a better work environment and you know there are changes you need to make. Be open to what you hear, even if it is uncomfortable at first. Embrace that discomfort and use it to think about how you can make others more comfortable and more included.)
Middle-managers – This category took me by surprise at first, but, as I read more, the answer jumped out at me. These women have hit a glass ceiling (or feel they did). One of the things satisfied workers noted was having opportunities for career advancement. There was room in the company to move up. This is something your middle-managers may be lacking. Alternatively (or in addition), they may also feel a new sense of pressure from all sides – having demands from both team members and supervisors. We provide so little training about how to be a good manager that many managers feel they are flailing. Assess your training programs to see if you are providing the support your new managers need.
If you want to keep your middle-managers, consider how you can create a sense of upward movement, even if you don’t have positions available above where they are. What kinds of professional development are you offering? Can you cross-train your employees or allow them to do internships in other areas of interest (or even with other companies in your supply or delivery chain)? Do you have a mentorship program? How else can you support them in learning or networking with peers? What about expanding job roles/scope or allowing for changes in title, even if you can’t change where their position sits in the hierarchy? And, of course, ask your middle-managers what would be useful for them. What opportunities would they like you to support?
Part-time workers – My first blog post in May (5/11/22) was on variable work schedules and how they are the bane of many a part-time worker. We discussed how this variability is positive for employers but not necessarily for workers. In addition to desiring more certainty around hours and income, many part-time workers also seek the benefits of being a full-time worker, wanting things like health insurance, sick days and vacation days, and opportunities to further their education.
If you want to keep your part-time workers, think about their needs and how you can better meet them. Some employees may desire to become full-time workers, but some may enjoy the flexibility of their time or the limited hours that allow them to care for a child or other family member or friend. This group of people especially needs your individual care and attention—don’t treat all part-time workers the same. Find out what each person is looking for and determine whether you can better meet those needs or whether different employment (at some point in the future) might be the better choice for them. Then do what needs to be done to support your people in the ways that are best for them, even if it’s helping them prepare for a move outside of your organization.
Young employees – Respect. As a young woman in my first few jobs, I can tell you that is the thing I most wanted. Yes, a sense of belonging is important, as is room for professional growth. But what I most wanted was for my supervisors (especially) to acknowledge I was actually really good at my job. Young workers don’t deserve grunt work or long hours or shitty assignments just because they’re young and have less power/experience. They are still people who should be treated with dignity and respect. They shouldn’t be expected to “put in their time”. Quite frankly, they can just leave you and go somewhere else—and they probably will if you treat them poorly.
If you want to keep your younger employees, determine how can you better offer your respect for them and their talents. Research has shown people in their 20s are at their peak performance. They learn faster than any other age group, and they’re able to take their learning and apply it to tasks immediately. What they may lack is experience. You can make up for that by pairing them with a more-experienced team member or by helping them gain the skills you want. If you train your young workers and provide them in their growth, they are more likely to stay with you and to become experienced workers who are loyal to your company. How are you supporting your young workers in what they need? (How do you know that’s what they need? Did you ask them?) In what ways are you guiding their growth and professional development? What opportunities do they have for learning and developing their skills? How much access do they have to actually gain practical experience in the field? Do you have a mentorship program? And what about addressing their social needs (either planning after-work events or ensuring they have time to be with their peers/friends)? What else can you do to make your workplace better for this group?
What other ideas do you have (or have you already implemented) for retaining great employees?
Have you considered affinity groups, where like-minded employees can get together around something they have in common and talk about their experiences (and potentially offer informal support – or a sense of belonging – to one another)?
What have you tried that didn’t work? (Help others learn from your mistakes.)
What would (did) you do differently next time?
Who else among your workers needs (or could use) your intentional focus?
How else can you show your people that you support them, that you want what’s best for them, and that you care about their futures?
Survey article: https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2022/4/27/women-are-burned-out-and-want-to-quit-their-jobs-survey