{"id":5352,"date":"2018-11-07T12:31:45","date_gmt":"2018-11-07T19:31:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mcgheepro.com\/?p=5352"},"modified":"2018-11-07T12:31:45","modified_gmt":"2018-11-07T19:31:45","slug":"is-your-organization-empowering-women-to-lean-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mcgheepro.com\/2018\/11\/07\/is-your-organization-empowering-women-to-lean-in\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Your Organization Empowering Women to \u201cLean In\u201d?"},"content":{"rendered":"
Women are equally represented in corporate America and are more\u00a0<\/em>educated than their male counterparts, but very few women fill leadership\u00a0positions in S&P500<\/a><\/p>\n Here\u2019s some quick stats:<\/p>\n According to Sheryl Sandberg<\/a>, COO of Facebook and author of the book:\u00a0\u00a0Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead,<\/a>one of the biggest limitations keeping women out of\u00a0upper management is home <\/a>life<\/a>.\u00a0 According to data from Pew Research, women spend approximately twice as much time on childcare<\/a> as men do. When asked if they thought parenting interfered with career advancement.\u00a041% <\/a>of women agreed, while only 20% of men<\/a> did. Although it is very common for both\u00a0parents to work in a household, the majority of the work at home is still done\u00a0by women. Many women are, essentially working two full-time jobs, which makes\u00a0the rigors of a leadership position much more difficult.<\/p>\n While men, even\u00a0fathers, may be accepting of the long work hours and frequent travel that is\u00a0often a condition for advancement, many women are unable to make the same time\u00a0and emotional commitment to their career even though they are more than\u00a0qualified and interested in holding these upper-management roles.<\/p>\n In her Ted Talk, Sheryl Sandberg discusses the phenomenon of women leaning\u00a0<\/a>out<\/a>. Many women in the workplace begin to think about the consequences of\u00a0starting a family even before they get pregnant. If their current position is stressful and hectic now, what will it be like as a mother of a newborn? A toddler? Many women thinking of starting families start to \u201clean out\u201d, turning down promotions or big projects to prepare for when they will become mothers. Sandberg referenced one young women who was starting to lean out in preparation for the future who didn\u2019t even have a boyfriend at the time.<\/p>\n Disney won the Linkage Executive Advocate for Women in Leadership Award<\/a> and continues to show\u00a0their commitment to fostering women leaders with diversity initiatives and women\u2019s\u00a0employee resource groups. Just recently, Cathleen Taff, was promoted to Head of Distribution<\/a>,\u00a0which is the first woman to hold this role at Disney and joined a very short\u00a0list of female leaders in this field.<\/p>\n Companies like PepsiCo and Disney are working towards a future with more women in leadership, but there is still much to be done by\u00a0companies across the country. One of the most important things any company,\u00a0division or team can do to support women leadership is to create a culture that supports work-life balance.<\/p>\n Work-life balance offers a number of benefits including; more productive employees, lower turnover rates and higher employee engagement<\/a>. It is also an important element in encouraging women to embrace\u00a0leadership roles and career advancement. With many women being responsible for\u00a0the majority of childcare and housework, a company culture that promotes early\u00a0mornings, unrealistic deadlines, late hours, response to emails 24\/7 and discouraging time off is not conducive to supporting women in the workforce. By encouraging\u00a0employees to work only during normal work hours, to unplug when they\u2019re at home\u00a0and to use their vacation days, women will be more likely to \u201clean in\u201d and welcome\u00a0the challenge of leadership roles with their male counterparts.<\/p>\n Many Fortune 500 companies<\/a>, have created Employee Resource Groups (ERGs)<\/a> to help give women resources, community and a voice.\u00a0By encouraging these groups and making them more visible both internally and\u00a0externally, companies can support women seeking leadership through parental\u00a0leave and work-life balance policies, mentorship programs and leadership\u00a0training. A survey<\/a> of women participating in ERG\u2019s in October 2017 identified the following statistics:<\/p>\n Numerous companies are implementing McGhee Productivity Solutions\u2019<\/a> Take Back Your Life!<\/a>\u00a0program which offers training in time management and prioritization that\u00a0supports work-life balance. It specifically uses Microsoft Outlook tools to create a productivity system to help quell the stress, overwhelm and chaos that cause many women to lean out. Women who have gone through this program report feeling more balanced and in control of their work day.<\/p>\n There are many positive examples of companies of all sizes working towards increasing women in leadership roles, but there is still much work to be done to change the fact that 95% of CEO titles are held by men. Companies need to be willing to invest in their female employees and make the\u00a0needed cultural changes required to support women in leadership.<\/p>\n Are you looking to empower your female employees? <\/em>Contact us<\/em><\/a> today to learn about our <\/em>Take Back Your Life!<\/em><\/a> program that increases work-life balance, productivity and sense of control!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Women are equally represented in corporate America and are more\u00a0educated […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":151,"featured_media":5353,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[34,172,25,160,158],"yoast_head":"\n\n
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