According to a recent article from the United Kingdom exploring this topic, the answer is “no.” Trying to “fix” women so they can perform better in male-dominated environments isn’t the right approach. Instead, their recommendation is to make businesses more attractive to women and to enact a much more sweeping cultural overhaul.
And according to the authors, the typical first response of companies to “help” women by launching women’s networks and sending them to leadership development programs is not enough. They believe integrating women into organizational leadership will require a significant shift across all areas, beginning with recruiting.
Additionally, the article provides some tips to help businesses successfully execute this cultural change:
- Men must play a central role in the changes needed
- CEOs must be convinced and committed to this as a strategy for their company
- Middle managers need training in the “differences between male and female career cycles, ways of communicating in the workplace, and consumer preferences”
- Companies need to root out unintended bias in their recruiting, reward and promotion procedures
States Niall FitzGerald, chairman of Reuters and former head of Unilever, “Women should stop feeling they have to be like men to succeed like men. Remain yourselves and encourage new patterns of male behavior. We can’t make the future happen unless women help the men to adjust.” I couldn’t agree more.
You can do it!
Lisa Quast
Career Woman, Inc. - "Your Future, Your Way"
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