Top HR Leaders Urge Radical Change to Capitalize on Women in The Workplace
Panel of HR executives share recruitment, retention advice at Girls With Impact forum
New York, NY – Addressing the $12 trillion economic opportunity of women reported by McKinsey*, top HR leaders called for dismantling old systems and structures and taking action – from destigmatizing traditionally male-dominated roles and industries to building a lateral-first job progression culture.
Executives at top organizations – The New York Times, Bridgewater Associates, Bank of America (BofA), and Kenvue (formerly, J&J Consumer) – shared their counsel at Girls With Impact’s 3rd Annual Women’s Leadership Forum presented by S&P Global at the Westin Grand Central in New York City, focused on Recruiting, Retaining, and Raising Gen Z Women. (Video highlights here).
“Gen Z women are eager to make an impact and realize their potential,” said Jennifer Openshaw, CEO of Girls With Impact, the nation’s only online business and leadership program for young women 14-24, which hosted the forum. “Investing in pre-career training, encouraging them to raise their hands, and supporting lateral opportunities to advance their careers can be advantageous to retaining and supporting this valuable talent.”
Pointing to lateral moves as critical for a prospective leader to gain a broad business understanding, Bridgewater Associates’ CHRO Sarah Fass used a sports analogy, comparing this notion to building a star player on a baseball team. “You want someone who can hit, throw, and play great defense. Similarly in the workplace, lateral moves build broad capabilities and drive great personal and professional growth.”
Photo from Left to Right: Girls With Impact CEO Jennifer Openshaw, New York Times’ Jacqueline M. Welch, GWI graduates Melissa Woo and Fernanda Giron, Bridgewater Associate’s Sarah Fass, Bank of America’s Jenny Park, and Kenvue’s Bertrand Kimper.
“Gen Z women who participate in programs like Girls With Impact have an advantage when they enter the workforce,” said Jenny Park, Senior Vice President, Diversity and Inclusion leader at BofA. “Confidence, problem-solving and how to operate in a business setting are important skills needed to reach senior leadership roles.”
Together, these leaders called for a dismantling of archaic systems – from how confidence and power in the workplace are viewed to promotions, language, succession planning, and leadership “experience” for women.
The leaders highlighted a number of barriers that prevent women from moving up in their careers, leading to just 28% of women in the C-suite (McKinsey). These include:
The perfectionism fallacy – The idea that women must check all the boxes in order to be qualified to take on new or higher-level roles.
Assumptions about mothers in the workplace – Generalizations that all women with children don’t have the capacity to take on leadership roles.
The “kids” factor – Some women lean into the demands of children as a reason for not raising their hands or accepting positions of leadership.
Archaic language and power structures – Hindrances that limit the definitions of power and confidence, ultimately leading women to “lead with false confidence” at work, according to Times CHRO Jacqueline M. Welch
Recruiting young women: Destigmatizing industries, business pre-conditioning
Among the most important actions HR leaders can take is to introduce young women to your company and showcase women in key roles. Bridgewater, for example, tries to overcome negative perceptions of a male-dominated financial industry by showcasing women in key leadership roles within their organization. Also, investing in pre-career business training that builds leadership confidence and foundational business knowledge can provide a more ready female talent pipeline.
BofA supports and forms partnerships with community organizations to recruit female talent with specific exposure and skills development, such as in STEM, tech, and business, according to Park.
Retaining young women: Continuous learning, growing
The HR leaders referenced the need to recognize the shorter job tenure expectations of Gen Z, requiring a re-think of tools to build engagement and retention.
In addition to lateral moves, among the actions recommended were providing multiple opportunities to learn, embracing transparency, and capitalizing on generational differences.
"The best way to retain people is to make sure they are constantly growing and learning,” said Bridgewater’s Fass. “Our culture is based on a meritocracy where the best ideas win, no matter where they come from. It doesn't matter your gender, your title, your compensation or your level.”
Girls With Impact’s Openshaw pointed to her organizations’ research finding that over 60% of GenZ want to personally engage in innovation. Intrapreneurship and crowd-sourcing new ideas can be powerful ways to engage young women at work.
Kenvue’s Bertrand Kimper, Head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, noted the importance of transparency. “Transparency isn’t just about pay, but knowing where you stand,” he said.
More frequent check-ins, informal feedback, lateral moves and proactively giving young women more exposure were some of the ways the panelists suggested achieving this goal and building engagement.
Raising (promoting) young women: Providing opportunities for promotion & visibility
While leaders agreed that systems need to be updated, they shared important actions to promote women, including:
Encouraging sponsorship and mentorship through formal, structured company programs.
Engaging women to take on leadership roles, even if they don’t see themselves in them.
Providing flexible work-from-home arrangements.
Re-thinking experiences that were once considered ‘musts’, like overseas assignments.
Deploying policies and procedures to remove bias from compensation promotion decisions.
“There’s enormous untapped talent in the next generation of women,” said Girls With Impact’s Openshaw. “By partnering with companies, we can harness that talent and help prepare them to step into that first job. Early business education is one of the smartest investments we can make.”
In addition to S&P Global, the event was supported by Cigna Healthcare, Eagle Point Credit, JP Morgan Chase & Co., and Latham & Watkins.
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Footnote
*McKinsey: The Power of Parity: How Advancing Women’s Equality Can Add $12 Trillion to Global Growth. View here.
About Girls With Impact
Created following discussions in Davos, Girls With Impact (GWI), a 501c3, is the nation’s only online business and leadership program for young women 14-24. Its mission is to level the playing field for all women in business through education, mentoring and networking. To date, GWI has served over 15,000 with a goal to reach 1 million with its tuition-free education. Visit www.girlswithimpact.org. Watch our sizzle reel.
Contact: Emily Adji
emily.adji@girlswithimpact.org
(203) 314-4011