What Women Want (at Work)
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A little over a year ago, I had a marvelous conversation with Erika Andersen. She is the founder of Proteus International and the author of Growing Great Employees and Being Strategic. She's also a mother. She and her daughter often watch the television show, Mad Men.
Mad Men is a drama set in a fictional advertising agency in the 1960s. It depicts a workplace where women are secretaries and sex objects. Erika's daughter finds that amazing.
She could ask me about it. I'd tell her stories about my mother, who worked in an ad agency in the 1950s and 1960s, while I was growing up. Mad Men shows a lot of it like it was.
I found myself thinking about this issue because of two things. First, last Monday was International Women's Day. As part of its coverage, the New York Times ran an article titled "Awareness Rises, but Women Still Lag in Pay."
"Companies in the United States, Spain, Canada and Finland lead the world in employing the largest numbers of women from entry level to senior management, according to a report published Monday by the World Economic Forum. Yet the report also found that, despite increasing awareness of gender disparities in the workplace, women at many of the world’s top companies continued to lag behind their male peers in many areas, including pay and opportunities for professional advancement."
I was also working on the core of my free email-only newsletter which will tell some of the story of Linda Hudson. Ms Hudson is currently the President of the Land and Armaments group at BAE. That's the world's largest military vehicle manufacturer.
She was the only woman in her engineering class at Florida. Other things were different then, too. Many people forget that women simply couldn't get credit in their own name. Banks wouldn't count a wife's income when evaluating the credit worthiness of a couple, either. After all, the wife might get pregnant.
As the Times article and a look around will tell you, the workplace and women's roles in the workplace have changed a lot since the 1960s. But it's also true there are still a lot of people asking that old question "What do women want?" when it comes to the workplace.
For what it's worth, here's my take, from the imperfect perspective of an outsider.
Most of the things that women want in the workplace are the same things that everybody else wants. The language changes from report to report, but here's a look at the most important things that all human beings want in the workplace.
- They want to do work that's interesting and meaningful.
- They want to work for an organization that has a purpose and a direction.
- They want boss who is concerned about them.
- They want to work with people they like.
- They want clear expectations and feedback.
- They want to be treated fairly.
Fairness is a critical issue. Because while men and women both want a lot of the same things in the workplace, many women simply don't feel that they're treated fairly compared to men.
One young woman put it this way: "I don't want to be treated better than the boys, but I don't want them to have an advantage because of their biology, either."
Biology does play a role. Women can get pregnant. Men can't.
But in most cultures there are also other things. Women are more likely to be caregivers. They're more likely to be the parent the school calls to pick up a sick child. They're also less likely to negotiate strongly for a better starting salary.
So, despite the many things that have changed for women in the workplace today, compared with years ago, there are still too many situations where simply being a woman is more likely to mean that you won't be treated equally. The inequality can show up in several areas.
- Salary.
- Promotion.
- Praise.
- Plumb Assignments.
- Access to the club.
I watched things change from the time my mother was in business, through my own generation, which includes Linda Hudson. Now I watch how it is for my daughters and their friends.
The reason that Erika's daughter and many people my children's age have trouble believing that Mad Men shows some accurate things is that the workplace has gotten better. Better, but not nearly good enough.
It may not be as dramatic as it was in the 1950s, but we still treat many women as second-class citizens in the workplace. We need to stop. That's just simple justice and fair-dealing.
It's also bad business. This is the Knowledge Economy for most of us. We need every brain in the game. The organ that's supposed to count for success is the one between your ears not the one between your legs.
Resources
Here are four blogs written by women. They are all solid, helpful business blogs. They all deal routinely with issues of women in the workplace.
- Dorothy Dalton
- CV Harquail: Authentic Organizations
- Marion Chapsal: Geronimo Leadership Coaching
- Anne Perschel: Germane Insights
I don't read blogs on women's issues regularly. So I asked my friends on Twitter for recommendations of web resources on women in business. I don't know these well, myself. But I respect and trust the people who recommended them to me.
- The Mama Bee
- Forbes Woman
- Pink
- Women Grow Business
- Women on Business
- Catalyst
- Babson College Women's Leadership
Thanks to Anne Perschel, Jane Perdue, Sharlyn Lauby and CV Harquail for pointers to resources.
Wally's Working Supervisor's Support Kit is a collection of information and tools to help working supervisors do a better job. It's based on what Wally's learned in over twenty years of supervisory skills training. Click here to check it out.
Categories: Great Working Environment, Women
Tags: Great Working Environment
I greatly appreciate your BLOG on women. Some of my best colleagues are woman and they are often overlooked in the business world. I will admit, I have overlooked them in regard to being a new BLOG subscriber. Thank you for helping me with my perspective.
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Wally,
I really do think that things have improved for women, but change is slow (as it usually is).
When women are concerned about not being "in the club", my question is "what can YOU do about that?" It is important that male executives see the women in the workplace as human beings, not just as women. And women often can do more to step up to the plate to help make that happen.
When I work with women leaders today, we often work on doing what they can do get access to the club. This might include creating their own "club" - and including some of the people they need access to. Lunch meetings, after hours, even a book club or community of practice are great ways to start.
Finding a way to get to know the male colleagues on a more personal basis can open a lot of club doors.
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Thanks for those excellent points, Mary Jo. Concentrating on the things we can control is usually a more productive strategy than shaking a fist at the sky or hoping for deliverance.
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I think it's not just a gender issue, but a company culture issue. In a culture where face to face contact and/or meetings are valued more than results or output, primary caregivers are naturally disadvantaged. In a culture where flexible work schedules and/or working from home are more common, primary caregivers stand a better chance of being treated equally, at least until the middle management level. And as with any workforce topic, the chance of handling it well and getting the best out of people increases with good management: Check out my post titled: Working Girls
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I agree with the core of what you say, but I also think it's devilishly hard to untwine relationships and results. So much of business involves "through people" that relationships will always matter, especially at middle management and above. I think we're still sorting out how we'll make all that work.
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Here's a crazy (and sure to be controversial) idea: Because women can't avoid taking an extended leave during childbirth, why not make that same requirement of men? If women are forced (by health reasons) to take 6-8 weeks of maternity leave, why not strongly encourage (or mandate, if possible) expectant fathers to do the same? That would seem to help level the playing field a bit.
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Interesting suggestion. My observation is that taking time off to have a child is not as difficult to manage as taking time off to raise one. That's where a career can take a hit and we have precious few examples, besides Brenda Barnes of anyone who has done it.
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Your article is a much-needed and thoughtful reminder that while management are not tolerant of anyone deliberately paying the wrong kind of attention to another person at work (sexual), they are quite tolerant of everyone failing to pay any attention to the disparity in financial rewards for men v.women. The fact that we still have an International Day for Women 100 years after the first one is reminder enough of the speed at which change occurs in this arena.
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Thanks for adding to the conversation, Margaret. You've also added to my learning for the day. I wasn't aware the International Day for Women had been around that long. Now you've got me thinking about stories my mother told me about her mother's involvement in the Women's Suffrage movement.
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Wally –
Great post – couldn’t agree more. I ran our woman’s leadership development programs at a former company and developed a good awareness of the issues you’ve pointed out.
BTW, I realize not everyone likes these programs – but I never talked to one of our female executives that didn’t. Some of the better ones are:
UCLA http://www.anderson.ucla.edu/x27611.xml
Smith College http://www.smith.edu/execed/programs/consortium/
and CCL http://www.ccl.org/leadership/programs/WLPOverview.aspx.
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Thanks for the kind words, Dan, and especially for adding those resources.
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I take a bit of a different view. If women are still in positions where they aren't satisfied with the opportunities they can earn, the compensation and benefits their work is rewarded with, the environment they work in, or the opportunity to manage the life they desire, then I suggest the women need to change - their job, their skills, their life plan, etc.
If a woman is in a position where she isn't "treated fairly" why is she tolerating it? Leave. Take your talent elsewhere, where it is appreciated and can make a real difference. There are companies that celebrate the contibutions of its employees regardless of gender, age, etc. I am blessed to work at one.
I also wrote about International Women's Day on my blog and whether or not that day is still needed. After 99 years, do women's contributions to society still need special recognition instead of standing on their own merit? I don't believe so. http://beingfullypresent.com/2010/03/09/is-international-womens-day-still-a-good-idea/
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We'll have to disagree on this one. I see the basic issues as systemic and cultural. It's certainly possible for a woman (or anyone else) to make a go of it in an awful system, my mother, Linda Hudson and thousands of others have done so. But that fact is that the "if you don't like it, pick up an move" solution only works if there are an array of different situations to move to.
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Yes, I think we'll have to agree to disagree.
I did not choose to "make a go of it in an awful system," as our foremothers really had to do - I chose to change systems. That is the difference today.
I think that as long as we (women) continue to think that the issues are "systemic and cultural," we'll also continue to think that we cannot influence change and must simply stay and tolerate the conditions. I believe that today we are empowered to take action and make changes.
As a professional woman in a leadership role, I know there are many opportunities out there for an individual's gifts and talents to be used and appreciated. There is no need to settle any longer. If we do, we are choosing to do so.
As companies see their talented female employees leave and their competitors succeeding because of these women's influence, they will be forced to change if they want long term success. While nothing is perfect, there are more choices than ever for everyone - employers, women and men.
This has been an interesting discussion. Thanks for providing the space.
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Thanks for returning and adding to the discussion. It seems to me that we differ on three points. One is how much the system has changed since my mother's time.
I also disagree with your comment that "as long as we (women) continue to think that the issues are "systemic and cultural," we'll also continue to think that we cannot influence change." I don't believe the one implies the other.
And you say "As companies see their talented female employees leave and their competitors succeeding because of these women's influence, they will be forced to change if they want long term success." I'm not nearly as optimistic about that.
That said, I agree wholeheartedly that "While nothing is perfect, there are more choices than ever for everyone - employers, women and men."
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