How to address lack of job mobility for women

The Real Reasons Women are Exiting the Workforce As a senior leader at the intersection of policy, product, and advocacy, I've witnessed a critical trend that demands our attention. I've witnessed, firsthand, a disheartening trend: accomplished women, poised for leadership, choosing to exit the workforce. This exodus isn't due to a lack of ambition or capability but stems from systemic challenges that remain unaddressed. Top 3 Reasons Women are Quitting: 1/ Burnout Epidemic: Balancing high-stakes professional roles with personal responsibilities often leads to chronic stress and exhaustion. Many women find themselves at a breaking point, questioning whether enduring this relentless pressure is sustainable.The absence of adequate support systems exacerbates this fatigue, making the option to step away seem like the only viable solution. 2/ Comfort Zone Trap: Many talented women are paralyzed between known mediocrity and unknown potential. The fear of breaking away from 'comfort' keeps them stagnant. 3/ Stagnation in Career Advancement Despite their dedication and expertise, numerous women encounter barriers that hinder their progression into senior leadership roles. This glass ceiling not only stifles their professional growth but also diminishes their motivation to remain within organizations that fail to recognize and reward their contributions. I recall a conversation with a mentee—a brilliant product manager and mother of two. Despite her exemplary performance, she felt perpetually on the brink of burnout, unseen in her aspirations, and constrained by an inflexible schedule.Her story is not unique but echoes the experiences of many. The solution I proposed to her focused on three critical strategies: 1/ Speak to your manager about a flexibility and office timings that allow her to balance professional responsibilities with family needs. Manage your time more effectively and wisely 2/ Create a career progression plan in the current job that identifies opportunities available for exceptional impact and a future promotion, to break the stagnation she found herself in 3/ Contribute to organisation wide initiatives that establish open communication channels and implement policies that support work-life balance, in turn helping others through the same dilemma. This demonstrates commitment to her and her organisations collective success. Women aren't just leaving jobs—they're making powerful statements about workplace culture. It's imperative that we, as leaders and organizations, confront these challenges head-on. Creating structured mentorship opportunities can provide women with guidance, support, and advocacy, helping them navigate career challenges and advance into leadership roles. Mentorship isn't just support—it's survival. Your Turn: >> What trends have you noticed contributing to this issue, and >> How can we collaboratively create a more inclusive and supportive workplace for all?

"We need to pay them what they are worth and not be surprised when they ask for it, and we need to celebrate their success and ambition and encourage them to be ambitious." YES! YES! YES! So much of the work that I do as a speaker is intended to help people see their worth and value. The people that struggle with that the most are women. Women who doubt and diminish themselves, especially at work. My goal is to activate and elevate their self-worth, self-belief + self-advocacy. When we believe in ourselves and our worth, we are more likely to advocate for and celebrate ourselves...without apologizing for it. But the problem is that, for most of our lives, women have been told: ❌ "Don't toot your own horn!" ❌ "Let your work speak for itself." ❌ "You should be happy with what you have." And by listening to that advice, many women have held themselves back or been held back by others in their careers. I'm grateful to have been raised by a dad who taught me to advocate for myself and to negotiate. I'm grateful to have a mom who started her own business and who knows her worth. Both of them have helped me become a successful female entrepreneur, who loves what she does and has a tangible impact on the world through her work. So, what can we do to address the issue of women leaders in the workplace? Try starting with one of these approaches: 1️⃣ Mentorship: Women often lack access to mentors who can help them navigate their careers, which impacts their growth and advancement 👉 Who can you invest time in or take a chance on, serving as their mentor? 2️⃣ Self-advocacy: Women need to be equipped and empowered to ask for what they want and deserve, whether it's compensation or career opportunities, without fear of being called "aggressive" or "pushy" 👉 What's one way you could advocate for yourself and what you want? 3️⃣ Sponsorship: Leaders, both men, and women, can be more intentional about actively sponsoring and advocating for women in their organizations 👉 Who could you open a door for? Invite into an opportunity? Introduce to a strategic connection? 4️⃣ Recognition: It's time for us to normalize women's ambition and achievements, encouraging them to "go for it" and make their aspirations known (without feeling selfish or guilty) 👉 As you reflect on the past year, what's something you're proud of - something about who you are or what you've accomplished - that you can celebrate now? Take one of the steps above, and encourage the people around you to do the same. If we want to change the future, we have to be willing to advocate for ourselves and one another. 🙌 #WomenInLeadership #GenderEquality

Whenever I meet with women and especially women of color in organizations, one thing stands out for me- they are ambitious about their careers. However, they feel stalled because of managers and works cultures that are not inclusive. McKinsey & Company’s recent article on the truth about women’s ambition and representation in corporate America reinforced my observations – so I decided to include their research in my monthly insights. The research reveals that the notion that work and life are incompatible, and that one comes at the expense of the other, is outdated. Women are more ambitious than ever and workplace flexibility is fuelling them. Despite this, women, and especially women of color, remain underrepresented in the corporate pipeline.  Slow progress for women to the manager and director levels, together with director level women leaving at a higher rate than men at the same level, result in fewer women in line for the most senior level positions. Clearly their careers are not stalled because of a lack of ambition but instead because of work cultures that are not conducive to their advancement. Article highlights: -         For the ninth consecutive year, women face their biggest hurdle at the first critical step up to manager. This year, for every 100 men promoted from entry level to manager, 87 women were promoted. And for women of color progress is lagging even further behind their peers. In 2023, 73 women of color were promoted compared to 91 White women (for every 100 men promoted). -         Women experience microaggressions at a significantly higher than men. 78% of women who experience microaggressions self-shield or change their appearance to conform in an attempt to be accepted and enable their success. Black women are twice as likely as White women to have to change something about themselves in order to conform. -         For women, hybrid or remote work is about a lot more than flexibility. When women work remotely, they face fewer microaggressions and have higher levels of psychological safety. To strengthen the pipeline and progress of women, the article from McKinsey suggests that companies should focus on 5 key areas: -         Tracking outcomes for women’s representation -         Empowering managers to be effective people leaders -         Addressing microaggressions head-on -         Unlocking the full potential of flexible work -         Fixing the broken rung, once and for all To learn more about these focus areas and how you can advance women at your organization, click on the link below to read the full article: https://lnkd.in/dWSb5jxf #WomenInLeadership #DEI #InclusiveWorkplace #WomenEmpowerment #DiversityEquityInclusion