How Can Companies Retain Female Leadership?

Addressing the alarming trend of female leadership exodus.

FEMALE leaders are leaving the industry in droves, according to a recent survey by McKinsey, in partnership with LeanIn.org, highlighting the critical issue of female leadership attrition. A combination of COVID-19 and poor company practices means that, despite advances in recent years, women in management are “dramatically underrepresented”, with only one in four C-suite (executive level) leaders being female in corporate America, where the survey took place.

The situation is no better in Australia, with the most recent WGEA Scorecard reporting men are more than 1.5 times more likely to hold a managerial position here. PARTNER investigates what companies should be doing to retain female leadership.

FLEXIBILITY

While the gender pay gap is the word on everybody’s lips, after the COVID-19 global pandemic, more women than ever are looking for flexibility. Forced to shoulder the majority of home-schooling and covid-related childcare alongside working from home, women are now actively looking for roles that allow them a hybrid approach to working from home and in an office. Companies looking to recruit and retain women would do well to recognise the value of virtual and allow employees a greater ability to shape some of their own hours.

BETTER LEADERSHIP PRACTICES

McKinsey’s Women in the Workplace 2022 survey revealed that only 40% of female workers felt their managers were interested in their work. Meanwhile, 37% of female leaders had experienced a more junior male co-worker taking credit for their work. This isn’t just poor management of women’s issues; this is poor management practice. Prioritising management training and ensuring your senior staff know how to invest in and encourage all employees, not just females, should be mandatory.

NURTURING YOUNGER WOMEN

The good news is that women are hungry for advancement – two-thirds of the women under 30 that McKinsey surveyed said they wanted to be senior leaders (a fact that looks particularly stark next to the C-suite statistics). The ambition is there; it needs to be nurtured.

RECOGNISING THEIR VALUE

Anyone concerned that the advancement of women is simply to tick the diversity card should note that McKinsey found companies with more than 30% female executives tended to outperform companies with 10% to 30% female leaders, and those companies outperformed those with fewer or no women on the board. Partner recognises the importance of thought diversity at senior levels and actively seeks to invest in candidates who don’t fit the mould.

EQUAL PAY

Australian women are paid 15% less than their male counterparts, with Australia currently behind developing nations like Namibia, Rwanda, Mozambique and the Philippines on the Gender Gap Index (at number 50).

Companies need to do better with bridging the gender gap, not just to advance women, but to advance themselves.