NancyPekala.com

08 Mar

International Women’s Day: Taking action to gain traction

nancy pekala Women in Workplace 0

The first time I noticed men and women were treated differently in the world of work was when I was enrolled in a competitive journalism program in college. Male students in my class were frequently given coveted, hard news assignments while the females were given soft news stories with limited visibility. Additionally, my fellow female students and I soon learned the instructor would invite our male peers to after hour networking events and guide them to work opportunities not afforded his female students.

As I continued down my career path, more examples of this kind of behavior emerged. Women were not given the same voice, representation, or visibility as our male counterparts. Early in my career, I vividly remember one instance. I was participating in a large group meeting with our CEO and other leaders to discuss an important company initiative. At one point, I asked the CEO a question to clarify my team’s role in the project. My boss, who was sitting next to me, shot me a glaring look and slapped my hand to keep me from speaking. Fortunately, the CEO, who was male, encouraged me to continue with my question and made note of my boss’s gesture.

Suffice it to say, I learned very early on that it’s not enough to just question why women are not appropriately represented or included in the workplace, but to behave proactively in taking action to help them get there.

On this, International Women’s Day, it’s critical that both female and male leaders champion ACTION to inspire inclusion and gender equality in the workplace. Women bring to the table more education and experience than ever before. Yet, they still don’t enjoy the same representation, visibility and pay equity as their male counterparts.

As a mentor and leader of teams in my career, one of my key goals in this area has been to help my female colleagues and direct reports to build confidence and leadership skills. This includes everything from mastering presentation skills to understanding how to effectively communicate ideas to company leadership to selling one’s strengths in ways that benefits the organization and serves its values.

Over the course of my career, I’ve witnessed how effective my male counterparts are in promoting themselves and their male peers to take advantage of opportunities. Whether that means recommending a male colleague for a job or networking opportunity, calling attention to one of their achievements or just talking them up to a key decision maker, they successfully advocate for their own.

As female leaders, one way we can do the same for our female colleagues is to understand and clearly articulate their strengths and how those strengths translate to organizational success.

For example, consider that today up to 81% of all caregivers, formal and informal, are female, and they spend as much as 50% more time giving care than males. Even in relationships where both partners work full-time, women still spend a whopping 40% more time caregiving than their male partners.

Women’s role as key caregivers translates to increased empathy, problem solving and time management skills—-all critical and valuable strengths for today’s organizations. Female workers are used to juggling multiple priorities, making critical decisions and getting things done.

Identifying and articulating women’s strengths in ways that translate to bottom line success for an organization is critical if progress is to be made in gender equity and female inclusion.

Action leads to traction when it comes to female representation and inclusion in the workplace. Here are 10 ways I’ve championed action to accelerate progress.

Provide opportunities for female team members to present ideas to key company decision makers.
Make time to guide female colleagues in improving key soft skills (public speaking, presentation skills, idea generation, pitching skills)
Foster career improvement plans for female team members focusing on strengths that map to organizational goals
Initiate female networking events and opportunities and include female colleagues at all levels in the workplace
Actively celebrate and promote the achievements of female peers to company leaders and others within the organization
Introduce female colleagues to others in your network who might serve as a valuable connection
Create and provide “stretch assignments” to female team members giving them an opportunity to excel in new areas
Invite female team member(s) to join you at an industry meeting or conference
At performance evaluation time, advocate for female high performers in terms of pay increases, title changes or promotions
Recommend female colleagues for roles on task forces, committees and other decision-making bodies.

It is important to continuously question workplace practices and behaviors that limit women’s roles as well as loudly voice concerns, suggestions and ideas. But it is even more important to take action every day to accelerate process. Building progress one action at a time will lead to a more inclusive and equitable workforce for women which will only better serve the organization and the constituencies they serve.

Take action today to gain traction for women in the workplace.

#InternationalWomensDay #InspireInclusion

08 Mar

Be a shoulder and a hand: 10 ways to help women in the workplace show up and shine up

nancy pekala Career Development, Women in Workplace 0 1

International Women’s Day is an important day of self-reflection. When it comes to supporting women in the workplace, are you mostly a contributor or detractor? Do you take steps to actively lend a hand or are you serving to close a door instead?

In my career, I’ve had the privilege of managing multiple teams, mentoring female colleagues, launching women’s resource groups and executing female diversity in the workplace initiatives.

My goal has always been to be a shoulder and hand for women in both my professional and personal lives. In order to drive real change for women, it’s important to be generous, to be extra kind, to pull out a chair and invite other women to sit at the table next to you and with you.

For women to continue to make progress in the world of work, they must be seen, be heard, be visible and be included. That’s why it’s so important to take every opportunity to shine a light on each other and raise each other up.

My mantra has always been to show up, shine up and help other women glow up. It doesn’t take anything away from you. Instead, it makes you better and stronger.

It’s equally important to thank those who have encouraged and supported you along the way. I make a point of reaching out to those women who’s made a difference in my career and life to say “thank you”. One way of expressing that gratitude is to show up for those who have included you, invited you and lifted you up. It is a simple gesture but one that is appreciated and important to continued growth.

Small gestures can truly add up to make a big impact. I have been the lucky recipient of some of these gestures. In an effort to pay it forward, below are a few steps I have taken and recommend to lend a shoulder and hand to fellow women in the workplace.

Promote fellow female colleagues’ insights, opinions and perspectives. Share their blogs, articles and social media posts to your network.

Introduce other women to senior leaders, stakeholders and industry thought leaders. Facilitating valuable connections is a critical aspect of women empowerment.

Help other women climb the next step on their career ladder. Be a proactive advocate for promotions and reach opportunities that will help them achieve their goals.

Invite them to the table to participate in significant projects or initiatives. Provide them the opportunity to share their ideas in a visible way so their voice can be heard by key stakeholders.

Play an active role in your company’s Women’s Resource Group. If there isn’t one in your organization, create one. Take steps to communicate the impact of the group’s activities to stakeholders in your network. Offer to be a guest speaker. Invite other key stakeholders to participate. Launch a new initiative to address gender issues in the workplace.

Celebrate other women’s wins, successes and achievements. Share news of awards, winning campaigns or projects or compliments offered by colleagues, leaders, customers or clients.

Help women find their next opportunity. Share their resume with others in your network. Act as a proactive reference. Write a social media post asking your network to keep the job seeker in mind for new opportunities and touting her strengths.

Provide female team members opportunities to shine. Assign them a growth project, offer them an opportunity to work with executive leaders and provide them a platform to ensure their voice is heard. And when they succeed, make sure you proactively and visibly give them credit.

Ask how you can help. What would be most beneficial to women on your team or in your network? Sometimes it’s something as simple as providing advice or providing specific training.

Raise your hand to personally advocate for, initiate, launch and execute female diversity initiatives in your organization. Sell in Women in the Workplace programs to the C-suite. Pull together a team to build a program, execute specific initiatives, report successes and demonstrate continuous changes that make an impact.

Spend some time this International Women’s Day celebrating milestones and achievements but also reflecting on how you can better show up and shine up to ensure women in the workplace continue to have a strong voice and make a true impact.