Excerpt
from Wander Woman: How High-Achieving Women Find Contentment and Direction
by Marcia Reynolds
From Our Point of View: How to Engage and Retain
High-Achieving Women
1. Provide Developmental Opportunities
One of our greatest passions is to resolve complex challenges, yet we
need our managers to provide the resources for learning so we can be
continually successful. We are top talent because we are committed to
being the best. We come to you with experiences and degrees. To
continue on our path to excellence, we need you to support the
continuation of our development by offering ample tuition reimbursement
and encouragement to further our learning. We want you to treat
training and coaching programs not as perks but as a part of your
overall business strategy. Frankly, to stay innovative and progressive,
all employees should be trained in communication skills, managing
change, dealing with their emotions, and building strong relationships
with their peers within and across divisional borders. This is
especially true in tough economic times when you need everyone to stay
on top of their game. The last thing you want to do is cut funding for
training and coaching when we are facing major difficulties. Give us
more opportunities to learn and grow so we can help you take the
company to the top faster than our competition. We would love for you
to engage us in that challenge.
Also, provide us with mentors who are passionate about what they do so
we are inspired to stay and learn more. We like to feel that we are in
the company of smart and spirited people. We like to connect with
leaders in other areas. We want breadth as well as depth of knowledge.
If possible, create a platform where the most successful women in the
company can network with and develop the younger female talent so the
pipeline grows. Also, we are not always politically astute, so a good
mentor can help us put our energies in the right places and see
opportunities that we might miss that best use our talents.
2. Make Our Mission Meaningful
We want to be a part of something that feels bigger than ourselves.
Even if our products are not that meaningful in the bigger scheme of
life, we want to work for companies that care for their employees,
respect the environment, and support their local communities. We will
eventually disengage if we don't see how our work fits into a broader,
more significant context. We struggle with committing to, a monetary
goal or a drive solely focused on beating our competitors. We don't
just work to make a living. We work to make life better. We will align
our energies with your penchant for profit when we can see the evidence
of our good work in the world, even if that means we are simply helping
people to feel more safe and happy. We know in our hearts we can make a
significant difference on this planet. If we are doing that in our
jobs, we are likely to stick around and share with the world how
excited we are about our work.
3. Continually Affirm Our Contribution
and Value
Our sense of contribution and value to the organization is as important
to us as our paycheck, but we can't always see the larger effect of our
work. We need to know how well we did in relation to the people we
touch, whether it's our peers or our customers. It's not enough for us
to know we have great knowledge and ability. We need to know if we have
made an impact and that others value our involvement.
This acknowledgment needs to be continual because our sense of
contribution is fleeting. Once we finish a task, we are quickly on to
the next. There's always another project to master and another crisis
for us to resolve. You need to remind us of our impact because we tend
to lose this sense while swimming in the sea of our assignments.
However, don't overload us because you can count on us for results. We
love to give outstanding performances. We love that you trust us. Yet
if you rely on us too much, we would rather look for another job than
face failure. Make sure to regularly ask us how we are feeling about
our work and if we need any resources to get our work done. We often
struggle with asking for help. Even when we ask to figure out a problem
on our own, we still appreciate that you check in to see if we need any
additional support.
4. Design and Foster a Creative and
Collaborative Environment
We love to work for leaders who create environments that provide an
open flow of communication in all directions. Let us talk freely,
whether it's around the real water cooler or the virtual water cooler
using social media. Environments that support collaboration foster
rapid innovations. We want easy access to tools and resources. We want
our leaders to be visionaries and catalysts who transfer
decision-making to us and allow us to choose how we want to work.
Instead of managing people from a top-down position, leaders should see
themselves as the "spokesperson" in the middle of the wheel with
employees in motion around them. They should inspire more than enforce.
Cooperative cultures represent the future of management. We want to
help you make this significant change.
5. Delegate Clear Expectations and Then
Let Go
If you give us what we need to do a great job on work that is
meaningful to us and valuable to the organization, we won't disappoint
you. Give us control over the processes and decisions related to our
tasks as much as possible. We love figuring out the best solutions. We
need to feel we have the power to implement what we plan. If you think
we need a more strategic perspective, coach us to see other
possibilities instead of telling us what to do. When you delegate a
project to us, give us the authority to talk to all stakeholders to
negotiate actions. We will report our progress to you on a schedule we
agree to and respond to issues promptly. We learn fast from our
mistakes.
Let us know early on when changes will affect our work and share with
us the reasons for the change. These days, those kinds of changes
happen daily. We need to know about a shift in direction as soon as you
do. If something comes up and you have to make a decision that goes
counter to what we had hoped for, tell us why you made the decision so
we can develop our business acumen. We want to grow beyond our
technical capability. Letting us see through your eyes gives us what we
need to succeed in our future positions.
6. Recognize Outstanding Performance
We like working for companies that have a culture of recognition. You
may think that we are just doing our jobs, but we need to be recognized
for our hard work even when it becomes the norm. Your recognition can
be as simple as a personal comment or written note praising something
we specifically did and the impact it had. We also like public
recognition. When you visibly recognize our continual peak performance
you demonstrate to everyone that you value this behavior. And don't
just recognize results; show appreciation for our creativity,
inclusiveness, optimism, and determination even if the results did not
turn out as expected. When you honor our efforts, you help us to feel
proud. We need help when it comes to stopping and admiring our work. If
you give us this gift, we will repeat the behavior you reward.
Also, please recognize us by knowing us. We are staunchly loyal to the
people who show they care about us now and in the future. Know our
talents, goals, and dreams. If you were called by HR today and asked
what you thought were my strengths, frustrations, and aspirations,
could you answer these questions? Know who we are today and what we
want for tomorrow. If we aren't clear about what we want for our
careers, help us envision our future. Then offer to support us as we
move forward on this path.
7. Give Us Flexible Work Schedules
We need help in managing our energy more than our time. We will work
obsessively to complete important projects. Yet we need to renew our
energy so we don't burn out. Therefore, we want flexible schedules
based on meeting goals instead of wasting time in traffic or on "who
can stay the latest" contests. We recognize the need to be present for
important meetings, but on days we can get more work done from home,
trust us. We have become comfortable with technology and will use it to
communicate. Because we always produce results, let us figure out how
we will get the work done. If you want to know more about setting up
work cultures that are flexible and successful as a result, look at
what these companies are doing: Capitol One, Deloitte & Touche,
Best Buy, Marriott, Patagonia, AES Corporation, Sun Microsystems, IBM,
PepsiCo, and Wal-Mart. At the Brazilian company Semco, employees choose
their own salaries, set their own hours, and have no job titles, yet
the profits keep growing and there is practically no employee turnover.
By the time you read this, more companies will have followed suit.
We're hoping you want to stay ahead of the pack with these progressive
companies.
If we have children to take care of, don't put us on a "mommy track"
that doesn't have access to promotions and plum assignments. Let us
decide what we can handle. If you allow us the flexibility to meet the
goals on our own terms, we will in turn be honest with you about what
is possible. If we decide we need to step back because our home-life
challenges need our attention, welcome us back when we are ready and we
will amaze you with the results we produce.
The above is an excerpt from the book Wander Woman: How
High-Achieving Women Find Contentment and Direction
by Marcia Reynolds. The above excerpt is a digitally
scanned
reproduction of
text from print. Although this
excerpt has been proofread, occasional errors may appear due to the
scanning process. Please refer to the finished book for accuracy.
Copyright © 2010 Marcia Reynolds,
author
of
Wander
Woman: How High-Achieving Women Find Contentment and Direction
