By Aimee Hansen
The hardest part of diversity can be the “how.” How do you stay awake to your own unconscious bias? Can you?
With no evidence that it’s possible to eliminate unconscious bias, a rising trend on the crossroads of diversity and tech is to mitigate bias with the help of technology tools.
New apps are helping to eliminate and filter the blindspots in the communications and decision-making that go into recruitment, hiring and promotion.
If You Can’t Stop it, Mitigate It
Diversity training helps individuals to become aware of their own bias, but unconscious bias, by definition, often evades our awareness to blindly drive our decisions. It can’t necessarily be trained away.
As Tony Greenwald, a University of Washington psychology professor who conducted seminal research on unconscious bias said, “Understanding implicit bias does not actually provide you the tools to do something about it.”
While increasing awareness of unconscious bias can enable individuals to be a bit more conscious of their own thought patterns and actions, it can also make bias socially normalized, which can backfire by condoning stereotyping.
We’re all doing it, right? If everybody is guilty, then is anyone?
One place where bias famously runs riot is in Silicon Valley. As Vivian Giang in Fast Company writes, “the percentage of underrepresented minorities is so low, (Silicon Valley) employers shouldn’t trust their own judgment anymore.”
But the dearth of diversity in tech town has recently catalyzed a booming counter-effect in app development.
As Ellen Huet writes in Forbes, unconscious bias has become the newest target in Silicon Valley and “demand for bias-busting solutions, in the form of consulting firms and anti-bias hiring software, has shot through the roof.”
Want Diversity? Watch Your Language
Something as seemingly innocuous as a job listing can bring bias into the hiring process through turning some candidates on and others away.
For example, research has shown that women are more drawn to/less threatened by companies that emphasize growth and development rather than boasting they hire the most awesome talent.
Two examples of companies who get the power and influence of words in the hiring process are Textio and Unitive, both of which have created software that tackle workplace bias in hiring and recruiting in “real time”.
Co-founder and CEO of Textio, Kieran Snyder, is a PhD in linguistics, who also researches gender bias in office dynamics. According to Textio, “the future of writing is knowing how well your words will work before anyone else reads them.”
Textio Talent, which has been used by companies like Twitter, Microsoft, Starbucks and Square, is “like a very smart word processor” that helps to predict how your documents, such as job listings and candidate e-mails, will perform.
As you write, the software highlights phrases, calls out their potential impact, and suggests alternative choices to appeal to a wider range of job seekers.
Textio has found that “proven track record” means more men will apply, “passion for learning” will attract more women, “mentoring” is generally more attractive than “coaching”, and “high performer” is more widely appealing than “rock star.”
There’s even an attraction difference between “manage a team” (more male) versus “develop a team” (more female). The tool also highlights when you’re just talking corporate jargon such as “synergy,” which makes listings less popular.
Snyder told Fast Company, “Everybody hates that language, but underrepresented people hate it more, probably because it’s a cultural signifier of some kind. It sort of communicates, this is an old-boy’s network kind of company.”
Take The Bias Out of Resumes & Interviews
Research that has shown that applicants with names that sound African-American have a 14% lower call-back rate. When it comes to tackling bias in hiring, developers are also focusing in on the resume and interview process.
Unitive has created an app that helps with creating word-optimized job postings, as well as resume reviewing and interview structuring, helping hiring managers monitor their decision-making and mitigate the effect of bias throughout.
The technology requires hiring managers to first “pre-commit” to what they most wish to see from an applicant, and presents resumes stripped of bias-triggering details like name and gender. Through the resume and interview process, the app reminds the manager of the key pre-committed criteria they choose.
In Fortune, Unitive Founder and CEO Laura Mather explains, ”We found a way to operationalize psychological findings so that hiring managers avoid bias as much as possible,” explains Mather.
It’s as much as about efficient hiring, and efficient hiring lends itself to more diversity. According to NPR, when cybersecurity firm RedSeal wanted to expand its employee base to increase women and minority representation, the CEO brought in Unitive to help filter out bias.
As a result, the firm received 30% more job applications, and the percentage of female engineers doubled. The candidate pool both increased and diversified. The technology helped to move away from “culture-fit”, breaking the mold on who fits into the company.
Unitive Founder and CEO Laura Mather told NPR that research shows “getting in different perspectives into your company makes your company more innovative, more profitable, more productive.” Mather said, ”All kinds of really great things happen when you stop making decisions based on how much you like the person’s personality.”
The Blind Audition
Another firm, GapJumpers helps remove bias from the hiring process for tech talent through blind auditions, just as blind auditions cracked the orchestra world open for female musicians. Candidates are given a challenge related to the job, rather than submitting a resume, which gives clues to gender and race. Not only is the process less biased, it allows those hiring to see how a candidate delivers.
Blendoor is just one other example of a new app which connects candidates and recruiters with faceless and nameless profiles, with a Tinder-like interface.
Nicki Gilmour, Founder of theglasshammer and organizational psychologist emphasizes that new technology is a valuable part of the equation in addressing unconscious bias. ”Like any behavioral change project, but especially anything to do with habits, assumptions and stereotypes, many parts of the system need to support the change structurally, to make individual change easier.”
”I also feel executive coaching is important as assumptions can be part of the cultural wallpaper and engrained,” Gilmour commented. “When they are interwoven with individual value sets that might be traditional to start with, making the unconscious conscious is only the beginning of this work.”
If You Talk the Talk, Try the Technology
More and more start-ups are entering the space of developing the technology that filters bias out of hiring efficiency and diversity, and current players have plans to expand beyond hiring to addressing promotions and reviews.
As the “how”’ of diversity becomes increasingly demystified and tangible, companies have a chance to do with unconscious bias what they would do with any inhibiting factor to their business: bring in the tools to address it.
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5 Myths about Working in Financial Services
Life HacksRead more
Know your values and know their values when interviewing for a new job
Career Advice, Career Tip of the Week!However, how work gets done in your team or firm often is to do with values (the leader or manager’s values mostly). When interviewing for a new job it is sometimes hard to ascertain what the team or company culture is. Ask these three questions to get closer to the answers that otherwise remain hidden to the naked eye:
If you can get honest answers to these questions, you will get a handle on the culture and of course you need to know your values also!
By Nicki Gilmour, Executive Coach and Organizational Psychologist
Contact nicki@theglasshammer.com if you would like to hire an executive coach to help you navigate the path to optimal personal success at work
Voice of Experience: Martha Ruiz, Partner, PwC
Voices of ExperiencePwC has been the perfect environment for her to grow her successful career, joining the firm’s general tax practice directly out of college. She soon migrated to the entertainment and media group in Los Angeles, where she provides tax compliance and advisory services to a variety of entertainment clients throughout Southern California.
It’s a vibrant field, given the new ways that consumers are consuming content that change long-held industry paradigms. Broadcasting has evolved to become tailored to a more fragmented audience, a shift that will continue as video on demand and streaming technologies continue to grow. “The industry will continue to mold its business around these changes and it’s to the benefit of the consumer,” she says.
An Oscar-Worthy Performance
This specialization in the entertainment field is what provided her the honor of becoming the Oscars® balloting co-leader in 2015, overseeing the team and balloting process that takes place during nominations and the finals. As such, Ruiz was only one of two partners who knew that Spotlight would be named Best Picture.
“It’s a unique spot to realize that you know the final winner before the rest of the world,” she marvels.
But even the golden glow of the Oscars® pales when she is asked to name her biggest professional achievement, which for her was becoming partner in 2011. “I joined the firm for all the opportunities it availed me and took advantage of all the doors that had been opened to me,” she says, mentioning mentors and coaches who have helped her funnel career decisions. “When I started, it wasn’t with the objective to be a partner but only to get experience; however, as I progressed within the firm and saw what an achievement it was for those around me, I began to have the desire to become partner. Now I can help coach others within the pipeline.”
Mentoring Others
The pipeline is an important aspect to Ruiz, who balances busy client engagement with a leadership role on recruiting efforts. “Talent is our future, so we are invested in making sure we have the right skill sets and the best and brightest coming through our door.”
She’s also active in the “Aspire to Lead” program, where students from various campuses experience the firm and join in panel discussions via a webcast that links all the PwC offices. This year the event focused on gender equality and featured Geena Davis and Dawn Hudson.
As she works with younger talent, she reminds them that it’s especially important for women to learn to build their confidence and tools to use their voice. “We have to train ourselves to say the things that are on our mind even when it feels hard,” she says, adding that’s one of the benefits of diversity – different views.
Mentors can play a valuable role by providing a different experience or perspective when tackling an issue or challenge.
“Reach out and talk through a situation with someone with whom you feel comfortable,” Ruiz advises. “You don’t have to go it alone because they have been there.”
And, it certainly doesn’t have to be formal relationship. “Throughout my career, I’ve had a variety of people I can bounce ideas off of and seek perspective, which gives me a better sense of how to tackle something.”
Now she can share that vantage point when talking to younger associates, helping them see the bigger picture. And she urges her peers to take the time to do the same, as they will reap the benefits when they take time to foster others’ career success.
“You might be working with someone indirectly, and as time flies and you see them flourish and become your peer, the value and enrichment you get from having watered that plant is so important.”
Family First
Ruiz is a big proponent of the family leave that PwC offers, having utilized it twice when her kids, now 11 and 7, were born. “Many of my contacts at other companies were envious of the flexibility I had to decide when I was coming back, and then when I did return, I felt really supported by partners with the transition. There has been an enduring sense of gratitude that the firm is doing the right thing.”
She says that the firm’s culture embraces flexibility and the ability to do work anywhere. “PwC takes the broader view that every individual may be going through different stages, and therefore, flexibility can look different for each person.”
For her that means dedicated vacation time, including a recent family trip to Hawaii that included her parents and siblings. “It was a calm, relaxed setting that allowed us all to catch up and for the kids to spend quality time with their grandparents.”
Intrepid Women: Lindsey Pluimer, Founder and CEO With My Own Two Hands
Intrepid Women SeriesWhile Lindsey Pluimer was playing basketball and studying communications at UCLA she wrote a paper on the lack of media presence during the genocide in Darfur and committed to one-day traveling to Africa. Little did she know that commitment would change the course of her life. That trip happened when after playing two years of professional basketball Lindsey joined a nonprofit volunteer trip to South Africa. It was on that trip that she decided she would retire from playing basketball in the WMBA and instead start a nonprofit committed to helping kids in need thrive as she instantly fell in love with the kids and saw firsthand how a little went a long way for the children.
Pluimer founded the organization “With My Own Two Hands” and they provide sustainable solutions to projects in Africa that help benefit orphaned and disadvantaged children and youth in need. She states,
“Our dream is to provide all children with an education in Africa, but we understand that in order to provide an education you must also provide water, food and shelter. Therefore, we are committed to providing aid within the areas of education, shelter, water, and agriculture.”
They have recently tackled the issue of forced marriages and female circumcision with the goal to provide young girls a safe refuge by building a rescue dormitory for the HELGA Rescue Project in Kajiado, Kenya. Two weeks after the grand opening we received word that the dormitory was already at full capacity (42 girls). Those 42 rescued girls are now safe from being forced into marriage and are provided access to education. We also just built a greenhouse with the St. Ann’s Orphanage in Kikopey, Kenya with collaboration from JCREW and EDUN fashion companies.
Pluimer comments that her motivation comes from her own upbringing, “I was fortunate enough to grow up with a loving family, safe community, and received an amazing education. I realized how fortunate I am and that it is my responsibility to be a part of a cause committed to giving children better access to education, health, water, and food.”
What are the biggest challenges? She states that being an international organization and getting people to connect to a cause outside of their local community can be tough. She says,
“We do not have the luxury of easily showing people our project sites unless they join us on our volunteer trips. We have to work very hard to show people directly how their donations go a long way for children in need.”
Advice for those interested in this path?
Pluimer encourages women interested in the nonprofit sector to remember how important their work is. She observes, “People who are called to this work have to have a big heart and a lot of drive, but when you know your career is changing lives, work becomes more meaningful and important. I would suggest finding a mentor. I have a couple great mentors that have been very helpful in guiding my efforts to grow my organization. Also remember to network! Relationships are everything!”
Celebrating the sisterhood: the power of female networks
International Womens Day, NewsBy Nneka Orji
Female friendships have always received perhaps more than their fair share of scrutiny; from frenemies to friends for ever, the spectrum of female friendships has been explored over the years. In their recent TED interview, actresses Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin reflect on the “renewable source of power” which female friendships bring. Yet if it’s not the Queen Bee syndrome, society still leans towards finding some form of controversy in female relationships. Is this scrutiny justified?
As we celebrate this year’s International Women’s Day (#IWD2016 #PledgeForParity), it’s time to adjust the spotlight on female relationships to showcase the positive effects female-female relationships have had and continue to have on the journey to greater parity. The Canadian feminist and author, Nellie McClung said: “[w]omen are going to form a chain, a greater sisterhood than the world has ever known.” This chain – aka the sisterhood – manifests itself today in the form of female mentors, women’s networks and friendships. They serve not only to push the diversity agenda forward, but also to support women in overcoming those barriers that still exist and to promote women to ensure our societies reach their full potential.
Not just another talking shop
Although some dismiss women’s networks and events such as IWD as talking shops with no clear purpose and potentially detrimental to the inclusion of men in the debate, studies show the opposite. Turknett Leadership Group, a talent management organisation, published a study in 2012 which linked participation in women’s networks with “high levels of career-related social support, a greater sense of well-being and more positive attitudes toward the organisation or company for whom the woman works.”
Initiatives such as Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In Circles serve to highlight the value some place on networking with other women – professionals and others. With over 26,000 Circles in 140 countries, women are engaging with each other in supportive networks across the globe. According to Sandberg’s Lean In website, 85% of Lean In Circle members “credit their Circle with a positive change in their life”.
As a result of the increased focus on diversity within organisations, leaders have invested more in gender-focused initiatives in the past few years. The added scrutiny organisations face as a result of reports such as the Lord Davies’ review in the UK, have led them to prioritise the gender inequalities – both real and perceived. Yet in their 2013 paper in which they shared the results of interviews within one global organisation, academics O’Neil, Hopkins and Sullivan found that there was a difference in the perception of the value of women’s networks in contributing to the organisation’s strategic goals. While the female network members felt that there was strong alignment between the network and the organisation’s wider goals, leaders in the executive teams “did not recognise the network’s possible effects on the firm’s bottom line”.
Out with the networks?
This idea on return on investment from diversity programmes and initiatives has been at the heart of the narrative – particularly across large corporates. However, according to a recent article in The Economist, organisations are starting to suffer from “diversity fatigue”. Diversity is becoming an over-used term and a tick-box exercise, leading to reduced levels of genuine engagement and more damningly, less significant impact on the sustainable change needed for a more inclusive culture. So should we tone down the emphasis on what remains a critical issue globally?
It is perhaps easy to fall into this cynical mindset; with the volume of articles such as this one and the number of women’s events (consider the number of IWD events you will come across), switching off may be the natural consequence of the increased focus on gender issues. However, it would be a missed opportunity to approach this important issue in such a passive manner.
Networks and networking are still important factors in career advancement, which in the long term should lead to the currently elusive goal of parity. Research has consistently shown that women network differently to men. Last year, Lily Fang of INSEAD published the results of her study which looked at the relationship between connections and career advancement across male and female colleagues. Despite being equally well connected, in terms of relationships with senior leaders and members of the executive team, female analysts were less likely to reap the rewards in terms of advancement than their male peers. However, the results did show that those women with a connection to a female executive outperformed those women with no female connection, albeit only marginally.
And it’s not just theoretical studies; examples abound of women who have been inspired, mentored and sponsored by more experienced female leaders. Oprah once told Barbara Walters during an interview: “Had there not been you, there never would have been me.”
Here’s to the sisterhood
Of course there will be situations where female colleagues don’t get along, in the same way that some male colleagues don’t gel. But why is there so much more coverage on the negative experiences of female colleagues and groups? Kelly Vallen’s experiences, which she shared in her book “The Twisted Sisterhood”, does resonate with a number of women. Yes there are “mean girls”, but there are “mean boys” too. The undue scrutiny on the former is misleading and detrimental to the general narrative around women in the workplace.
There are numerous studies which show that women do proactively support other women. A Catalyst report showed that far from pulling up the ladder behind them, 73% of women who are developing the next generation of talent, are focused on developing women.
In this enthusiasm to embrace the sisterhood, we must not forget the men. Some of the most committed sponsors of female leaders today have been or are currently being mentored and sponsored by men. Sheryl Sandberg and Larry Summers, Angela Merkel and Helmut Kohl. The role of men in achieving parity in the workplace and beyond is critical to success.
So this IWD, let us (men and women) celebrate the sisterhood – to keeping that chain unbroken and using it to pull up the next generation of women.
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Beating Bias: How Technology Is Changing the Recruiting Game
Career Advice, Women in TechnologyBy Aimee Hansen
The hardest part of diversity can be the “how.” How do you stay awake to your own unconscious bias? Can you?
With no evidence that it’s possible to eliminate unconscious bias, a rising trend on the crossroads of diversity and tech is to mitigate bias with the help of technology tools.
New apps are helping to eliminate and filter the blindspots in the communications and decision-making that go into recruitment, hiring and promotion.
If You Can’t Stop it, Mitigate It
Diversity training helps individuals to become aware of their own bias, but unconscious bias, by definition, often evades our awareness to blindly drive our decisions. It can’t necessarily be trained away.
As Tony Greenwald, a University of Washington psychology professor who conducted seminal research on unconscious bias said, “Understanding implicit bias does not actually provide you the tools to do something about it.”
While increasing awareness of unconscious bias can enable individuals to be a bit more conscious of their own thought patterns and actions, it can also make bias socially normalized, which can backfire by condoning stereotyping.
We’re all doing it, right? If everybody is guilty, then is anyone?
One place where bias famously runs riot is in Silicon Valley. As Vivian Giang in Fast Company writes, “the percentage of underrepresented minorities is so low, (Silicon Valley) employers shouldn’t trust their own judgment anymore.”
But the dearth of diversity in tech town has recently catalyzed a booming counter-effect in app development.
As Ellen Huet writes in Forbes, unconscious bias has become the newest target in Silicon Valley and “demand for bias-busting solutions, in the form of consulting firms and anti-bias hiring software, has shot through the roof.”
Want Diversity? Watch Your Language
Something as seemingly innocuous as a job listing can bring bias into the hiring process through turning some candidates on and others away.
For example, research has shown that women are more drawn to/less threatened by companies that emphasize growth and development rather than boasting they hire the most awesome talent.
Two examples of companies who get the power and influence of words in the hiring process are Textio and Unitive, both of which have created software that tackle workplace bias in hiring and recruiting in “real time”.
Co-founder and CEO of Textio, Kieran Snyder, is a PhD in linguistics, who also researches gender bias in office dynamics. According to Textio, “the future of writing is knowing how well your words will work before anyone else reads them.”
Textio Talent, which has been used by companies like Twitter, Microsoft, Starbucks and Square, is “like a very smart word processor” that helps to predict how your documents, such as job listings and candidate e-mails, will perform.
As you write, the software highlights phrases, calls out their potential impact, and suggests alternative choices to appeal to a wider range of job seekers.
Textio has found that “proven track record” means more men will apply, “passion for learning” will attract more women, “mentoring” is generally more attractive than “coaching”, and “high performer” is more widely appealing than “rock star.”
There’s even an attraction difference between “manage a team” (more male) versus “develop a team” (more female). The tool also highlights when you’re just talking corporate jargon such as “synergy,” which makes listings less popular.
Snyder told Fast Company, “Everybody hates that language, but underrepresented people hate it more, probably because it’s a cultural signifier of some kind. It sort of communicates, this is an old-boy’s network kind of company.”
Take The Bias Out of Resumes & Interviews
Research that has shown that applicants with names that sound African-American have a 14% lower call-back rate. When it comes to tackling bias in hiring, developers are also focusing in on the resume and interview process.
Unitive has created an app that helps with creating word-optimized job postings, as well as resume reviewing and interview structuring, helping hiring managers monitor their decision-making and mitigate the effect of bias throughout.
The technology requires hiring managers to first “pre-commit” to what they most wish to see from an applicant, and presents resumes stripped of bias-triggering details like name and gender. Through the resume and interview process, the app reminds the manager of the key pre-committed criteria they choose.
In Fortune, Unitive Founder and CEO Laura Mather explains, ”We found a way to operationalize psychological findings so that hiring managers avoid bias as much as possible,” explains Mather.
It’s as much as about efficient hiring, and efficient hiring lends itself to more diversity. According to NPR, when cybersecurity firm RedSeal wanted to expand its employee base to increase women and minority representation, the CEO brought in Unitive to help filter out bias.
As a result, the firm received 30% more job applications, and the percentage of female engineers doubled. The candidate pool both increased and diversified. The technology helped to move away from “culture-fit”, breaking the mold on who fits into the company.
Unitive Founder and CEO Laura Mather told NPR that research shows “getting in different perspectives into your company makes your company more innovative, more profitable, more productive.” Mather said, ”All kinds of really great things happen when you stop making decisions based on how much you like the person’s personality.”
The Blind Audition
Another firm, GapJumpers helps remove bias from the hiring process for tech talent through blind auditions, just as blind auditions cracked the orchestra world open for female musicians. Candidates are given a challenge related to the job, rather than submitting a resume, which gives clues to gender and race. Not only is the process less biased, it allows those hiring to see how a candidate delivers.
Blendoor is just one other example of a new app which connects candidates and recruiters with faceless and nameless profiles, with a Tinder-like interface.
Nicki Gilmour, Founder of theglasshammer and organizational psychologist emphasizes that new technology is a valuable part of the equation in addressing unconscious bias. ”Like any behavioral change project, but especially anything to do with habits, assumptions and stereotypes, many parts of the system need to support the change structurally, to make individual change easier.”
”I also feel executive coaching is important as assumptions can be part of the cultural wallpaper and engrained,” Gilmour commented. “When they are interwoven with individual value sets that might be traditional to start with, making the unconscious conscious is only the beginning of this work.”
If You Talk the Talk, Try the Technology
More and more start-ups are entering the space of developing the technology that filters bias out of hiring efficiency and diversity, and current players have plans to expand beyond hiring to addressing promotions and reviews.
As the “how”’ of diversity becomes increasingly demystified and tangible, companies have a chance to do with unconscious bias what they would do with any inhibiting factor to their business: bring in the tools to address it.
Save
To Telecommute or Work in an Office: That is the Question
News, Office PoliticsSo are they?
Technology now enables workers to access work servers, email, employee instant messenger services, shared folders, and more, practically allowing them to simulate an office environment. ‘Face-time’ can also be achieved by free services such as Skype.
Yahoo! imposed a ban on working remotely with the entry of Marissa Mayer as CEO, this move was not without criticism. As commented upon in an article in American Banker.
“Giving employees the flexibility to choose where they work is an endeavor far too nuanced for a simplistic approach.” Yahoo! may be one of the only companies, however, who are making such drastic decisions. American Express, Citigroup and Capital One are just a few of the large companies who are growing their work-from-home programs in the roles of field sales representatives and technology.
In fact, Citi has been exemplary in creating a hot desk system in their offices in Long Island, NYC and employees seem to be reaping the benefits of such flexibility.
Karyn Likerman, Head of Inclusion Programs and Work-Life Strategy at Citi Bank says she could virtually do her job offsite. “Most of my meetings are with others that work across the US and around the world,” she says. “I have a proper work space at home and can function fully from there, seamless to those that I work with.”
Averting the traditional office setup also undeniably cuts costs, and allows companies to maintain low overhead. When budget makers find themselves under earnings constraints, they often turn to telecommuting as a solution to cutting down on business real estate.
Those in favor of working remotely also argue that workers with strong creative minds can more likely come up with strategic and innovative ideas when they are in a more relaxed and comfortable environment. Depending on a company’s office culture, a stiff and conservative ambiance can stifle such productivity.
Forbes contributor Jacob Morgan argues against corporate office spaces, citing the 2013 Regus Global Economic Indicator, which states that “out of 26,000 business managers across 90 countries, 48% of them are now working remotely for at least half of their work-week.”
There is also the question of the worker’s daily commute, which can be quite lengthy for many around the world. The United States Census Bureau reports that 600,000 employees in the U.S. alone travel 90 minutes and 50 miles to work (each way) whereas 10.8 million of us travel 60 minutes each way. This is significant travel time that can be used to improve productivity and company growth.
Is it generational? Forbes contributor Morgan believes it is. On the topic of Millennials, he reminds us that by the year 2020, the majority of those in the workplace will be from their generation. “This is a generation that is used to being connected,” he writes. “Millennials grew up with social platforms…this is a generation that doesn’t know what it’s like to get 200 emails a day while sitting in a cubicle. Organizations need to adapt to this employee.”
Offices, however, still serve a number of useful functions and perhaps a balance of the two options is the answer. Citi’s Likerman can complete most of her tasks remotely; she admittedly enjoys “the in-person collaboration when working in the office.”
Likerman notes that, “Technology in meeting rooms (video conferencing, access to the internet and my desktop), dual monitors, higher quality video conferencing” are all reasons why an office environment still proves beneficial. She also notes that because she works for a bank, “we have certain systems that are not accessible outside of our firewalls so those employees must work in an office.”
She notes, most importantly perhaps, that customer facing employees can’t get around working from their place of employment. The need for people to connect directly with other people will never go away. Working physically among fellow employees can form important foundational relationships that telecommuting cannot achieve.
The spontaneity factor is also huge when arguing for the traditional office environment. A chance encounter with a colleague from another department while getting coffee, for example, leading to a new collaboration, could never happen outside the office.
A research study called the “Allen Curve,” which is named after MIT management/engineering professor Thomas J. Allen, began in the 1970s, which found that “the probability for frequent communications among engineers is greatest when they’re located within about 100 feet of one another.” Proximity tends to lead to speedier decision-making, some argue.
In truth, proper research has yet to hit the public on whether or not productivity increases or decreases due to telecommuting. And it is still tricky to ensure workers are being as productive as required when working from home, or outside the office. So this debate will likely continue. However, telecommuting will likely continue to grow because not only is it desirable to the employee, but to the company’s numbers.
By Gina Scanlon
OP-ED: Employers must meet unprecedented female demand for international mobility – or face losing the war for talent
Featured, International Womens Day, Op-EdDid you know that we are experiencing a time of unprecedented – and as yet unmet –demand from female employees for international mobility?
Across the world, forward-thinking organisations are using international mobility experiences to develop future leaders and advance the careers of key talent. Yet despite unprecedented female demand for these assignments, women currently only account for 20% of international assignees.To boost awareness of this shortfall, celebrate the international career aspirations of women and shine a light on what organisations can do to help make these aspirations a reality, PwC is marking this year’s International Women’s Day by launching a new research-based report called Moving women with purpose.
The report highlights a number of other critical diversity disconnects beyond the wide gap mentioned above between female demand for mobility and the reality in the workplace. For example, the overwhelming majority of multinationals in our study told us that global acumen skills were a critical requirement for advancement into leadership positions at their organisations (77%) – and 67% of large multinationals said they use global mobility to develop their succession pipeline of future leaders. Yet only 16% confirmed that the number of female international assignees in their organisation was proportionate to their overall percentage of female employees.
Furthermore, only 22% of global mobility executives stated that their organisations’ diversity and mobility strategies were aligned. Even more worryingly, the same small proportion – 22% – said they were actively trying to increase their levels of internationally mobile women.
So it’s clear that organisations are using international exposure and experiences to develop and advance their key talent. But it’s equally clear that more action is urgently needed to close a significant mobility gender gap. To do this, CEOs must drive an agenda where women are both aware of – and also actively provided with – the critical experiences they need to progress their careers, including international assignment opportunities. Also, to respond to and capitalise on the demographics of the modern workforce mobility, mobility programmes can simply not be operated in a silo. Global mobility, diversity and talent management strategies need to be connected and coordinated to support companies’ successful realisation of their international business and people strategies.
Another disconnect that PwC’s research report highlights is a glaring lack of role models for female mobility. Less than half of the women we interviewed agreed that their organisation has enough female role models with successful international assignment experiences. And this shortcoming is negatively impacting companies’ wider female talent and global mobility programmes. In fact, both women and global mobility executives identified it as the second highest barrier inhibiting more women from undertaking international assignments.
To close this role model gap, international employers need to use the mantra ‘you can’t be what you can’t see’ as a catalyst to drive more gender-inclusive mobility. The 71% of female millennials who actively desire international mobility want to be able to look up and around them to see women who have already had such experiences at their organisation, and who have seen their careers benefit as result. If women can’t see such role models, then organisations will struggle to attract or retain female talent, who will look to other employers to provide them with the international opportunities they crave.
Speaking personally, I was very lucky to undertake a mobility experience at the age of 25 to PwC’s Boston office – and for the near-decade since then I’ve worked with an international mandate. So I know just how life-changing a mobility experience can be. I can’t imagine any other way that I could have benefited from such rapid and profound personal and profession development in a relatively short space of time. This is one of the reasons why our report includes profiles of several female role models from PwC and other international businesses.
We’d also like to share with you our Moving women with purpose role model video, which showcases a diverse range of PwC women talking about their international mobility experiences. If you are a woman considering undertaking an international experience, or perhaps hesitating about taking the plunge, it’s definitely worth a watch.
Voice of Experience: Marie Louise Kirk, Partner, Goldman Sachs
Voices of ExperienceAs Kirk puts it, she is “Goldman Sachs born and bred,” initially joining the firm as an intern. She is now head of FICC Client-facing Engineers for the Americas, responsible for client strategies and solutions. Kirk also serves on the Firmwide Technology Risk Committee and the Securities Division Client and Business Standards Committee.
Originally from Denmark, she was the first in her family to attend university abroad, after being accepted to Harvard. “I come from many generations of Vikings so it was a huge deal when I got a scholarship to attend Harvard from the Crown Prince of Denmark.” She also ended up meeting her now-husband as a classmate at Harvard University.
She describes her experience at Harvard as “eye opening and life changing,” and now serves as a trustee on the board of the Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark Fund for Harvard University.
Although many companies came on campus to recruit, Kirk says that she was won over at her first Goldman event hosted on campus, because of a connection she made with a senior female professional at the firm. “She was so relatable and passionate about her work,” Kirk said. After interviews in Boston and London, Kirk was offered an internship in London on the trading floor. She began working full time as an interest rate derivative trader following graduation. “Trading was at the heart of where things were happening,” she says, describing it as very dynamic, though with a steep learning curve, where she received lots of opportunities to learn.
Data Shows the Way
After several years on the trading desk, Kirk realized that she wanted to become a financial engineer because she enjoyed the quant work, but also wanted to work with clients. Reflecting on this role Kirk says, “This is what I’m passionate about.”
In 2006, Kirk transitioned to the engineering team, and in 2008 she was asked to move to New York to lend her expertise. She arrived in New York two weeks before Lehman Brothers went under and at the time there was a need for her derivative skill set: “Quant skills come in especially handy in tough times,” she says.
In her current job, she appreciates that the role allows her to find solutions for clients – she says she does her best to help clients make money and manage risk and their businesses better.
The advancements in data science and machine learning for how the firm services its clients better are exciting aspects of her work. “We are really figuring out how we can be more relevant to our clients at the right time with the right content.” Kirk notes that her team lets “data be a leading indicator to help guide us and give clients the best and most relevant service possible.”
Although the firm’s risk-management activities have always been driven by data, Goldman Sachs is now starting to apply data to a much larger extent in other areas. Data can create huge efficiency improvements, Kirk says, as well as smarter, more scientific decision-making in areas that were previously driven by more subjective analysis, anecdotes and gut-feeling.
“The change that has taken place in the last couple of years and what’s predicted for the near-term is mind blowing,” she says. “Through data and technology there will increasingly be ways that machines can perform the more manual functions that humans have had to do. It will allow all of us to focus more on the high-value activities in our business.”
Proudest Achievement is Facilitating Success for Next Generation
Kirk says she was proud to be named a managing director in 2009 and partner in 2012, but that she’s most proud of her role in building next generation. “Recruiting talented people, coaching them with the right mix of support and push and ultimately seeing them flourish is wonderful,” Kirk says. “Helping create the next generation of successful leaders is a true legacy. And now seeing them naturally turn around and start supporting and pulling up the generation behind them makes me even prouder and, frankly, quite emotional.”
As Kirk says, “It’s gratifying to know there is a virtuous cycle that will benefit generations that will last way past any one person’s time at Goldman Sachs.”
Savvy Advice on Perfectionism
When asked what advice she wishes she’d known earlier in her career, Kirk notes that no great advice can replace the personal growth that comes from a journey of ups and downs. “No life is perfect. No career is perfect. The sooner you find peace with that truth, the sooner you will find your path to success.” She cites Winston Churchill’s quote: “Success is not final; failure is not fatal; it’s the courage to continue that counts.”
She sees that many people in the workforce, especially those of us with Type A tendencies, become obsessed with perfection and the perception of perfection, but she advises peers and junior employees to be comfortable with not always trying to be perfect.
“To be really creative and innovative, you have to push boundaries and give it your all,” she says. “You have to keep the right balance between being on your toes, but not so obsessed with perfection or fear of failure that you become scared of your own shadow.” Managers are critical in providing the psychological safety to help overcome some of these issues and create an environment of authenticity and ability to be your own diverse self, she says.
Kirk warns that when you apply that same standard of perfectionism to marriage, kids and friends on top of work, you will break.
“If you aim for perfection, you may feel you have to choose between being the best at work and in your personal life and that you can’t do both. But if you change your attitude and approach, you may end up doing both better.”
Throughout her years at Goldman Sachs, Kirk has been involved in many of the firm’s internal programs, and she has found that one element they have all had in common is the social glue of community and connectivity, which have helped her remain excited to go to work every day.
A Full Life Outside of Work
Currently expecting her third daughter, Kirk says she has her hands full with two other girls, ages 10 and 5, and a husband with a thriving career of his own.
Yet she still finds time to nurture girls on the path to STEM careers. “It’s upsetting when I see them lean out, and often at such a young age, all because of stereotypes,” she says. “It’s fine to make a conscious choice at 16, but sometimes they start opting out at age 6 before they understand their true talent and interests.”
In her family, it’s easy to focus on women who are successful at math. “We good-naturedly ridicule dad, who’s not a math guy,” she laughs. “For now my daughters think math is a girl thing.”
International Women’s Day: It’s About Every Day
Featured, International Womens DayAs United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon states, “Let us devote solid funding, courageous advocacy and unbending political will to achieving gender equality around the world. There is no greater investment in our common future.”
Women…Just One Day?
Wait. Is having one day designated to over half of the planet’s population itself a barrier to ever achieving gender equality?
We asked Morra Aarons-Mele, blogger, former political consultant, and founder of Woman Online what she thought. “Whenever we focus our attention on a particular issue for a day, we run the risk of thinking and acting for one 24-hour period, patting ourselves on the back, and then putting the issue on the back burner for the rest of the year. The positive change I see is that an increasing number of individuals, governments, businesses, and organizations are considering and working towards gender equality every day. I like to think of IWD as a day where those actors can share their good work and where we can all put focused efforts toward advancing the cause.”
Stepping It Up
This year, with the theme “Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step it Up for Gender Equality”, the UN is focusing on accelerating progress towards sustainable development, which includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Many of the goals have heightened significance for women, with “quality education” as goal 4 and “gender equality”as goal 5.
The UN recognizes that sustainable development depends on gender equality. Turned another way, until global society achieves gender equality, including gender equality at key levels of decision making, society will perpetuate an unsustainable world.
On September 27th, 2015, 80 world leaders met in New York to kick-start changes to end discrimination against women, with each country being called to make commitments and pledges focusing on “increasing investment in gender equality, reaching parity for women at all levels of decision-making, eliminating discriminatory legislation, and addressing social norms that perpetuate discrimination and violence against women.”
In the spirit of HeForShe, anyone attending the International Women’s Day Forum in New York, co-hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation and focusing on the business community, is granted a two-for-one registration when they bring a male colleague. It’s not just a women’s issue.
#PledgeforParity
An acceleration to gender equality is necessary, since the World Economic Forum’s most recent prediction indicates that the global gender gap won’t close until 2133, which was a big slowdown from their 2014 prediction of 2095.
The IWD #PledgeforParity campaign, whose partners include EY and Accenture among others, focuses on prompting individuals, both men and women, to “move from talk to purposeful action”in one of five areas: helping women and girls achieve their ambitions; challenging conscious and unconscious bias; calling for gender-balanced leadership; valuing women’s and men’s contribution equally; creating inclusive, flexible cultures.
Accenture is also holding their annual celebration, with live broadcasts around the world, which will focus on “Being Greater Than: It’s about going beyond boundaries and expectations. It’s about raising our voices and our sights to advance the women, the ideas and the goals that will drive the next generation of leaders.”
Walking the walk, Accenture’s annual event is substantiated by every day action with hiring goals and retention practices in place to create accountable change.
It’s About Every Day.
The biggest thing we can take from IWD is that gender equality is about every single day. It’s not only about the special initiative, or the big event, or the dedicated task force. These things only exist to redirect our attention and energies to the prevalent imbalances that current organizational operations too often stem from and collude with.
According to our CEO and resident organizational psychologist Nicki Gilmour, “Action is what is needed, because I’ve witnessed thattoo often companies stop at lip service.Even when they pay for consultation andsolutions, they often take none of the steps outlined; theypull none of the levers available to them to createequity in the system.Instead many firms throw a party on International Women’s Day and feel that the mission is somehow accomplished whilst talent processes and management practices remain untouched.”
IWD is about what happens every day.
As Aarons-Mele puts it, “IWD gives us all the chance to think about how we address rights and equality all other 364 days each year (or 365 days, this year). How can we move beyond thinking and acting on one day to make equality part of the bones of our organizations? How can we make operational and systemic changes so that we don’t have to take “extra” actions that improve the lives of women. How can we improve our systems to have advancing equality baked right in to our missions? We can all benefit from treating IWD as less a be-all, end-all day for women and more as a jumping off point to use each day of the year to advance women’s rights.”
With that, The Glass Hammer will keep talking about gender equality andacting to create real change today,tomorrow, and each day after that.