women in the c-suite Archives

“Getting comfortable with uncomfortable conversations is an ideal way to prepare for a job interview, whether it’s going for a position at a new job or putting your hat in the ring for an opportunity with your current employer,” says Ruth Harper.

Harper speaks to the thread that has motivated her all along, supporting women at work and unleashing the opportunities that work can provide.

The Joy Of Empowering Lives

“I witnessed firsthand how the economy can thrive or not, subject to how the world of work works for people or doesn’t. I grew up in a neighborhood in a time when industry was declining, and so there was industrial action and people were out of work, impacting families in a significant way,” says Harper. “My own father had to travel for work. I learned very early about the power of work in somebody’s life, and what happens when you take it away. It’s closely connected to what drives me today.”

Harper grew up in Northern England, an industrial powerhouse, and now lives in Milwaukee, yet another industrial powerhouse. One of the first in her family to go to university and then postgraduate studies, both in human and economic geography, she became a geography teacher – including a stint in the girl’s school once attended by Margaret Thatcher, who became the first female prime minister in the UK.

Curious about what else lay beyond teaching, Harper moved to London and worked with a ‘temp agency’ to figure out how to reinvent herself in work. She was able to transfer her skills to influencing and motivating employment policy, helping unemployed people get back to work and bridging the public and private sectors. It felt meaningful and gratifying, and she was learning a lot while figuring out how to set up public-private partnerships.

“I was working with purpose-driven people who were determined to create opportunities and results that would change people’s lives,” reflects Harper. “The privilege of working on that pulled me into ManpowerGroup. Here I am, 20 years later, still having a nearly first-hand opportunity to create impact. For example, through Manpower’s MyPath program which provides the guidance, support and training people need to build their confidence and employability.”

She notes that while the changing world of work can be exciting, it can be daunting for people in fast-changing industries whose job security feels more volatile: “Being able to address that anxiety and unleash ambition, and to help layout pathways to work for people feels like a thread back to what I could see when I was growing up.”

Supporting Women To Thrive At Work

Harper notes that ManpowerGroup’s Chairman & CEO, Jonas Prising, originally from Sweden, has publicly declared a measurable goal of 50% women in leadership by 2025. Getting familiar with the factors and barriers that can drive women away or block women from the workplace is critical.

“I think organizations need to look at how they help women continue to progress in their career, even when they are part-time or take a break,” says Harper, who spent her own maternity leave in Europe, where she had a year with both of her sons before returning. “Otherwise, we’re never going to get 50% women in leadership because organizations will keep churning out great female talent, who will seek opportunities to balance life and work elsewhere.”

Back in her early days, working in the field of employment policy and government relations with ManpowerGroup, it was not unusual for Harper to walk into rooms full of 55+ year-old white men. They were as likely to assume she was there to take the notes versus contribute to the discussion.

“I learned from a 55 year old male boss at the time to get in there early with a contribution to the discussion. Number one, other people feel relieved and appreciate it when somebody says something first and are likely to even build on it,” advises Harper. “And I learned that contributing early liberates you to relax and enjoy the discussion, because you’re not beating yourself up about not having said anything yet. You may find you are building up to something even bigger to say, but at least you feel good because you’ve contributed.”

She advises the same with networking: “Lots of people don’t love networking. Most people will welcome somebody else walking over to them and saying something; being the first person to put other people at ease is good for you and good for others. It’s a great icebreaker and network builder.”

Navigating Your Desires and Career Journey

Harper likes to surround herself with smart people who bring different perspectives. Curiosity has always pulled her to ask the question ‘what next’. Humility has supported her when she didn’t know that answer.

“Raise your hand, take stuff on and see where it leads you,” advises Harper. “But more importantly, and what I did not always do, is to be confident about articulating where you might want to go, even if it’s not exactly where you might end up, so people have a comprehension of your ambition.”

She encourages women to ask themselves: Am I good with this? Or do I want something different or more? Do I know what that is? How might I get it? Who should I talk to that can help me hone in on what I want?

“Be comfortable with these open-ended questions and then know where your mentors and your people are so that you can have those discussions to help shape your own thought process,” says Harper. “Each person will give you a different set of questions, and that can help you shape a full viewpoint.”

Whether it’s her very supportive husband, or peers inside and outside of the organization, somebody will be able to reflect in a way that helps brings clarity – and sometimes, that means waiting not jumping.

“This is way more of a jungle gym than it is a ladder, so don’t always think that it’s only the vacancy or the opportunity right now that is your opportunity,” says Harper. “Keep going and working it out, until you find or create those opportunities for you.”

Taking On Bigger Leadership Roles

Accordingly, Harper points out that her role of Chief Sustainability Officer did not even exist a couple of years ago.

“There’s nothing more socially impactful than having the dignity to go out and earn a decent living and bring that back to the family and contribute to the community,” says Harper. “At ManpowerGroup, we believe meaningful, sustainable employment has the power to change the world. So, I’m asking how do we, as one of the largest organizations in our industry, set the highest standards and then bring others into that?”

As she’s moved up the ranks, it’s been about “getting out of the weeds” to keep a strategic overview while developing and trusting others. And that means giving people the freedom and safety to do things differently to her (and perhaps even better). “That’s also how I can continue to progress to new and different things – by bringing others with me, so we all rise together and have opportunities.”

Considering herself a talker from a family of talkers, she’s fairly direct in cracking how to get things done. Getting better at deep listening to others, and allowing the pauses in their expression, has been a valuable growth zone.

A mentor of 20 years taught her that leadership style must be versatile and individualized to whoever you are leading. It means both equipping and giving someone the opportunity to run with a project and keeping just enough of an eye to help point them back on track if they are going off-course.

In the spirit of fostering a growth culture at every level, Harper is herself inspired by leaders who are willing to reveal their human side, admit they don’t know something or ask for advice on an idea that is not fully baked.

“I’m really inspired when someone in a senior position puts work in front of me and invites me to build on it, because it shows openness that I might be able to add something to make it even better,” says Harper. “That always motivates me to find really good and constructive input.”

Expressing gratitude at the stage of asking someone to do something, even before they’re delivered (“thank you for…”) is an approach she’s also picked up along the way, showing trust and humility.

Being Purpose-Driven and Making Impact

Harper finds when there is genuine camaraderie in the workplace, people pull together for great things. One of her most humbling and rewarding experiences has been ManpowerGroup’s response efforts to the Ukraine crisis, especially in the Central and Eastern European offices.

“Our Ukraine planning call was the hardest I’ve been on in my 20 years here, but the most inspirational leadership I’ve ever seen, watching people who are really purpose-driven go above and beyond, every day but also on days when it’s needed most,” she says. “And, then how do we continue to do that for refugees or underrepresented groups, too, and find ways to make more impact?”

Recently reflecting on her 20 years at ManpowerGroup, Harper realized she’d moved through many different opportunities and roles, and it hasn’t been a linear journey. What has run through everything is the red thread of getting more people into work and impacting individual lives.

She has two boys, ages 15 and 12, who play American football, soccer and hockey, so being a part of what they love is important to her. She values being present and enjoys traveling, getting outside and good food.

By Aimee Hansen

For every woman at the director level that was promoted to the next level in 2021, two women directors walked out the door of their company. Women leaders are now demanding more, and leaving their companies at unprecedented rates, according to The Women in The Workplace 2022 report by LeanIn.Org and McKinsey & Company, who have released the research annually since 2015.

“We’re finally seeing the moment where women in leadership are voting with their feet,” said Alexis Krivkovich, a managing partner at McKinsey and cofounding report author.

In this “profound change,” women are indeed deciding to vote for the workplace they want with the most compelling power they will ever have: their presence, time and energy. Nothing short of this will shake up the workplace as we have known it. No matter the current representation, senior women are going beyond just getting access to upper levels and getting clearer on what they would like to experience and see happen there, and seeking that out. Could senior women’s participation from this place of self-empowerment catalyze greater change?

Women Aren’t Leaving, They’re Leaving For Better

“We are in the midst of a Great Breakup in corporate America. Women leaders are leaving their companies at the highest rate we’ve ever seen. They aren’t leaving the workforce entirely but are choosing to leave for companies with better career opportunities, flexibility, and a real commitment to DEI,” said Sheryl Sandberg, founder of Lean In, who leaned out of Facebook this past summer.

About 10.5% of female leaders (senior management and above) left their companies in 2021, compared to 9% of male leaders. On the average year, the spread is close with only a half-point gap.

Senior women leaders, after all the journey they have gained, aren’t walking out because they don’t think they have choices. They are walking about because they finally know they do – and they are taking their leadership assets with them in search of better opportunities. Having now recovered from pandemic job losses, women are more attuned to the relationship they want (and the ones will not tolerate) within the workplace. Women’s threshold to tolerate toxicity and inequity has been thinned, yet the broken rung is still there and the broken record of unequal outcomes plays wearingly on repeat. Women leaders are voting for the relationships they want to have with work.

Cultures That Work for Women’s Advancement

Women are as ambitious as men. Black women leaders (59%) and women of color (41%) are even more likely to want to be top executives (27%). But only 1 in 4 C-Suite leaders is a woman and only one in 20 is a woman of color. For every 100 men promoted from entry level to manager, just 87 women and 82 women of color are promoted.

And the signals that counter advancement come across in microaggressions or more overt dynamics: Female leaders are twice as likely as male counterparts to be mistaken for someone junior. 37% of women leaders said they’ve had a co-worker get credit for their idea, compared to 27% of men. Black female leaders are 1.5x more likely than women overall to have had their judgment or qualification questioned. Many women still feel undermined or passed over in the workplace.

Recognition for and Performance Consideration Of Essential Work

While women are twice as likely to do be doing DEI-related and inclusion work that is helping with company performance, they are disproportionally carrying an increasingly ‘valued’ aspect of leadership that too often goes unrecognized and 40% say does not factor into the performance review. Meanwhile, women leaders are more burnt out (43%) than male counterparts (31%).

Flexible Work Cultures that Embody the Talk Around Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Women want a better work culture. Only 1 in 10 women wants to work on-site most of the time, and women will move for flexibility. It’s not surprising considering that 52% of senior female leaders do most of the family housework and childcare compared to 13% of senior male leaders. Women who work the way they want to feel far happier, feel they have more equal opportunity to advance and are less likely to leave their job. Remote work also provides a reprieve from office-based exclusion and as McKinsey points out, that is a fundamental issue for organizations to address: “Companies cannot rely on remote and hybrid work as a solution; they need to invest in creating a truly inclusive culture.”

Over the past two years, being in a culture committed to well-being and DEI has become more important to women, and they are 1.5 more likely to have left a job because they wanted a more inclusive culture.

Better And More Supportive Managers

Having a supportive manager is a top three criteria for women when thinking of joining or staying with an organization. Only about half of women say their manager encourages respectful behavior on their team regularly. Less than half say their manager shows interest in their career and helps them manage their workload. Black women and Latinas are particularly less likely to feel their manager shows interest in their career, checks in on their well-being or promotes inclusion on the team. They also experience less psychological safety. Women with various intersectional identities see gaps between the lip service to inclusion and what is actually happening in their experience.

Towards A Work Paradigm That Works For Women?

Female directors are becoming more sensitive to the conditions that don’t work for them, and it matters for them and future generations. Women under 30 are highly ambitious to become senior leaders, but 2/3 would be more interested if they saw senior women with a covetable work-life balance, an increasingly important career requirement for younger people.

The press isn’t focused on how bad this attrition of women leaders is for women. It’s focused on how bad the attrition of women leaders is for organizations. McKinsey has previously found that executives teams in the top quartile of gender diversity have a 25% greater likelihood of outperformance (above average profitability) than those in the bottom. LeanIn.Org and McKinsey have several recommendations for organizations following this recent report.

Stepping back, we are interested in what happens when women leaders take stock of their own value. All along, women have been trying to pave the way for those behind them by fighting to have a seat at the table. But increasingly, women are realizing that modeling leadership is not only about the rooms you are able to walk into, but also the rooms you are willing to walk away from. Because we need to walk towards creating organizational missions and cultures where all women (and people) are welcome and supported to lead and live their lives.

That is the power of esteeming the self. How would that mindset shift, at a collective level, give rise to more change in our workplace?

By Aimee Hansen

Tag Archive for: women in the c-suite

Ruth Harper: SVP, Chief Communications & Sustainability Officer, ManpowerGroup