women in the workplace Archives

Happy Martin Luther King Jr Day 2021: Celebrating Black Women at Work!

Martin Luther King Jr. has been recognized as an “icon for democracy,” and today is a time for people from every race, ethnicity, and culture to celebrate. As we look back on the past year, we hope that you find inspiration from the incredible black and African American women we have profiled and want to share with you again today. Together, we can create a stronger foundation for a better workplace in the future.

If you or someone you know should be nominated to tell their career story on TheGlassHammer around our digital campfire in 2021 to inspire others, we would love to hear from you.

Please enjoy these articles in which each amazing professional gets to tell their story and how each individual has had to navigate the journey as women of color. There are themes like the importance of self-advocacy, sponsorship and organizational commitment to reducing barriers and systemic issues. In particular, Black women already face more barriers to advancement than most other employees, and now, they are shouldering much heavier burdens. Black women are more than twice as likely to say that the death of a loved one and incidents of racial violence across the U.S. have been overwhelming challenges during the pandemic. According to the Women in the Workplace study, now Black women say they cannot bring their whole selves to work and are more than 1.5 times as likely to say they do not feel like they have strong allies at work.

LeanIn and other sources suggest that to better support Black women, companies need to take action by addressing these distinct challenges head-on and fostering a culture that values Black professionals in the workplace. Companies need to emphasize that discriminatory behaviors and microaggressions against Black women will not be tolerated. Also, giving Black women a voice in shaping new company norms, can provide unique perspectives and experiences when creating a more inclusive workplace culture.

1. Veronica Willis, Investment Strategy Analyst at Wells Fargo Investment Institute

Willis discusses a career shift into investment strategy, finding her own stride as a leader, and what the remote working environment has taught her so far.

“I’ve learned a lot of strategies about productivity during this working-from-home time due to COVID-19. I’ve also learned a lot about what really is high and low priority, so now I know what to focus on and I will take this back to the office with me.”

2. Melanie Priddy, the Chief Talent Officer at Katten

Priddy speaks about the value of connections, the need to merge professional development with diversity, and the importance of self-advocacy.

“At the end of day, relationships are the key to everything, regardless of what industry you’re in, or what your profession is.”

3. Beverly Robinson, Client Service Consultant at Abbot Downing

Robinson discusses how she is a woman both of influence and advocacy.

“As an African American woman in Corporate America, I’ve learned that I cannot afford to be thin-skinned when my ideas are usurped, re-mixed or claimed by others. There’s an art to being a woman of diversity, inclusion and advocacy.”

4. Afua Richardson-Parry, Senior Medical Manager at Pfizer Ltd.

Richardson-Parry had always strived to be a hands-on person, prone to learning new things in keeping with the pace of a dynamic and changing healthcare ecosystem.

“Knowing what you’re best at and what others can and should do instead of doing it all yourself allows you to be your best.”

5. Shani Hatcher, Financial Advisor at Wells Fargo Advisors

Hatcher shares how taking a compassionate approach to wellbeing and family time, especially during the current pandemic, has become extremely useful.

“The best thing about my job is helping people. It is humbling that I can be there for my clients during difficult times, I don’t want them to feel alone. I, too, am an individual and a mother dealing with the pandemic, so I tell them we can get through this together.”

6. Devlyn Lorenzen, Business Support Associate at Wells Fargo Advisors

Lorenzen talks about how a turning point in her career helped her develop a renewed confidence and determination.

“Take charge of your own narrative and find people who will speak up for you.”

7. Kacy J. Gambles, SVP Regional Manager of Investment and Fiduciary Services for the East Bay and San Jose California Regions at Wells Fargo Private Bank

Being an African American executive, Gambles discusses her journey in the financial services industry and how proud she is to be navigating the journey as a woman of color every day.

“Be bold, be brave and just be you. Don’t shrink to please the people around you.”

8. Melandee Jones Canady, Delivery Executive at AARP

Over the years, Canady has learned that if you’re not upfront about letting people know your accomplishments, it opens the door for others to create your narrative on your behalf.

“I wish I had been more vocal early on; I was a doer quietly performing my work, until someone pulled me aside and said I needed to start broadcasting more of my achievements.”

9. Claudine A. Chen-Young, Partner at Katten

Chen-Young shares her attention has shifted focus toward mentoring and sponsoring women associates in meaningful ways on a broader scale, an emphasis she continues today.

“What drives me is the impact I can have on other people.”

We look forward to hearing from you and hope that the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr. will inspire us and the words of Maya Angelou will be something we live by today and always because there is so much truth to her proclamation of “When you know better, you do better.”

Walk the talk! Everyday.

Contact Allie@theglasshammer.com if you want to be considered for a profile or editorial submission

January 18, 2021/by Allie

Equal Pay: Mending The Broken Rung

News

The first year of your job matters more if you’re a woman. How your company pays you do as an entry-level rookie either sets you up for successful pay equity or sets you back a peg relative to your male counterparts.

Envision the climb to senior leadership at your company as a ladder. That very first rung is the most unreliable for women. According to McKinsey’s Women in the Workplace, women are significantly outnumbered in entry-level management positions. They hold just 38% of manager-level positions as opposed to men who hold 62%. In other terms, for every 100 men promoted only 72 women are.

This step, known as the “broken rung”, is a woman’s biggest obstacle to senior leadership. While a lot of ink has been given to the glass ceiling and the poor representation of women in the C-Suite, the breakdown in that trajectory turns out to be not the last promotion from Vice President to President, but instead the first step in your journey: the promotion from entry-level to a managerial position.

Entry-level positions are also notoriously difficult for young people just starting out. Adjusting to the workplace, figuring out passions and career paths, and finding your professional voice comes with experience. And in an entry-level position, you might not have that experience to bolster your confidence.

This brief work record leads to what Sheryl Sandberg explains to be a bias against women and favoring men. She says, “These are all workers at the entry-level– they haven’t built long track records, they all have similar work experience, and they were all good enough to be hired in the first place. There’s no good reason why so many more men than women are being tapped for promotions, only a bad one– bias.”

Courtesy of GreatBusinessSchools.org

This bias is costly for women as once you miss that first promotion it’s an incredibly hard fight to catch up on. This broken rung leads to a domino effect resulting in fewer women in leadership positions. Additionally, the cycle continues circularly as studies have shown that men are more likely to promote another man, and women are more likely to promote a woman.

While it’s nice to dream that the corporate world will right the “broken rung”, history has proven that corporations move glacially slow when implementing social change. As women, we have to empower ourselves in entry-level positions to ensure the promotion and get past this first hurdle early in our careers.

Here are some ways to clear the rickety, old “broken rung”:

Find a mentor. Mentees are promoted 5 times more often than people without mentors, according to Forbes. You want to have someone in your court when it comes time to discuss promotions. Find a senior-level mentor to learn from and who will advocate for you when the time comes. You can learn how to effectively network online by reading this guide.
Interrupt bias. When you see bias rear its ugly head, stop it dead in its tracks. The Catalyst assembled an infographic on the double-bind dilemma, which goes into depth on how women are stereotyped in the workplace. “Damned if you do, doomed if you don’t. Too soft. Too tough. Never just right”, is the dilemma many women find themselves in at work. Instead of being categorized by these labels, speak up again bias and interrupt it whenever you see it playing out in the workplace.
Make yourself visible. Wave your flag loud and proud. While it’s easy to be mousey in your entry-level position, try little, but effective ways to make yourself visible. For example, if you have a hobby, talk with your HR department and try to start an internal club that you lead based on your hobby. If you like reading, start a book club. If you like collecting plants, start a succulents club. Think creatively about how to make yourself visible to the entire company.
Take on responsibilities early. If you want to get promoted, do the work of the position you want before receiving the title. Expel any questions of your capabilities by cementing a track record that you are up for the job.
Empower yourself to learn. A rising number of women are attending business school which is an encouraging indicator that the workplace landscape may change in the coming years but not guaranteed. Empower yourself to get an advanced degree or learn new skills as your expertise is one of the many things employers consider when making discussions on who to promote. As we know stereotypes are real around who makes the best leader so it is good to have as many quills to your bow as possible to counter fallacy.
Believe in yourself. The most important thing, but also the most undervalued. Despite bias and discrimination in the workplace, know how valuable you are. Believing in yourself will allow you to be bold, be visible, and be a leader despite whatever obstacles you face.

Usually, when discussions are had about women in the workplace, the emphasis is on the poor representation of women at the leadership level. That spotlight creates a blind spot in the actual cause of this discrepancy. Tracing the disparity back to entry-level promotions and understanding the “broken rung” is important to inform processes that company need to develop to ensure equal pay from day one. Women can support each other and how we can advocate for ourselves early on but it is the systemic elements that ultimately matter.

Progress must be made by corporations to abolish this misstep and while that is happening, men and women can empower each other to propel past the first hurdle and go on to have a successful career.

This is a contributed article and therefore the views expressed here are not necessarily those of theglasshammer.com

December 2, 2020/by The Glass Hammer

Four Types of Bias that Keep Women from Getting Promoted

Office Politics

By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

Everyone is subject to bias – we all have them, and we are all affected by them. Our task in the 21st century is to acknowledge our implicit assumptions about others (and ourselves) and examine how they may be holding others back (or propelling others forward).

In the corporate setting, people in the majority group can gloss over how their biases may be keeping people in non-dominant groups from advancing. A new white paper [PDF] by consulting group Cook Ross takes a look at the biases that keep women from getting promotions during the review process. The report author, Leslie Traub, Chief Consulting Officer at Cook Ross, writes that, at the entry level, the workforce at many companies approach gender parity. But over time, that diversity thins out.

One reason why is that bias during the review process affects whether women are recognized, valued, and, ultimately, promoted or retained. The report says, “Performance reviews that do not objectively reflect employee contributions are one of the main obstacles to retaining under-represented groups. When the performance review process is out of balance, opportunities for advancement narrow and in turn, narrow an organization’s diversity pipeline.”

Cook writes that reducing bias is everyone’s responsibility. “A shared recognition that bias exists in every decision and a collective and personal commitment to its reduction are the only antidotes to unchecked bias hijacking all of our critical decisions,” she says.

The benefits of mitigating bias will result a more diverse, competitive workforce. Here are four types of bias that keep women and other minority groups in the workforce from advancing. Once we recognize the barriers that keep women from getting ahead, we can begin dismantling them.

What’s the Real Impact of One Billion Women Entering the Workforce in the Next Decade?

Managing Change, Pipeline

By Michelle Hendelman, Editor-in-Chief

Last fall, Booz & Company released an interesting report entitled, Empowering the Third Billion: Women and the World of Work in 2012. In this report, researchers attempt to evaluate the impact on the global economy of an estimated one billion women entering the workforce over the next ten years. By placing a value on women in the workplace, the authors of this report hope to encourage governments, business leaders, and key decision makers to invest in developing the knowledge and skills of women in order to unlock their full potential.

The authors of the Booz & Company report address one very important aspect of the problem when it comes to facilitating a career advancement path for women that leads to more leadership roles and senior level positions across all industries. They write, “Despite the admirable efforts of these women—and millions like them in rich and poor countries around the world—they need supportive systems to succeed. Governments and corporations will need to step in with smarter policies that can remove social, cultural, and professional constraints on women and foster greater economic opportunities.”

The Glass Hammer focuses on the developed world for now, so what is interesting about this research is that Booz & Company correctly identifies an issue that is rampant in the United States and Western Europe. That is, the number of women in the workforce is only the tip of the iceberg on the gender diversity issue in the workplace. The bigger question—which has been explored in research by Catalyst—is why are there so few women in executive positions in the Fortune 500?

What are the biggest issues that governments and companies must look at in order to provide meaningful support for women in the workforce? The common global challenges are as follows.

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