How growth-focused organizations can build inclusive workplaces where women can thrive

A record 44 women leaders were represented in the Fortune 500 list this year. This is progress that deserves to be celebrated, but there’s still plenty of work to be done to foster gender parity and inclusivity in business.?

Recently, I had the privilege to sit on the Randstad USA’s ‘Flourishing Under Fire’ panel with an inspiring lineup of fellow female leaders. We discussed how women can thrive in their careers with the right allyship, support, and commitment from their organizations, mentors, and coworkers. Investing in current and diverse talent can pay dividends for organizational growth, leadership, and professional development.

I believe that prioritizing an inclusive workforce that fosters exceptional talent is a business imperative for every organization and a foundation for growth — and by nurturing diverse female talent, organizations set their course for creating a culture where all employees can thrive.

Setting the stage for success from the start

Supporting the culture you want to achieve starts with laying the groundwork for inclusion and growth. And just as with all other aspects of workplace culture, it’s crucial to engage employees at all levels – not just executives. While creating change within an organization often falls to the upper levels of leadership, activating a collective approach is likely to have a more powerful impact.

In many cases, small moves, like prioritizing development earlier in women’s careers, can have a big pay-off – such as identifying previously undiscovered potential. Often, women get stuck at entry-level positions, and as we discussed on the panel, it is this “broken rung,” more so than the glass ceiling, that prevents women from advancing in their careers. Employees at every level play a role in the development of entry-level talent, and leaders can help their teams recognize and nurture rising stars by creating an environment of allyship where employees have the tools they need to accelerate growth and development. ?

One such tool is training. To create an inclusive company culture where careers can flourish, bias training can outline tangible goals for each level that help set the stage for women to transition into management roles. During the panel, we discussed the common perception that men are often promoted based on their potential, and women are promoted based on their experience. As the business world works to overcome unconscious bias throughout our professional lives, it is our responsibility to unlearn these biases for the sake of creating a better environment for new talent to thrive.

Everyone needs someone in their corner – someone who will bring their name up during the important conversations and pound the table to champion their advancement within the company.

Sponsorship: a secret to success

Sponsorship is about creating opportunities that might not otherwise exist. It extends the bounds of mentorship and takes it to the next level. Sponsorship means directly advocating for a mentee and helping advance their career. Everyone needs someone in their corner – someone who will bring their name up during the important conversations and pound the table to champion their advancement within the company. This is why the advocacy of a sponsor ?is so crucial for women looking to grow professionally.

During the panel, we also discussed how men will often apply for a job when they meet 60% of the qualifications, but women tend to apply only if they meet 100% of the qualifications. Early in my career at Deloitte, I was fortunate enough to have strong sponsors that convinced me to trust in myself. They advocated for me at important moments and as a result of their belief in my abilities, I went for opportunities I might have originally been hesitant to try. I carry this experience with me and share it as an example to female professionals that they are capable of more than they may think. When your leadership is expressing confidence in you, you should be emboldened to seize the opportunities it presents.

Along with sponsorship, mentors play a crucial role in helping develop employees for leadership opportunities; this differs from the advocacy role that a sponsor takes on and instead focuses on guidance and coaching. In the recent book co-authored by my colleague Janet Foutty, Arrive and Thrive, the authors note that a core component of successful leadership is committing to being an inclusive leader – creating a culture of inclusion and advancing equitable outcomes needed for high performance and advancement. This means helping mentor the next generation of diverse leaders.

The American Psychological Association has found through research that developing professional mentor/mentee relationships can be life changing for people throughout their careers. As someone who has both had mentors and been a mentor to others, I recognize that having support and guidance in a professional setting can make a world of difference in an employee’s confidence and trust in an organization. Without the mentors and sponsors I’ve had throughout my career, I would not be celebrating 30 years at Deloitte this year! If you can point to the influence of a mentor in your career, then you owe it to that person to pay it forward.

As leaders, we have been entrusted with the responsibility to help foster and grow our team’s confidence and trust in the organization and oneself. Having employees, specifically women, that believe in themselves and their work helps create a stronger workforce that is prepared to support the next generation in achieving even greater success – ultimately strengthening the foundation of a team and setting it up for the future.

With the right runway, opportunities, and allyship, women can be better positioned to thrive as they progress in their careers.

The professional experiences that shape a career can set a precedent early on. Our job is to set that precedent in a way that shows the next generation of women their value in workplace settings. Although we’ve seen progress made towards women at the helm of major companies, there are still steps that should be taken to make the workplace more inclusive.

In this face of this momentum, it is important to remember that each one of us has the power to be an ally and through active allyship we can empower each other. A recent report by Change Catalyst found that over 92 percent of people feel allies have been valuable in their career. The impact of allyship is significant and everlasting. When acting as an ally, we not only support and advocate for women, we empathize with their experiences.

With the right runway, opportunities, and allyship, women can be better positioned to thrive as they progress in their careers. Are you ready to join me in using your power to advance equity?

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