Q: What Can You Do to Dramatically Increase your GDP? A: Hire Women in Leadership Roles

 It’s not that hard. Hiring women for leadership roles “enhances collaboration, inspires organizational dedication and decreases employee burnout.” Gender diversity should be a priority in human resources offices across the US and globally – it’s not. 

79 percent of global companies say they haven't prioritized achieving gender equality, new IBM research finds.

The soft skills set inherent in women constitute the ‘secret sauce’ to productivity, employee satisfaction and meaningful engagement, factors that have proven to result in a dramatic competitive edge to ‘woke’ organizations. Aside, from the professional acumen of women and other ethnic minorities, they bring varied perspectives and refreshing worldviews that enhance creativity, leading to better problem-solving skills, more effective decision-making and greater success.

Pew Research Center’s Women and Leadership survey reports that 34% of American workers state that women have an edge over men in the crucial areas of honesty and ethical behavior, while 3% of men fare better. The value in these statistics cannot be overstated in our current political and social thunderdome. Contrary to the current beliefs of too many, character and strong ethics-based behavior does matter.

While numerous organizations are spending millions of dollars in providing personal baristas, massages-on-site, beer-pong tournaments, paid vacations as needed and trophies for showing up to work, it seems to me that recognizing the power of hiring women into leadership positions would be a much wiser, evergreen investment. 

Organizations are making significant cash outlays—as they should—towards the development of emotional intelligence in their <mostly> male management staffs. They engage with consultants, life skills learning platforms and workshops, in an attempt to teach effective communications, empathy, collaboration, motivation and negotiating skills.

Ironically, women arrive fully equipped with these critical soft skills – along with positivity, optimism, and a proclivity towards mentorship. Another very cool asset is the ability of women to confront adverse situations with clarity and keen understanding, as an opportunity for meaningful engagement and necessary change.

Women in leadership positions spur motivation, stronger team spirit, an undercurrent of renewed passion and a sense of togetherness towards a singular goal: the productivity of each, the unity of success for all.

 I come back to the premise of the question: What Can You Do to Dramatically Increase your GDP? Deconstruct your organization’s recalcitrant hiring practices. Today. Consider the following as you plan for the second half of 2019:

·     Women are born to manage – and extremely successfully.

 ·     Women bring intuition, understanding and persuasiveness that are critical to outstanding team management.

·     Women are great communicators, masterful motivators and promulgate an inclusive leadership style.

·     Women inherently bring empathy – an acute ability to decode others emotions, build strong working relationships with her colleagues, while exercising patience and instilling a collaborative team environment.

·     Women build trust and breed truth as they welcome and encourage the point of view of others.

·     Women have the innate ability to analyze a problem in a practical, compassionate and professional way, making them brilliant long-term thinkers; the best investment you will make in the future of your organization.

So, what will you do now? Will you share this with your stakeholders and human resources? How about your shareholders?

 In today’s global economy, effective communication and consistent collaboration are more important than ever. Hiring and promoting women into leadership positions within your organization promotes a participative management style, concerted information sharing and stronger relational skills that will directly impact your team’s motivation, innovation, production and profitability.