Top 3 Tips On How Companies Can Level the Playing Field in Sourcing Exceptional Female Talent

In order for organisations to be dedicated to gender parity and to help close the gender diversity gap, then they need to recognise that disruptive change needs to happen at the talent attraction stage within the talent management process. A better gender balance in male dominated sectors is not just a social cause, it makes complete business sense. Studies have shown that an increase in qualified women in leadership teams leads to better performance overall. Bringing different perspectives, creative thinking, effective collaboration between teams in turn leads to increased innovation, profitability, a better work culture and overall well being.  

Since working in the Executive Recruitment industry for 19 years and for the majority of that time in heavily male dominated sectors, it is apparent that organisations are missing out on identifying top female talent that could add significant value to their business. Due mainly to the fact that they continue to use the same tired approaches that might have been effective some ten to twenty years ago, however are not really fit for purpose in today’s current work climate.  

Understandably organisations are bringing their talent in-house in order to cut costs and develop a more streamlined employee branding experience. Which sounds great on paper however in reality many talent teams are overstretched and overloaded, working multiple assignments across a whole range of positions across many different divisions. Which means that talent teams are more generalist rather than specialist and have many conflicting demands placed on them. It doesn't help that the recruitment industry is saturated with recruitment firms with many promising the world and the majority of them under delivering. Therefore trying to find the right recruitment partner that will deliver on what they promise can be a minefield in of itself.  

A study from the Harvard Business Review found that 80% of employee turnover is due to bad hiring practices, and 45% of bad hires are attributed to a lack of process. In America, somewhere between 40% and 70% of employees are actively looking for another job, while the business world is haemorrhaging $72 billion a year recruiting and hiring, clearly a change in the norm is essential to long term talent strategy success.

Are job descriptions even fit for purpose anymore? Should companies start to move away from the outdated and old fashioned way of assessing people against traditional job descriptions?. Just keeping job descriptions updated is a burdensome administrative task for most HR departments and with the future of work changing so rapidly, organizations must find a way to adapt to these rapidly changing not to mention currently uncertain times ahead. Therefore eliminating barriers that prevent women from entering STEM industry sectors are more important than ever.

There are a number of initiatives that organisation's can take at a grassroots level to make an impact immediately to this problem, here are my top three.

1) Enforce a Gender Balanced Shortlist

Too many companies take the approach of one female on the shortlist and done. Or falsely claim that the women just aren't out there, but if you look deeper into complementary industries or talent pipelines and start to think about the forgotten demographic such as return to workers then the women are there. Many companies now have a policy that they should have at least one woman on the shortlist which is all well and good, however, statistically there’s no chance she’ll be hired.  

According to a Harvard Business Review study there is a 67% chance that a woman will be hired if there are three out of four on a shortlist, 50% chance when there are two women out of four on a shortlist and 0% chance if there is only one woman on the shortlist. Companies know that there is a Diversity & Inclusion problem, however many are slow to respond. By making it mandatory for a minimum of two women featured on a shortlist can be an important first step in making a positive impact in highlighting gender balance.

Having targets implemented as a policy within an organisation may be seen as a controversial step to aid in gender equity however there is no disputing the fact that when a target is enforced by policy, they are often achieved. For example, France has exceeded their target of 40% women on Boards, Italy was in second place, followed by Sweden and Finland. Simply because they had a target.

2) Source from untapped talent pools

Women make up only 15% of total management roles in science, engineering and technology. Some sectors will have a very big challenge on their hands when you take into consideration that women only account for 32% of engineering graduates worldwide in STEM subjects.

As competition for talent grows the ability to understand where female talent communities are and how to reach them will become a basic requirement for any recruiting function. Just talking about diversity as part of an employer brand is not enough. When deciding whether or not to work for an employer, many women are looking to see active diversity progress within firms. Partnering with a specialist consultancy who have access to female talent, networks and communities will become a smart strategic investment for the future growth of an organisation.

We come across many talent pools in our work supporting females in their careers and one demographic that are hugely overlooked are expat spouses. There is a common misconception that expat spouses don’t want to work, however that couldn’t be further from the truth. As a community builder we speak to them regularly, they are very often highly skilled with as good as or even better education levels than their partners, we feel their frustrations when employers don’t consider the skills and strengths their knowledge can bring to an organisation. This in turn has a knock on effect to their confidence if they are getting repeatedly rejected for jobs because the algorithm says no.

Another huge untapped talent pool is return to workers. They are often extremely eager, motivated and ultimately dedicated to restarting their careers. Soft skills such as motivation and dedication cannot be taught and are the very factors which often breed huge success. However many companies take a negative view because of an extended career gap which in turn creates a lack of confidence with this demographic. Creating a return to work internship is a highly effective strategy that organisations can implement within their business. This is similar to a graduate internship however it would be focussed on developing a program where a candidate has 12 weeks practical experience in a department where they may be struggling for female staff, after which she is then offered a full time position. We are currently working on devising a programme in our dedicated mentoring platform that will help facilitate this transition. 

3) Source from Diverse Industry Sectors

Line managers often prefer candidates from a similar or same industry sector to the one they operate in because they believe that if someone doesn’t possess ten plus years of experience in XYZ then they are incapable of doing the job. However this type of thinking will not help companies win the war for talent, when there are exceptionally qualified candidates from diverse industries that can bring a unique and fresh approach to a business than the ones that they typically operate in.  

Innovation doesn’t occur when candidates are recycled from company to company. innovation occurs when people with diverse critical thinking skills are given the opportunity to add value to organisations. We often advise our clients to think outside the box when it comes to sourcing high level talent, we investigate related industry sectors where the technology and innovation levels are as high as the ones they operate in, and this is where we often find the best candidates for the job which in turn helps level the playing field in recruiting, retaining and promoting more women.

Eva Connections is focussed on recruitment and retention strategies to organisations who are committed to attracting and retaining more females within their business and who understand the benefits of having a gender diverse workforce. We do this through gender balanced recruitment, challenging the ways companies traditionally recruit, HR Services and through our mentoring programme.