Why do women leave?

A lot of clients I have worked with have been reaching out to me recently and giving me updates on their women's career progression.?Some have had internal promotions into more senior positions closing their gender pay gap and others have lost some of their female talent to other companies.?

What is great is that we have built such a strong and open relationship that they can come to me and are not ashamed to talk about the things that are maybe not working as well as they could, and more importantly ask those questions about why their employees choose to leave.

Not all organisations do this well.?

Retention of staff is a huge priority but when they hand in their notice the company moves on to focusing on how they will replace that person.?This also comes with many additional costs for the company.?Retaining their staff in the first place is the better outcome.?

When I ask about the reasons women are leaving the company there are a lot of assumptions being made and no real clear evidence to work on.?

If you don't measure something you can't manage it properly.?And if you can't manage it then it's difficult to change it.

Does your organisation do this well??

And do the right people get the feedback from those women leaving?

Will your female employees feel comfortable enough to be honest with the reasons they leave?

Why do women leave? Poll Results.

We did a poll on LinkedIn that got a lot of votes - you can check it out HERE

It wasn't as clear cut as we might have thought. And although the options were limited to the following - you can see what is important to women;

• Inclusive Cultures 18%
• Pay Rise 11%
• Career Development Opportunity 34%
• Flexibility / Remote Working 37%

What can organisations do about it?

The easy answer would be to check out their exit interview - but I know that these aren't always carried out and the majority of women I have spoken to are so ready to leave that they don't always give honest feedback to their employer about why they are going.

These types of interviews that I have carried out myself are too little, too late.

Companies need to be looking at reasons why they are losing their best talent to the competition way before it gets to the point that they have handed in their notice and secured another position.

Cue uncomfortable conversation and open communication.

Closing the gender pay gap relies on one important factor - talent pipelines for succession planning. Of course new talent can be attracted into the company at senior level, but the biggest game changer will be to ensure you are looking after and developing your female leaders of the future.

You can't do this if by the time they are ready for promotion and that next level, they can only get it elsewhere.

There is plenty of research out there that gives clues into the reasons why women decide to move on, but from my own work and experiences of hearing from a large number of women there are many patterns that emerge.

Book a chat with me?so we can see what your company needs to focus on first so that your best female talent don't leave.?

We can also chat about what's worked really well and where there is room for improvement and I am happy to share effective practice I have seen work in your industry.

Making a difference

“This event came just at the right time for me and my career development”

“I would love to know more about self promotion in general, I’m one of those people that cringes when anyone compliments me so tend to downplay praise when really I should say “thanks I worked hard on that and I’m really proud of the outcome!” (Feedback from participants)

I was recently invited to speak for? Triple Point ?who hosted their third Women’s Networking Event titled;?‘No More Hiding: The importance of owning your expertise and raising your profile’.

It was great to see so many attend the event building connections across different departments. I was especially impressed with the engagement and enthusiasm in this topic.

The feedback has been amazing and I love to hear from women who are ready to own their expertise and start raising their profile.

This really is important and even though it can feel strange or uncomfortable at first, you can always find how to do it in your own way. You can even enjoy self promotion I promise!

It was a privilege for me to then interview? Isobel Gunn-Brown ,?Partner and Head of Fund Finance, while she shared her experiences and insights into the challenges she has faced throughout her career.

Next Steps

If your company is interested in doing more to build?strong talent pipelines and inclusive cultures to close the gender pay gap and retain your best female talent in 2023, then now is the time to?book in a call?and we can have a chat about;?

> Is the 'great resignation, great breakup or quietly quitting' affecting your company?

> Why women are leaving?

> How is their performance and what is impacting it?

> How to get buy in from the top and bottom?

> What are the real barriers for talent development?

> What's happening in your industry and in other organisations like yours?

> Where to start with it all?

Honestly the conversations I have with leaders in organisations like yours, are really about what is the next best step to make changes that will ultimately keep things moving forward.

Making sure your people are happy, feel valued, included and are psychologically safe at work.

Message me and let's chat about your company and what the next move should be so that you can recognise and retain your female employees and they don't leave you for the competition!

Until next time

No more hiding ...visibility matters

Gemma

PS - Don't miss the next Visibility Matters email from me where we are delving into some home truths about IWD and whether people are tired of DEI initiatives that don't have lasting impact and it's become a tick box exercise for too many people! Come and vote on our live poll now.

No More Hiding Ltd partners with organisations to build inclusive cultures that recognise, reward and retain female talent and encourage senior level progression to close the gender gap. This is through consultation, training and coaching that support organisational culture change for gender equity in the workplace.?

Founder Gemma Stow specialises in the importance of visibility when it comes to women’s career progression and helps ambitious women have the confidence to promote themselves in a positive and constructive way so that they own and showcase their expertise.? This allows them the space to see what is really holding them back and breakthrough their own ceiling and limitations, realise their potential, take responsibility and act on it.

She also supports leaders and the wider organisation so that they can be better allies with the appropriate processes and procedures in place to support all women's career progression.

Host of the ‘No More Hiding: Self Promotion at Work’ podcast. For more info head here , send Gemma a message and don't miss her emails!

White Paper: 'Visibility at Work: The Importance of Self Promotion for Women's Career Progression' - get your copy here

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