Archive for Career Development
What You Dont Know Can Hurt You
Posted by: | CommentsMany times when working with organizations on strategies to increase gender diversity in the leadership ranks the leaders will say ” lets just get all the women together and ask them what they want”. While this is noble and certainly talking with the women in the organization to understand how they experience the culture is critical it is not “the answer” . One of the most serious issues women face when attempting to advance in male dominated cultures is lack of access. Lack of access to senior leadership, opportunities, information, and organizational knowledge. As a result of this lack of access women “dont know what they dont know”. This also is a driving force in the phenomenon of women rejecting efforts to start any type of program or initiative aimed at advancing women. It is common to hear some of the women who may have be closest to breaking through to levels where women have not been represented say that they are not role models and do not want anything to do with any programs related to women or women’s advancement. This also represents the fact that women “dont know what they dont know”. Best practice programs aimed at helping women to advance are all about business and all about evening a playing field that is not providing equal career development opportunities for all. The uneven field is not something most people can see without awareness raising activity. The women in the organization are in fact often the individuals who most cannot see what is happening and “what you dont know can hurt you”. There are a long list of things that an individual needs to know about an organization in order to increase their value proposition to that organization. The most common method of learning these key lessons is access. Access to senior leaders, opportunities, experiences, assignments, and organizational learning. Without this information our careers are like a journey we take without a map. Most of our male counterparts more naturally gain this very important access due to ease of networking that very naturally takes place between people who identify with each other. Therefore our male counterparts have a map which is a very real and tangible advantage. We may think the road to our destination is straightforward and with steady hard work we will arrive. Little do we know that there are side trips and short cuts we need to know about that we cannot see without access to organizational knowledge. When we hear the lament of male leadership teams ” we would hire women if only we could find any qualified to do the job” they are not always making excuses. Because women are very often taking a less than focused journey without a map- they may not be as qualified as their male counterparts because they have not had the assignments and experiences that they need to be prepared to be the best candidate for a job. In addition, research has shown us that women are very often evaluated on experience while males are evaluated on potential which multiplies this problem dramatically. SO what is the answer to this very significant dilemma? Learn how to build access. Stay tuned for my next posting on this very topic!!
Of Beauties and Beasts
Posted by: | CommentsPost by Jane K. Stimmler, contributing Women on Business writer
I was watching a business channel, CNBC, the other day and it struck me – every woman commentator was glamorous and the men, well, not so much. Why, on a television show devoted to business, must the women be on the younger side with lots of hair and make-up – while the men are mostly aging and craggy (read here: normal)? I realize it’s not uniformly the case, but when you think about it, women on TV are too often portrayed as sexy and attractive – frequently in stark contrast to their male counterparts.
There are a number of good examples. In the popular series “House” on FOX, the female character who is head of the hospital (as well as the female docs on the medical team) is gorgeous and wearing improbably low cut tops and skirts two sizes too small. These women may be in charge and brilliant, yet they also are made to look like Barbie dolls. Same situation on many other shows featuring women professionals – I’m sure you can think of some.
Awww – Don’t Be So Modest!
Posted by: | CommentsPost by Jane K. Stimmler, contributing Women on Business writer
A recent study by Rutgers University found that males who acted “modestly” in interview situations were not considered likable and their modesty was viewed as a sign of weakness. Modesty in women, however, was not seen as a negative. The research was done by asking men and women volunteers to view actors in videotaped job interviews. According to a study leader, Corinne A. Moss-Racusin, “Women are allowed to be weak while this trait is strongly prohibited in men. By contrast, dominance is reserved for men and prohibited for women.”
Talk about gender stereotyping!
What caught my eye about these findings was the continued double standard for behavior in the workplace. Moss-Racusin put it this way – “For men and women, there are things they must and must not be.” That reminded me that there are plenty of men who don’t appreciate the expectations set on them anymore than we women do. So, in the spirit of equality, I submit that this gender stereotyping has got to stop – on both sides – in order for workplaces to maximize the talents of all.
Do You Have a “Reputation?”
Posted by: | CommentsWhen I was growing up, we wanted to avoid being someone with a “reputation.” Today, we want a reputation, but we need it to be positive. However, maintaining one’s reputation is getting harder and harder. As social media and social networking sites continue to flourish, the power of the individual voice is growing greatly. We have to protect our reputations, and have someone (it’s probably you) that is fully in charge of managing our online reputation. It may seem insignificant now, but new things on the horizon will make this a part of any businessperson’s life.
According to an article in The New York Times Magazine, “The End of Forgetting,” by Jeffrey Rosen (Sunday, July 25, 2010), in the near future, people will be rated on reputation (trustworthy, good parent, good insurance risk, etc), similar to the credit report rating services of today.
There are services now that can aggregate information about people from the Internet and social networks. Not your private information like social security or credit card information, but information that is readily available: the movies you like, books you read, search terms you use, blog posts you write, videos you post/watch on YouTube, and people you follow. These reputation and trustworthy ratings could eventually be used to determine employability and other factors. And it can be incredibly positive or incredibly detrimental to your career.
The Business Case for Building Flexible Work Cultures- Series Part II
Posted by: | CommentsIn the Part I of this series we talked about the opportunity to support our need for flexible work cultures with a solid business case. We outlined the fact that the majority of our employees require flexibility at some point in their careers. Research increasingly points to flexibility as one of the most important career considerations of staff, emerging leaders and even our seasoned leaders. If we do not offer this flexibility in our organizations we will lose productivity in our top talent pool and we may lose this top talent completely to our competitors. In addition to flexibility as a requirement for top talent, consider the possibility that flexibility can actually improve your organizational results.
We also outlined four key business strategies that can be supported by flexibility in the organization. These are:
1-Employee Attraction and Retention
2-Improved Productivity
3- Improved Customer Service and Satisfaction
4- Effective Operational Management
This second posting will cover the first two strategies. Why are these strategies key to a business case for building a flexible work culture?…….or said another way…… How will flexible work cultures actually help to accomplish these business strategies?
Employee Attraction & Retention
Successful Marketing Strategies for The Job Seekers
Posted by: | CommentsI have several friends who recently found themselves in the market for a new job – and, fortunately, have successfully landed another job. Watching them through the process, I’ve concluded that finding a job in today’s job market can be like conquering a new frontier – and not just because the job market is flooded with stiff competition. The days of mailing in your resume and receiving a phone call to set up an interview are over. It’s actually very similar to the changes that have been happening in marketing your business. If you want someone to notice you, your business, or your product or service, you can’t do things the same old way. Today, searching for most everything from a new job to a new refrigerator begins – and sometimes ends – online.
Now you need much more than just an experience-filled resume, a cover letter and crossed fingers to land a great job. In order to get noticed, you need to think like a marketer. It requires looking at yourself as a brand that needs to literally grab attention.
Here are 3 quick tips I learned from my friends who went from under-employed to gainfully employed.
Are You Taking on More Work Without a Promotion?
Posted by: | CommentsThis question is the topic of a recent article in Harvard Business Review, “Are You The Victim of An Invisible Promotion?” by Ron Ashkenas.
The post poses some direct questions to the reader about whether or not your role has changed significantly in the past six months and whether you have been given new responsibilities with no formal promotion or pay raise. Ashkenas reminds us that the practice of assigning more responsibility without changes in job title or description has become more common lately due to the reorganization and downsizing of companies.
I suppose that any of us who have survived downsizing feel very fortunate to still have a job. In this situation, we are more likely to take on more responsibility without a promotion because we not only feel lucky to have a job, but also somewhat vulnerable and sensitive to the instability of the company and the economy. We want to keep our jobs.
That being said, we also need to realize the value that we bring to our company and not let the fact that we have taken on more responsibility go unnoticed.
Ashkenas has some great advice:
The Business Case for Building a Flexible Work Culture- Series Part I
Posted by: | CommentsWhy do organizations offer flexibility? Business - Business- Business. Successful accomplishment of business strategy is the primary reason for building a flexible work culture.
The majority of our employees require flexibility at some point in their careers. Research increasingly points to flexibility as one of the most important career considerations of staff, emerging leaders and even our seasoned leaders. If we do not offer this flexibility in our organizations we will lose productivity in our top talent pool and we may lose this top talent completely to our competitors. In addition to flexibility as a requirement for top talent, consider the possibility that flexibility can actually improve your organizational results.
There are many definitions of flexibility. For the purposes of this discussion we are talking about any type of flexibility that allows team members to depart from the standard schedule of an early morning start time to an early evening departure, with all hours served as face time, either at a client/customer site or at the office location. There are many articles and books written regarding the types of flexible work arrangements available. This posting will not focus on the mechanics of the arrangements but the business case behind them.
