Working with female candidates from entry to exec level has given me a unique perspective on the challenges women face throughout. Although they come up against the same issues across the career spectrum, they tend to feel them differently depending on their role and seniority.
Where junior candidates are aware of workplace inequality and clear on their desire for it to change, those in leadership positions are experiencing an additional weight of responsibility. They are dealing with many of the same barriers, alongside a palpable pressure to make things better for our future female talent.
The employers leading the way with this understand the impact of small decisions and the significant influence of their decision-makers on their culture. For leadership teams ready to raise their game, they can address obvious pain points by refining the tactical processes that make a real difference – starting with these.
Cleanse bias and create equity in your hiring process
There are many opportunities to implement tactics that create equity at each stage of recruitment, from designing the role and sourcing candidates to onboarding and right the way through ongoing talent management.
- Writing the job spec: build these around outcomes rather than rigid hours, so that women aren’t excluded before they even apply
- Advertising the role: use inclusive language and clearly signal flexibility, widening the pool of female candidates who see the role as an option
- Designing application and interview techniques: embrace a People-first approach here, assessing for capability and potential above experience and “fit”, and ensure women see themselves represented in the hiring panel
- Negotiating the offer: standardise salary bands and benefits, with tiers based on personal potential, to reduce pay gaps and avoid penalising women who negotiate differently or have taken a career gap to raise a family
- Onboarding: set expectations early, emphasising flexibility, support, and progression, and advocate for your female talent, giving them a platform and a voice from the outset rather than putting pressure on them to prove themselves.
As well as facing systemic bias, women also underestimate their own skills and abilities. A study showed women tend to only apply for a role if they have 100% of the skills listed, compared with men who apply if they have as little as 60%* - this is a confidence gap that puts female talent at a real disadvantage. Employers can create equity by actively and consciously boosting the confidence of their female candidates and team members, and remaining aware of how women may not only be discounted, but also discount themselves.
I urge all decision-makers to review their hiring strategies and implement these achievable changes: a low lift for pushing the dial in the right direction for women.
Embrace a culture of flexibility
True flexibility isn’t about where or when people work; it’s a mindset and a culture that makes a career sustainable for more people. This matters deeply for women, who shoulder the domestic load*, are often the default parent or caregiver*, and are seven times more likely to take parental leave than men*.
In addition to these societal imbalances, women experience great physiological change over a lifetime (pregnancy, menopause, hormonal fluctuations), which create hidden barriers that become seriously damaging to our careers when they are not acknowledged, accepted or supported.
So, how can we ensure we’re nurturing a flexible, supportive culture for our female talent?
- Design roles around goals and ensure employees are not appraised based on inflexible expectations, such as hours at desk
- Audit workflows and look for opportunities to create more flexibility
- Cement the employer-employee relationship in trust, rather than policy
- Actively champion and vote for flexibility in meetings and promotion decisions
- Lead by example, normalising flexibility in your own behaviour
For decades, workplaces were designed with men in mind, leaving women to adapt. To build truly representative teams, organisations need to move beyond outdated archetypes and design spaces that make a career possible for everyone.
Model a zero-tolerance culture
Although female representation has grown, attitudes towards women remain problematic. The Motherhood Penalty, Gender Pay Gap and Authority Gap persist, alongside everyday biases – like the fact women are 33% more likely to be interrupted in meetings and 20% less likely to be credited for ideas.* We only have to look at the Howard vs Heidi* study to see the the extent of the issue. This was a psychological experiment in which participants viewed the same professional profile but under a male or female name; they rated “Howard” as more competent and likable while viewing the exact same “Heidi” as selfish and aggressive.
As worrying as this picture is, decision-makers have the opportunity to address it in a brick-by-brick way. If leadership teams are responsible for up to 70% of how engaged and motivated their teams feel*, they also have a big opportunity to reset the tone for women in the workplace by choosing to;
- set-up meetings, informal chats and spaces for open and constructive dialogue, letting teams know it’s okay to air issues and tackle them together
- ensure female employees have equal opportunity to apply for a new role or promotion
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review policies and invest in training to get employees aligned with an anti-bias culture
- hire allies who positively shape culture rather and model a more inclusive way
- lead by example, remaining self-aware, open to feedback, and willing to listen and adapt
As leaders and decision-makers, we can’t control every interaction or eliminate bias on our own, but we do have a huge hand in setting the tone for the wider culture, and forging better, clearer, fairer pathways for women.
Moving the dial
As a daily advocate for brilliant female candidates, and leader of a gender-balanced team, I am personally acutely aware of the gaps for women from the moment they enter the workforce, and this is a perspective I bring into my conversations with firms and their leaders. I work closely with decision-makers on both sides of the hiring process to embrace equitable recruitment and implement talent management strategies that drive inclusion.
Our People-first approach is crucial for empowering firms with truly inclusive recruitment, and we really do see the positive impact for equality when we focus on a candidate’s personal potential and value at every stage of the process. If you’re a hiring firm or a senior leader keen to drive equitable talent management across your teams, email me for an initial chat.
Authored by Andrea Prendergast, Ryder Reid Legal Co-owner and Director of Executive Search. Andrea has been instrumental in the opening and building of U.S. headquartered firms across London and EMEA, providing C-suite/Director level talent for C-suite departments for more than 20 years.
Andrea started her recruitment career in 1998 in her hometown of Liverpool, before joining Ryder Reid in 2008 and buying the business in 2018 with Business Director Callum.