Causes of turnover among women of colour Roles for Senior leaders

1. Advancing women in business organizations Mattis • Causes of turnover among women of colour • Roles for Senior leaders • Behaviours of Front-line managers

2. Organizational Initiatives & Women of Colour’s Turnover Intentions Those who intended to stay described their companies as • Appreciative of cultural differences • Requiring few adjustments to fit in • Addressing subtle gender bias • Addressing subtle racism • Respectful of people of different cultural backgrounds • Having targeted hiring practices to increase diversity • Being a supportive environment for women of colour • Having managers with adequate diversity training • Promoting women of colour to senior leadership positions Catalyst 98; 98 studies

3. Key Barriers to Advancement for Women of Colour • Not having an influential mentor/sponsor • Lacking informal networks with influential colleagues • Lacking company role models of the same ethnic group • Lacking high visibility assignments

4. Managerial behaviours & Women of Colour’s Turnover Intentions • Those who intended to stay described their managers are described as • Providing opportunities for visibility • Explaining/interpreting organizational politics • Mapping out clear developmental goals for direct reports

5. Roles for Senior Leaders • Develop & communicate business case • Provide resources for benchmarking • Build commitment, ownership, sponsorship for action • Establish accountability • Provide strategic direction • Sponsor women for leadership positions • Initiate succession planning processes

6. How Senior leaders can Develop & Communicate the Business Case • Explain how recruiting women fully uses external & internal talent pool • Identify the cost of the turnover of high potential or performing women • Explain why company should reflect marketplace (e.g., bec it contains significant number of women buyers) • Identify costs of not complying w/regulations & of litigation

7. How Senior leaders can Develop & Communicate the Business Case • Explain how company can increase its competitive edge via external benchmarking • Explain and identify how company can improve its relations with stakeholders (e.g., shareholders, employees, communities, etc.) • Develop company-specific business case • Identify personal advantages of diversity for employees

8. How Senior Leaders can Conduct Internal Benchmarking • Identify current rates of recruitment, retention, advancement for men & women • Develop long and short-term goals for improvement of recruitment, retention & advancement • Measure progress toward goals See also Cox ch 4

9. How Senior Leaders can Conduct External Benchmarking • Identify appropriate comparison companies • Collect, analyze & evaluate data from comparison company • Determine fit between own and comparison company before replicating a best practice • Tailor & implement selected initiatives, assign accountability for monitoring results, evaluate & modify based on outcomes & needs • BMO example is VD or MD? See also Cox ch 4

10. How Senior Leaders can build Commitment for action • Define roles & accountabilities for all senior leaders • Link rewards to diversity performance • Link successful recruitment & training of women to key business priorities • Make each company executive accountable for one key component of diversity initiative

11. How Senior Leaders can Establish Accountability • Clarify diversity-related roles for each employee • Appoint HR person in charge of diversity with direct reporting relationship to CEO (see also Cox) • Establish diversity goals for business units & individual managers

12. How Senior Leaders can Establish Accountability • Focus on diversity-related outcomes when conducting performance reviews (e.g., rates of turnover, promotion & hiring) • Link diversity-related performance to incentives • Educate managers on business case, monitoring of results, goals they are held accountable for

13. Roles for Senior Level Leaders • Develop & communicate business case • Provide resources for benchmarking • Build commitment, ownership, sponsorship for action • Establish accountability • Provide strategic direction • Sponsor women for leadership positions • Initiate succession planning processes

14. How Senior Leaders can provide Strategic Direction • Identify a systemic intervention that • Most immediate & visible change • Impact other systems affecting women’s advancement & retention • Possible systems to change • Career practices • Workplace practices & culture • Work-life practices (e.g., Baxter) • Market practices • Identify financial and staff resources for change

15. How Senior Leaders can Sponsor Women for Leadership Positions • Sponsors are leaders who enable movement of others through the ranks of the organization through leaders’ power & influence • Sponsors are needed for • Powerful positions in organizations • Membership/chairs of important committees

16. How Senior Leaders can initiate Succession Planning Processes • Move high potential candidates through different areas of the organization (via mentors/coaches) to • Allow learning about the business • Establish networks promoting their retention • Provide support to enable risk-taking

17. How Senior Leaders can initiate Succession Planning Processes • Enable people to self-identify an interest in moving up/across organization • Have performance monitoring systems that identify those with leadership, initiative, skills for developmental assignments & promotions

18. Advancing women in business organizations Mattis • Causes of turnover among women • Roles for Senior leaders • Develop & communicate business case • Provide resources for benchmarking • Build commitment, ownership, sponsorship for action • Establish accountability • Provide strategic direction • Sponsor women for leadership positions • Initiate succession planning processes • Behaviours of Front-line managers

19. Roles for Managers • Communicate verbally & non-verbally to reinforce diversity initiatives • Managers influence access to • Feedback • Coaching • Insider information on organizational politics • Informal networks • Developmental opportunities • High visibility assignments on task forces/committees • Behave in ways to reinforce diversity initiatives

20. Behaviors for Managers • Request at least 2 women to be on every list of potential candidates for a vacancy/promotion • Intervene in meetings where others’ behaviors interrupt/stifle women’s contributions • Assign a proportional representation of women on projects/task forces/committees • Include executive women in hiring/promotion interviews

21. Behaviors for Managers • Organize two social events/ per year where women can participate comfortably • Encourage additional training for 2/3rds of female direct reports who have “plateaued” • Join a committee or professional org where manager is minority

22. Behaviors for Managers • Become a diversity-thought leader • Annual attendance on diversity workshops/events • Find woman coach/mentor outside company to discuss gender-related issues • Cover a diversity-related topic at every employee meeting • Convene/participate in brainstorming sessions w/direct reports/peers to identify concrete things a person can do to bring equality to women

23. Behaviors for Managers • Initiate an annual gender-issues meting w/female direct reports separate from performance review to discuss barriers to advancement • Have zero tolerance for overt discrimination, inappropriate behavior or inappropriate entertainment venues • Send clear & frequent messages re: personal commitment to corporate diversity initiative

24. Behaviors for Managers • When providing performance feedback to women direct reports, discuss career path in organization • Shift focus from current performance to next position in organization, • Identify needed to be done to move to that position • Promote women on the bases of potential for that next position • Instead of focusing on demonstrated performance of responsibilities of that position

25. To advance women in organizations • Senior Leaders and Managers have unique and shared roles • Managers have additional responsibility of displaying diversity-related behaviors to