Talented women leaving the firm – puzzling? Not really, the fact is women or men not moving ahead will leave. Nothing new there. Yet, employers continue to wring their hands, hire high priced consultants to help the female brain drain. Yes the problem is complex, if we want it to be. But there are simple measures to put in place that may slow down the departures. One of the biggest issues is the lack of role models or opportunities to move ahead.
To change this, organizations need to stop thinking women have different family priorities. Women and men both have responsibilities for family commitments. According to recent McKinsey research most women don’t choose to leave as some do not have this option. And, if they stay they want opportunities to advance – just like anyone else. If not, they will find opportunities elsewhere. Simple.
It is not only family friendly policies and certainly policies only for women exacerbate the problem. By the way, these policies for women only – does not make sense. The policy is family, so why not include both.
Deloitte & Touche, one of the top four audit firms has looked into “certain measures to encourage female employees to stay…” Great, but how about opportunities outside of audit? And does taking family friendly time off hamper careers – most women (and some men) think so…. but Deloitte says otherwise….thinking that more women will remain with the firm (and in Audit) if they know there will be equal career opportunities offered to them even if they take on a reduced workload.
Yet some organizations realize even with family flexible policies, women still leave. Why? Could it be the manager, compensation, opportunities for advancement, or how about I am just bored and need a new opportunity?
Find out what people want and give it to them. Stop with the blanket approach, one size fits all, and one sided policies. Smart companies use a marketing approach segmenting benefits to fit the needs of their employees. In so doing, they increase engagement and save money. Similar to focus groups for customers, when an employee leaves they call them to find out why. Great idea and best to use an external firm for these calls; savvy employees learn never to burn bridges or swap war stories about a narcissistic boss. Most feel comfortable sharing the real reason for leaving with an anonymous third party.
So what is the number one reason why people leave or stay? Typically – the boss – nothing new here.
