On the heel of International Women’s Day, it feels appropriate to spend some time highlighting the achievements of female employees, notably their contributions in the workplace. These go far beyond feminine touches and traits and have a lot more to do with effective leadership skills such as assertiveness, empathy, and flexibility. Let’s start giving credit where credit is due; women are making huge gains in the workforce, even as the gender pay gap persists. Here we will look at five ways that female employees are positively impacting culture and morale in your company.
Supportive of professional development
A recent study showed that people with female bosses reported their bosses were more supportive of their career development compared to people with male bosses. Moreover, while having a female boss is unlikely to limit men’s career development, having a male boss might hinder women’s career development. You’ve heard the phrase “empowered women empower women,” but female leaders are more likely to empower their employees, regardless of gender.
Empathy advantage
Having an empathetic nature gives women an advantage when influencing culture in the workplace. Female leaders are more likely to ensure manageable workloads for their teams, provide emotional support, and check in on overall well-being – proving that vulnerability can be a superpower. Similarly, women are great communicators and express themselves more eloquently than men. Having an open communication style promotes problem-solving skills and fosters a culture of collaboration. As strides begin to take shape for women in the workplace, what could have previously been seen as a surprise is that women who express their emotions are perceived as more effective leaders than men.
Team building skills
Research has shown that men in teams with a balanced female presence had more positive experiences than they did in teams with a majority of men. One explanation is that women tend to be more relationship-oriented than men and are more likely to stress collaboration and inclusion of all team members. In today’s workplace, gender diversity is important and teams with a higher representation of women in top management can have a positive impact on organizational success.
Promoting the work-life balance
With empathy being such a strong character trait of women in the workplace, it feels logical that female employees are champions for encouraging the work-life balance and supporting job flexibility. Working women have been required to juggle their careers with motherhood for decades, and the pandemic has exacerbated the urgency to find the right balance. The desire for females in leadership positions to have a healthy relationship between their home and work lives has helped to cultivate a culture of flexibility for women on each rung of the ladder.
Diversity advocates
Female leaders are more likely than men to educate themselves about the challenges that women of color face at work, speak out against discrimination, and mentor or sponsor women of color. Compared with men at their level, women leaders are up to twice as likely to spend substantial time on supporting employee resource groups, organizing events, and recruiting employees from underrepresented groups. They are also more likely than men to take allyship actions such as mentoring women of color, advocating for new opportunities for them, and actively confronting discrimination.
Reserve Squad understands the significance of a woman’s impact in the workplace. Let us help you preserve your female talent pipeline, sign up for a free consultation today.