Recommendations for CHRO and BoD-NCC
Prerequisites for attracting and retaining the best-qualified female talents for the top management
Written by Dr. Fabienne E. Meier, Partner, Knight Gianella, in March 2021
Gender
diversity is an essential competitive advantage for companies. To attract and
retain the best-qualified female talents, companies must better understand
their needs. Most women want to be part of a company where they can make a
meaningful contribution. They demand value-based leadership, conflict-free
cooperation (structures), and unprejudiced communication.
70% of women have children and must manage the work-life balance in addition to their careers. Therefore, CHRO and BoD-NCC Members should proactively address the taboo topic of family planning and offer talent solutions that are feasible with the Swiss school system-which is considered unfriendly to business-and expensive accompanying measures. These include highly qualified part-time positions in high stakes with visibility and little administration, family-compatible meeting times, individual sparring, and mentoring.
Basis
for the recommendations
The analysis by Knight Gianella and the recommendations is based on 100 individual interviews with female Board Members, CEOs, and CHROs from listed and large non-listed companies in Switzerland from September to November 2020 and extensive literature research.
Access
to the talents
However, some companies
have difficulty retaining these women. For structural and social reasons,
highly qualified female talents are a scarce resource in Switzerland. It is
recommended that CHRO and BoD-NCC Members work outside their networks (think
outside the box) with selected partners in executive search. Through their
relevant expertise and credibility in the field of gender diversity, these
partners can demonstrably ensure the best possible access for these qualified
talents is characterized by trust. Companies are also advised to build up their
talent pipeline and retain their high potentials over the long term.
First
requirement: Women’s needs
To succeed in retaining
female talents, CHRO and BoD-NCC Members should pay closer attention to the
needs of this target group. Most women complain about male-only boards,
conflictual (but also unnecessary) meetings, and unconscious bias. They want
meaningful tasks and role models in the top management who lead based on values
without prejudice. They prefer companies in which teamwork is team-oriented and
(structural) conflicts are kept to a minimum.
A specific group is the
one with women with children. They have to reconcile family and career. Today,
they are very well educated and have the prerequisites to make a career.
However, since today’s school system is not considered very career-friendly and
the accompanying measures in Switzerland are costly, they switch to part-time
positions and lose their attractiveness for top management positions in the
long term. They also do not always continue their education sufficiently during
this time and neglect their professional network.
The best-qualified women
with children usually choose companies with a meeting culture that is as
family-friendly as possible and less conflictual. They also invest in expensive
accompanying measures (childcare, household, and external services) up to
private schools. When women are overly stressed with their children, the
so-called mental load kicks in, and they are no longer willing to perform.
Money and other incentives play a subordinate role in motivation. In other
words, companies lose these female talents.
Second
requirement: Gender diversity career
According to the Federal
Statistical Office, 60% of childless women between the ages of 20 and 29 would
like to have two children, and 30% of all academically qualified women remain
childless. This means that 70% of the best-qualified women become mothers.
After having children, around 22,000 female academics with children stay at
home but would like to work. Companies should face this fact.
Despite the shortage of
skilled workers, highly qualified women with children have difficulty finding a
suitable job because they have not completed the proper further education, have
too little management experience, and have neglected their professional network.
Only women who have an agreement with their partner at home (partner
agreement), clear career planning, and well-functioning accompany-ing measures
(childcare, household, and external services) make it to the top management.
The open discussion about
the compatibility of work and family is an indispensable paradigm shift that
needs to be made. A study on equality from the UZH has published states in which women can work
optimally, and the four dimensions of compatibility (social, individual, partnership, and professional
framework conditions) are in equal proportion and thus balanced. Thus, it is
not a matter of perfecting one dimension but balancing all dimensions to pursue
a career.
Gender
diversity career model
Retention of female
talents is very critical during the years when women are having their children.
Therefore, it is recommended that CHRO and VR-NCC Members proactively address
the taboo topic of family planning with female talents before the birth of their
first child. This way, it is possible to find a solution adapted to the
individual needs of the family situation.
The phases of female
career planning are very different (see figure) and can be delineated as
follows:
High
potentials in the pipeline: In
this phase, the best-qualified talents are identified and recruited for the
task. These women enter professional life like their male colleagues and are
promoted to the next career level based on their competence. In today’s world,
women without children have the same opportunities as men if they want to make
a career for themselves and stand up to unconscious prejudice. This was much
more difficult twenty years ago.
High potentials in work-life balance: As soon as women plan or have a family, their situation changes. They enter the work-life balance phase. For them, it is crucial to manage work and family at the same time. The worse the arrangement with the partner at home, the career planning, and the accompanying measures chosen (childcare, household, and external services), the more difficult it will be to return to work at a high level later on. As a rule, a career break of at least 8 years (plus time to further children) can be expected per year of childbearing. In addition, women are then just entering an age when proven professional experience is crucial for getting into top management in the first place. The exceptions are there but rarely encountered.
CHRO and BoD-NCC Members should provide individual mentoring to women at this stage. They should prepare them to be fully operational again and develop their potential. An attractive and fair solution is needed so that the mental load does not take hold, and women can continue their education properly and cultivate their networks. Women must remain interested in a career to be promoted to top management later on. The solutions must be financially feasible with the school system – which is still considered business-unfriendly – and the expensive accompanying measures in Switzerland.
High
potentials ready for the next step: When the work-life balance phase comes to an end, women with children
are generally more willing to resume their careers with full commitment. This assumes
that the many unknowing biases haven’t put a damper on them, making them
reluctant to stand up for their causes. They usually come to top management a
little later than their male colleagues, but they want to do the job and are
not burnt out. The situation is different on Boards of Directors, which are
seen as flexible and highly qualified part-time models with few administrative
tasks and are even more attractive to women with children in relative terms.
Studies assume that men of Generation Z will support their wives more in the future. That’s why the gender diversity career model will probably apply to both parents in a few years.
Part-time
positions with visibility
The best qualified
female talents are still often faced with working at least 80% (mostly even 100%), but only
low-skilled, rather administrative tasks are possible in Switzerland with a
reduced workload. Employers are also afraid of absences due to sick children as
a substitute can easily cost a six-figure sum. Part-time positions also mean
higher costs for employers.
Companies should
rethink. They should create high-level part-time positions (if possible in high stakes) that allow women to position
themselves properly and continue their education. These women should be given
visibility and be able to work with the top management. Unnecessary
coordination meetings and ad-administrative tasks should be reduced to a
minimum or eliminated. Both sides profit from this. When companies support
their female employees, they get the best-qualified and loyal employees in the
long term. Women who receive support from their companies in this phase have a
stronger identification with the company and want to stay with it in the long
term.
Individual sparring and mentoring
Due to the career crunch, women often have gaps in their resumes. With individual and phase-specific sparring and mentoring, they should be accompanied by companies and external partners to allow them to reflect on concrete situations and adapt them to the top management requirements.
Individual sparring should take into account the personality profiles of female talents. Especially quieter, research-oriented, and technical women-who are crucial to top management but often won’t dare to take on a top management function-need professional accompaniment. They should acquire the missing but indispensable business management knowledge and leadership skills, and a self-confident behaviour. Women and the companies are the winners as a result. It is essential to bring together different personalities for better decisions, more innovation, and more competitiveness and success in the long term.
Benefits
Companies that have women in the top management and position them correctly as value-based role models are more attractive to other women. These companies will win the battle for female talents. If listed companies build a pipeline of best-qualified female talents, they can achieve the women’s quota required by Swiss law (30% for Boards of Directors and 20% for Executive Managements).
Companies that meet women’s needs and ensure work-life balance will retain their female talents. Highly qualified female talents that receive support during their family phase have a stronger bond with the company. This has an impact on participation and commitment.
Women bring a different perspective to the discussion. They place more emphasis on sustainable issues and are more cost-conscious. Sharing promotes innovation and improves decision-making. Gender-mixed teams outperform the industry average. Companies with at least one woman on the board are on average 20% more successful than those without women.