Preparing women for C-suites

Across different sectors all around the world, a good number of women are now being seen working side by side with men.  Still, as one goes up the ladder, one sees a drastic decline in the percentage of women. Thankfully, with the constantly changing global market, companies are under great pressure to study and cater to the diverse buyers. This has led to a great demand for gender diversity across the boards of companies.

Studies by Catalyst and McKinsey Consulting suggest that companies and firms with a higher number of women as directors have reported an over 50 percent higher return on equity, more than 40 percent higher return on sales and over 65 percent higher return on invested capital. However, with the increasing demand for women directors, there aren’t many contenders to fill the positions.

Talent Management suggests that companies should be looking outside the C-suits to find required candidates.   Women who want to be considered for the position would also need preparation for taking on such roles. In order to advance in their careers, women need to find the right kinds of mentors who support them and ensure their visibility.

Sit at the table>

According to Talent Management, companies need to follow four steps to groom diverse talent:  identify, coach, promote and advocate. In an effort to ensure this, formal mentorship programmes will go a long way. Companies also need to create regular networking and leadership opportunities for midlevel executive women to prepare them for executive roles.

Changing the dialog from ‘diversity’ to ‘inclusivity’ would help the cause by portraying it in a better light.   Even though companies and employers are realizing the need to hire more women at the executive level, a lot still needs to be done to ensure the availability of women candidates who have been otherwise sidelined for decades.

ORIGINAL SOURCE: Talent Management

http://www.talentmgt.com/articles/6756-preparing-the-next-generation-of-women-for-board-leadership