I worked for years in a female-dominant workforce. About 80% of the front line were female, but the higher up the echelon you looked, the fewer women you saw. Representation at the vice president and executive levels shrank to 1 in 8.
If you are tired of hearing about gender equality, I understand. I had a two-hour-long conversation recently with my cousin, who complained about being judged for not contributing to gender equality causes. In fact, he was upset about having to walk on eggshells each time the conversation comes up.
The reality is females represent 1 in 4 leaders in the C-suite in the United States. We have come a long way and yet representation continues to be an issue for two reasons. First, female leaders are leaving their companies at an alarming rate. For every female at the director level who gets promoted, two female directors are choosing to leave their company. Second, their teams need to adjust to the style and agenda of a new, unfamiliar manager who may not necessarily promote a culture of engagement. With leaders acting as the driving force in shaping how employees experience work, companies cannot afford to lose capable female leaders who can lead and retain high-performing teams.
Here are five reasons why organizations should want capable female leaders in the C-suite:
1. Female leaders are more likely to communicate with compassion.
Dissatisfaction with leadership is one of the top reasons employees leave their jobs. In the age of the “great resignation,” you can’t afford to lose top talent as a result of poor leadership.
A recent study found that two leadership traits led to higher job satisfaction, reduced burnout and increased job performance: wisdom and compassion. Wisdom gives people the courage to do the things that need to be done, and compassion allows them to do so in an empathetic and supportive way. Analyzed by gender, 55% of female leaders were ranked by their employees as wise and compassionate, compared to 27% of men.
You want to be mindful of who you choose to lead your people because motivating and retaining employees largely falls on the shoulders of the leader.
2. Female leaders are often committed to DEI.
Companies with a diverse and inclusive workforce tend to perform better overall. Diverse teams are more innovative and have higher financial returns.
Female leaders are twice as likely to spend time on DEI work compared to their male counterparts. The same study found female leaders are more likely to invest time into supporting employees, helping them to manage work-life challenges, speak up against bias and discrimination, and advocate for opportunities for women of color. As a result, their teams are happier with their jobs, are less likely to consider leaving and more likely to recommend their company to others.
3. Female leaders can drive engagement and job performance.
In the age of quiet quitting, companies are seeing the impact employee engagement has on productivity and profits. Gallup estimates that disengaged employees cost $3,400 for every $10,000 they earn.
Overall, female leaders have higher job engagement and performance scores from employees compared to male leaders. A recent study reported that among those employees led by males, 18% are actively disengaged compared to 11% of the followers of female leaders. It makes good business sense to have leaders who foster employee engagement leading their teams.
4. Female leaders typically build innovative teams.
In general, women face higher levels of scrutiny (registration required) and criticism for failures compared to men. This has forced female leaders to work harder to perfect the balance between pushing boundaries and managing risk. They learned when to take big risks and when to exercise caution.
In a study examining changes to top management teams after the promotion of a female leader into the C-suite, the researchers found that female-led teams had a 14% decrease in risk-taking and a 10% increase in openness to change. With female leaders less invested in traditions and more open to challenging the status quo, they are able to lead employees who are also more adaptive and receptive to change.
5. Female leaders often create psychologically safe workplaces.
After a long period of uncertainty, it is no surprise that 89% of employees say psychological safety is essential. Three factors are key to building a psychologically safe culture: integrity, innovation and inclusion.
Female leaders excel in these three areas. They are more likely to provide emotional support to their employees, act as allies and speak out against bias. They are more open to collaborating. And they nurture a knowledge-building strategy as opposed to a knowledge-buying strategy. Psychologically safe workplaces are resilient workplaces. To foster resiliency, you want to be intentional about choosing leaders who can promote integrity, innovation and inclusion.
The business case for female leadership in the C-suite is clear. So, how do you attract capable female leaders to the C-suite? Start by assessing your current talent pool and take specific action to develop your female talent. More than two-thirds of females under 30 want to be senior leaders, yet the barriers to advancement have put a halt on females’ ability to climb the corporate ladder. For every 100 men promoted from entry-level to manager positions, 87 women are promoted.
Start early and create opportunities for women to thrive during different phases of their lives. Make it easy for them to manage their priorities while meeting yours. Women are leaving their organizations in search of opportunities that align with their life choices and ambitions. Act fast and remove the barriers to new possibilities of growth. Otherwise, your female leaders may not wait around for long.
This article was published on Forbes.com.