Does your organization have a strong women’s network? Does it work? Does it make a difference in the advancement of women in the organization? Many organizations are creating women’s networks but are having mixed success because they turn out to be no more than networking opportunities for women. Here are five essential steps in getting results from your organization’s women’s initiative.
1) Create objectives, strategy & roadmap – Getting more women into Senior Management positions is not a women’s issue. It’s a business issue. Data from Catalyst indicates strong ROI for having women in executive positions. Investment in getting more women into the pipeline should be viewed like any other investment project. If you had a large investment project or a large innovation project, would you just get a team on it and get it going? Probably not. Yet, that’s how many women’s initiatives start and then fail to make real progress in what matters.
The key is to first start with your company objectives and link these objectives to the objectives for your women’s initiative. The business case may be retention of high-potential female talent. In the case of some law firms, it may be that female partners are more able to build and leverage relationships with female in-house legal counsel at client firms. Have you articulated a business case and ROI for your company?
Do the right data gathering to understand what the issues are that link to your business case. Find the right measures. Are they around engagement and retention of women. Are they around female customers? Do they vary by level or function? If retention of high potential female talent is part of your business case, are the issues related to work life policies, mentoring and sponsorship, organizational culture, lack of female role models? This data will help you prioritize what are the most important drivers of the plan and create the right strategic pillars tactical plans, and measures of success. What gets measured gets achieved so create an outcomes scorecard.
Next, like any other important project, create a milestone plan that will help you meet your critical success factors. A critical element of success in your women’s initiative is to connect the measures of success to the core processes within the company, just like you connected the initiative goals to the company strategy. For example, if female retention is an outcome you are looking for, what core processes in talent management and engagement need to be connected with the tactics of your initiative?
2) Get powerful sponsors and champions – Any business initiative in the organization requires powerful sponsors to shepherd it through the various barriers and resistance to change. Who are your C-Level champions who will make this initiative a priority on their agenda? Are they willing to show their support visibly in terms of their actions? Are they willing to help you get other champions on board? If lack of powerful champions within the company is an issue, consider external champions who could influence and help you create champions within the company. Both men and women can and should be part of your list of potential champions. To make your initiative sustainable make sure there are several champions across functions and geographies.
3) Get A Budget – If you want to move anything forward, you need a budget. Creating a strong business case and getting powerful champions will be critical to getting a budget. Your budget must be defended in times when discretionary costs are being cut. How is your budget tied to the strategy and measures of success? Just like any other investment project, your budget should be reflected in your ROI calculation.
4) Get the Right Team in place and build Grassroots Support – Like any other initiative, the right leadership makes a difference. Get a strong leader and steering team in place. This is a business initiative, not an HR initiative. Get the business leaders to lead this at grassroots levels. Provide visibility to the grass roots leaders so that they can bring their own ideas to the table and also connect and engage with the senior leadership team and champions. Make sure there are opportunities for grassroots leaders to connect with each other and with the overall initiative steering team to share best practices. A key factor in the success of a women’s initiative is to make sure both men and women are involved. Actively seek to engage men as speakers, attendees so you can build the grassroots support. Strong support from men throughout the organization will be required.
5) Build & Sustain momentum via communicating success stories – An excellent way to get started if budget is limited is via some pilot programs (tied to the overall strategy). Start with a few tactics and relentlessly measure their success. As you define and start to measure the outcomes of the programs you put in place, it is important to keep your champions, senior management, grass roots workers, and the organization apprised of your successes as well as your learnings so that the plan can continue to be fine-tuned.
I would welcome your suggestions and comments. Feel free to connect with me to learn about how I can help you in creating a results-oriented women’s initiative in your organization.
