How Your Organization Can Promote Women's Leadership Development

21 September 2022

Introduction

If you want to see women succeed in your organization, it's important that you provide the right support for them. That means making sure that all employees have access to opportunities for career development, as well as empowering them with the tools they need to succeed in those roles. It also means making sure your company culture is supportive of women's leadership development, and encouraging men in your organization to support women's advancement. So let's look at some ways you can promote women's leadership development in your business!

Promoting Women Business Leaders

Give your female leaders access to the career resources they need.

• Develop a career and leadership development strategy.
• Support your female leaders with the resources they need to advance their careers and achieve personal goals.
• Consider mentoring or executive coaching for women to help them develop their skills and expand their networks. Also, provide training opportunities that will give them exposure to new challenges in the company.
• Offer flexible work arrangements so employees can balance life with work commitments, including childcare responsibilities or family needs.
• Provide development opportunities through formal programs that help women gain experience and develop new skills, such as overseas assignments or executive-in-residence programs where leaders spend time observing how other companies operate before returning home for a period of time to implement what they learned into your own organization’s culture.

Provide opportunities to practice and develop leadership skills.

Provide opportunities to practice and develop leadership skills.

Leadership development is a lifelong process that occurs throughout an individual’s career. Your organization can provide some of the initial tools and resources, but leaders need ongoing opportunities to practice their skills and learn new ones. Examples include:

• Mentoring programs—Mentors are often chosen because they have achieved success in their field or in similar industries. Mentoring relationships can help new leaders build networks of peers from across the organization, gain exposure to broader perspectives on work issues, learn how other leaders operate within a company culture, identify common challenges that arise when leading teams or projects, share best practices for working with people who report directly below them (including those who may be older than them), and receive feedback on their leadership styles.
• Training programs—Training programs that focus specifically on developing specific competencies such as communication skills or conflict resolution will help new leaders improve upon what they already know while learning ways they can improve upon areas where they need development in order to become stronger performers overall. * Networking opportunities—Networking events are great places for new leaders to meet both internal colleagues as well as outside experts who can offer valuable insights into your industry sector (and who may even become mentors).
• Leadership development programs—These types of programs often take place outside of normal business hours so participants have time away from daily responsibilities at work but retain connectivity with colleagues through regular check-ins via phone or email during off hours."

Connect women with mentors and sponsors.

Mentors and sponsors are key to career development. Mentors help you practice your skills in a safe environment, while sponsors can help you secure the resources needed to continue learning and growing. You might be thinking, “Why does this matter? My organization already has programs for mentoring and sponsorship.” The truth is, not all organizations have strong mentoring or sponsorship programs that focus on women's careers. To begin improving those programs, we recommend that you:

• Evaluate your existing policies
• Assess what your employees need from mentors and sponsors
• Ask executives to take ownership of their role in promoting women's leadership development

Support an inclusive culture.

• Create an inclusive culture. Your organization should be open to new ideas and ways of doing things, regardless of where they come from. You must also have respect for diversity and inclusion in order to create an environment where women feel comfortable sharing their opinions.
• Avoid the "old boys' club" mentality by making sure that your team members treat each other respectfully no matter what their background or gender may be.

Recruit women into leadership roles.

The first step in promoting women’s leadership development is to recruit more women into leadership roles. It's not enough that you have a pipeline of leaders—you also need to ensure that you are strategically recruiting them.

Recruitment is a process, not an event; it's about finding the right person for the job and for your organization. Leaders should be equipped with skillsets that complement one another, but they also need different strengths, experiences and backgrounds to make sure they serve their teams well (and vice versa).

Recruiting women in particular can be difficult because women tend to experience bias in job interviews; they're less likely than their male counterparts to receive positive feedback or follow-up offers. If you want your organization's pipeline of leaders to include more women, start by increasing awareness around unconscious bias during hiring processes so candidates know what they're up against before stepping into interviews themselves.

Give your female leaders the support they need to be successful.

Make sure that you are providing the right support to your female leaders.

It’s important to make sure that you are providing the right support to your female leaders. Providing them with the right support will help them be successful and allow them to grow as leaders.

Focus on retention as well as recruitment.

Retention is a key issue for women in leadership roles. It's important for the overall health of your organization, and it's also an indication that you have a healthy company culture. So how can you make sure that women stay on board?

• Look at what keeps them from leaving and try to address those issues. If your employees are unhappy with something like the work-life balance or too much travel required, then do what you can to help out.
• Encourage them to take breaks when they need them and offer flexible schedules where possible. This will help keep burnout at bay while helping people balance work and family life without sacrificing their responsibilities (and productivity).

Help the men in your organization understand what they can do to support the advancement of women.

Men can be powerful allies for women in the workplace by encouraging them to take on leadership roles and supporting them when they do. Men also can help promote the success of women in your organization by being vocal about it.

Women have a lot to contribute at every level of an organization, if given the right support. Keep them on their way up!

You can be a valuable asset to any organization, but you need the right support to continue your career advancement. 

Women have a lot to contribute at every level of an organization, if given the right support. Keep them on their way up!

Support women in leadership roles by giving them the tools and resources they need to succeed.

Conclusion

The decision to promote women doesn’t end with the choice of who gets promoted. It starts there, but it continues with ensuring these leaders have all the resources they need to succeed in their new roles. If an organization wants more women in leadership positions, then it must provide them with the support needed to take on these new responsibilities effectively and confidently.