Time To Talk: What Has To Change For Women At Work - PwC

9 Transparency and trustThe employer provides consistent,accurate, accessible information aboutcareer progression and pay scales;they conduct open conversations withemployees on where they stand andwhat is expected of them to advance.This outcry for greater clarity is a signof the times. In the 2018 EdelmanTrust Barometer, nearly seven out of10 respondents say that building trustis the number one job for CEOs.5Although in PwC’s 21st CEO Survey53% of business leaders said beingtransparent about their diversity andinclusion programmes is a way to buildtrust with their employees and 44%said it was important in building trustwith their customers, the message isnot universal and it is not strong enough.45%of women believe an employee’s diversitystatus (gender, ethnicity, age, sexualorientation) can be a barrier to careerprogression in their organisation.Across the PwC network, weknow our people expect on-the-joblearning, a tech-enabledenvironment, personaliseddevelopment, transparency, andconsistency. To be the leadingdevelopers of diverse talent, weneed to not only meet our people’sneeds, but empower them to owntheir development and to growas leaders. That’s why at PwCwe’re driving a culture that fostersreal-time development, whereour people learn, grow and lead,at all levels, every day.”Julie Gordon, Global Talent & Impact Leader,PwC“Women need to prove theydeserve a promotion; men arepromoted because they believein their potential.”Purchasing professional in agriculture,BrazilWe have to talk aboutperformance and payClearer, more open information aboutperformance benchmarks will helpeveryone, men included, betterunderstand the dynamics of what it takesto advance and progress. This greatertransparency is just one part of the puzzleand must work in parallel with efforts tomitigate potential unconscious biases andgender stereotypes that have traditionallyimpacted career progression.PwC Netherlands introduced anindependent third-party observerto partake in all promotion committeesto call out any unconscious bias and helpdrive the goal of promoting women. Sinceits inception in 2015, targets have beenmet, a third of all partner and directorappointments have gone to women andstaff report greater confidence inleadership’s commitment to diversity.Pay is an even more pervasive issue. It’snot easy to talk about salaries inside andoutside work for ingrained cultural reasons,which perpetuates a lack of transparencyabout pay. This can have unintendedconsequences. For example, there are thosewho believe pay secrecy is a ploy to savemoney, even if there’s no proof: from May2015 to May 2017, PayScale, a compensationdata and software company, asked roughly930,000 people “How do you think yourcurrent pay compares to other employeeslike you?” Over two-thirds of respondentsinaccurately reported their market position,with the vast majority saying they wereunderpaid when they were getting marketrates.6 Research shows people who knowwhat their co-workers are paid performbetter.7 In 2007, Glassdoor burst on thescene with a web platform that allowedpeople to post anonymously about theirworkplace experiences, including whatthey earned. Now 50 million uniqueusers log in monthly. Glassdoor hasbecome an informal but systematic vehiclefor comparing workplace pay scales andother elements of value to employees.According to many in HR, candidatesfrequently reference it in job interviews.

10 Transparency and trustThe shift to greater transparencyis slow although in some places this shiftwill be mandated. Since 2013, two-thirdsof OECD members have introduced newpolicies on pay equality and in Australia,Germany, Japan, Sweden and the UKsome employers will now, by law, publishcalculations every year showing thegender pay gap.8,9In the UK, the introduction of annualpublication of mandatory pay gaps hashighlighted some significant gaps in somesectors (particularly financial services),and many organisations have taken bothsteps to explain the reasons for the gapsand the opportunity to put in placediversity and inclusion programmes tomake progress on the pay gap. Employersneed to be cognisant of the reputationalrisk that comes with such transparencyand communicate how they areaddressing such challenges.Transparency about performancebenchmarks ensures that leadersand employees are both on thesame page as to what ‘success’looks like at their company. Ourresearch finds that such feedbackis essential for career progression,especially for minority employees.When leaders publicly andtransparently speak about theneed for pay equity reviews andbias mitigation strategies, theybuild trust with employees whoare looking for leadership’sacknowledgement of these issues.”Sylvia Ann Hewlett, CEO,Center for Talent Innovation

11 Transparency and trustWomen, traditionally, are not selfpromoters although when they do speakup they get results. Our survey showsthat women would approach a promotionopportunity in the following ways:44%of women would expect their hardwork to be recognised as a symbol oftheir promotion aspirations and fortheir employer to approach them.39%said they would put themselves forwardfor a promotion if they met all of thejob criteria.17%of women, a much smaller margin,would step up even if they didn’t thinkthey met all the criteria.This can put women at a disadvantageand reinforces stereotypes and bias inmanagers. Too often organisations willnot challenge this. “Human resourceshave got a really important role to playhere to bring this information to light andbe sure that people are equipped withwhat they need,” said Karina Govindji,Global Head of Diversity & Inclusionat Vodafone, which has mandatedbias-awareness training for its seniorleadership. In one video, a womanmanager discusses how a returningcolleague who has had a baby won’t wantto travel. Most people do not spot thisas bias.The lesson: don’t make assumptions. Yes,we want women to self-advocate more.But inclusiveness must also be ingrainedwithin the capabilities of people managers,so they are more instinctively attuned toidentify the best talent for an opportunity,be that people who shout loudest, orpeople with capabilities, potential andtheir heads down.Organisations must factor implicit biasinto decisions related to promotions. It ispoor practice, for example, to have all-malepromotion panels. The onus is onorganisations, not just women, to takeresponsibility for taking down the barriersto progress. As Carol Stubbings, GlobalLeader of PwC’s People and Organisationpractice put it, “Never let your ambitionoutweigh your ability. But women quiteoften underestimate their ability, so theydon’t fulfil their ambition. It’s importanthaving mentoring and good femaleleadership programmes to constantly tellthese people that they are really good, theyare really valued, they’ve got a great skill setthat will take them far in the organisation.”Human resource departments shouldexplicitly set new parameters andsystematically check that there areuniform criteria by which the organisationcan assess employees, and that employeesknow what the criteria are. Can yourtalent articulate what “high performance”looks like? Is the leader overseeing careerdevelopment also the leader assessingperformance reviews? Answering thesequestions will go a long way towardbuilding trust.It is so encouraging to see suchhigh levels of female confidenceand ambition. Employers mustfocus on creating an environmentwhere women — and men — canhave open and unambiguousconversations on performanceand progression benchmarks.But greater transparency mustalso go hand in hand with effortsto mitigate unconscious biasesand stereotyping that couldimpact career progression. Thiswill support a workplace culturewhere all talent can fulfil theirpotential.”Sharmila Karve, Global Diversity & Inclusion Leader,PwC

Strategic supportNetworks mobilising womenWomen won’t succeed without formal and informal supportnetworks. To support and reinforce a woman’s self-beliefand self-advocacy there needs to be a blend of workplace andpersonal relationships and support. In the workplace, the criticalissue is finding the right mix of push and pull to help womensimultaneously realise their personal and professional ambitions.Providing this level of support might seem complex, but it canbe done. Men have had it for years.

13 Strategic support#MentorHerThink of this strategic support structureas a series of circles. In the middle is theindividual woman: an ambitious skilledprofessional who needs the confidenceto put herself forward to achieve her careerand personal aspirations. Fundamentalto this is the support she gets fromthe circles around her: her workplaceand personal support networks.In the workplace, she not only needsa manager who will help developher talent and advocate on her behalf,but a series of informal and formalsupport people and programmes.She needs role models of both gendersto look up to and learn from, mentorswho help her navigate the path tosuccess and sponsors who can push herto the next level: a network of advocateseither in informal or formal groupswith whom she can share experiencesand seek advice.In the world outside of work, the thirdcircle, she needs a supportive network,from parents to partner and friends topeers that reinforce her career ambitionsand work/life decisions. For example,women might need to enlist familymembers and other people to take on morehome life or caregiving responsibilities inorder to allow her to be successful at work.Interestingly, 84% of the women in oursurvey in a relationship identified as beingpart of a dual-career couple and 80%of the women in the survey said they havesupport from their family and/or partnerin their career ambitions.On February 7, 2018, Sheryl Sandberg,COO of Facebook and a globally recognisedpioneer in promoting women in work,launched a new mentoring initiative called#MentorHer, specifically aimed at men.LeanIn.org, the foundation she createdto promote women in work, had pickedup troubling signs that the #MeToomovement was sparking a backlash: menwere backing away from engaging withwomen in the workplace.“If men think that the way to addressworkplace sexual harassment is toavoid one-on-one time with femalecolleagues — including meetings,coffee breaks and all the interactionsthat help us work together effectively— it will be a huge setback forwomen. This undoubtedly willdecrease the opportunities womenhave at work. The last thing womenneed right now is even moreisolation. Men vastly outnumberwomen as managers and seniorleaders, so when they avoid, ice outor exclude women, we pay the price.Men who want to be on the right sideof this issue shouldn’t avoid women.They should mentor them.”Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook,Founder of LeanIn.org

Speaking up for yourself— ask and you might getAs the survey data shows, womentend to expect to be approachedfor a promotion or shy awayfrom roles for which they don’tfeel they meet all the criteria.Creating dialogue between womenand their employers to discussaspirations, performance andneeds is a critical element of careersuccess. Self-promotion is frequentlyhighlighted by women as outsidetheir comfort zone. However,there is positive news. Womenare becoming more proactive innegotiating for themselves andthey are seeing results.At least half of the women in ourstudy are opening up discussionswith their employers and proactivelypursuing and negotiating for raises,promotions and the careerenhancing experiences so criticalto advancement. And we observeda strong positive correlation forwomen who negotiate for a careerenhancing action and getting whatthey ask for. They are receivingopportunities at greater frequencythan those who do not negotiate.Self-advocacy — negotiation pays offNegotiated for career opportunityObtained career opportunity in the last two yearsA promotionObtained career opportunity after negotiating for oneA pay raiseTraining or developmentopportunities required for advancement63%91%82%41%77%64%48%59%67%Assignment to a high-visibilityproject or clientA stretch assignment91%86%53%52%42%44%Source: PwC, Time to talk survey, 2018. Base: All respondents, 3,627.

15 Strategic supportWomen can’t count on success andfulfilment unless men help them. This isnot an admission of weakness; it is simplya matter of math: there are many moremen in positions of power than womenand more women who need sponsorshipthan women alone can support. If menabrogate their responsibilities to help thewomen junior to them, then the gendergap will persist and the old boys’ networkwill prevail.As part of this, business leaders also haveto recognise harassment and bullyingare unacceptable in the workplace.One-third of women in the survey saidthey had experienced verbal abuse/bullying and one in four experiencedsexual innuendos/harassment in thepast two years. Employers should activelywork to change the culture where theseactions can happen.In the last year more than 350 CEOs inthe US, including Tim Ryan, Chairmanof PwC US, have taken the CEO Actionfor Diversity & Inclusion pledge toadvance diversity and share programmesthat work.10 It’s a smorgasbord of ideasfrom bias training, to how-tos for settingup networking groups for minorities,and includes a variety of work/lifebalance initiatives too. It’s also a startto a conversation that needs to continueto find out what works.The most critical element of a trustedworking relationship between employerand employee is this continuous, opencommunication channel where prioritiesand goals can be shared freely.Our data show there is positive correlationbetween women whose managers providecareer opportunities and women whohave confidence in their ability to leadand rise to the most senior levels withtheir current employer.59%of women say their managers give workexperiences that provide accelerateddevelopmental opportunity.61%Getting to know employees,understanding what they need to succeedand helping them secure that supportare musts for sustaining a talent pipeline.These require investment of time andenergy, but they are too important tooverlook because they are a key part ofwhat helps networks mobilise for women.of women say their managers recognisetheir work and give them exposure tosenior leaders.60%of women say their managers understandand support their career aspirations.Overall, we see women in developingcountries reporting higher accessto career opportunities than in thedeveloped world.Leaders need to work outside theircomfort zone and pick people foropportunities in a non-biased way.Look at the list of people andintentionally choose someone youmight not have thought of on yourown. Little things like that canhelp reduce bias.”Reid Carpenter, head of the Katzenbach Center,a part of PwC that studies corporate cultureand leadership

16 Strategic supportSponsorship and role modelsIdeas outside of the boxOur research shows that only 54%of women see role models like themin senior management, not surprisinggiven the fact that women are so oftenunder-represented in leadershippositions, but an indication that moreneeds to be done to boost mentorshipand sponsorship for women. “I left myfirst job at an investment bank becausethere were no female ManagingDirectors I could relate to,” said onesurvey respondent. Where were thewomen who could answer questions thatall women face? Will having kids hurtme? Can I stop travelling and still makepartner? If I do go on a flexi-time,will my bosses still take me seriously? An accountable mentoring orsponsorship system where thementor/sponsor is measuredon the progress the mentee makesto give the mentor/sponsor bothaccountability and an incentiveto be involved.There are attempts to change this.Unilever, for example, identifies womenwith leadership potential, sends them ona specially designed training programmeand specifically targets confidencebuilding in their daily work. The companyis close to gender parity in managementranks, up from 38% in 2010. All promotion discussions wouldstart with a spotlight reminderon how to raise awarenessof unconscious bias and howto mitigate against it, and assessreal-time KPIs to reflect onwhether promotion outcomesare representative of promotionpool demographics. Managers must commit to puttingall potential candidates onopportunity lists when it comesto the next promotion, stretchassignment or profile opportunity.This will prevent the reliance on“system one” instincts and mitigateany potential unconscious biasin the decision-making.

Life, family care and workBalancing prioritiesDemographic shifts have had a significant impact on the makeupof the global workforce in recent decades, and employers needto catch up. There has been a tidal shift in the number of CEOsnow focused on gender diversity and female advancement aroundthe globe.11 But diversity and talent strategies still remainlargely unfit for purpose.

18 Life, family care and workWomen are having children later in life.The mean age in OECD countries roseroughly four years to 29 from the 1970sto 2015, with highly educated womenwaiting until their 30s to havechildren.12,13 Women today are also morefinancially empowered. They are likelyto be part of a dual career couple— which was the case for 84% of thosein our survey who said they were ina relationship. Of the mothers in the survey,38% said they are the primary earnerin their relationship. Of those withoutchildren, 62% said they earn equalto or more than their partner/spouse.This has important implications forwomen and employers. By the timethey first become mothers, women willhave established careers and employerswill have invested significant time andresources to develop this talent pool.Supporting a family and other personalcommitments are often dependenton earning power. Mothers do notwant to opt out of their careers becausetheir employers rely on outdatedstereotypes and employment policiesthat penalise motherhood.Although governments are mandatingmore family-friendly solutions andmany organisations now devote seriousresources to supporting parental leavepolicies and flexible working conditions,this has not convinced everyone. Of thewomen surveyed, 42% said they fear thecareer effects of having children; 48%of new mothers returning to work feltoverlooked for promotions and specialprojects. In addition, 37% of new motherssaid they did not take the full maternity/paternity/adoption leave they werepermitted because of career pressure,feeling this would undermine theirstanding at work. Employers mustproactively address these concerns orthey and their female employees will facea lose-lose predicament: highly skilledtalent will leave and women will notfulfil their full potential. “It’s importantto frame this discussion about diversityin terms of talent. You don’t want to losethe women because you have investedso much in them,” said Isabel FernandezMateo, Adecco Professor of Strategy andEntrepreneurship at the London BusinessSchool, whose re

personal life is important Women in Africa and Asia, in particular, are determined to succeed 6 Time to talk: What has to change for women at work Q. I believe an employee's diversity status (gender, ethnicity, age, etc.) can be a barrier to career progression in my organisation. Q. I feel nervous about the impact that having