President's Perspective - November 2022

Empowering women in the workforce

Three easy tips

My daughter is the first woman born on my husband’s side of the family in 103 years. When we found out we were having a girl, I was elated. I had always envisioned my life with a daughter, and I am honored to be raising a resilient, feisty daughter who negotiates better than anyone I’ve ever met and exhibits her leadership skills regularly. But, when thinking about how to raise her in today’s world, the responsibility feels especially daunting. (To be fair, raising my beloved son also feels daunting, just in different ways. Maybe raising kids is just, well, daunting … but I digress.)

As a female leader in the community, I feel a strong sense of responsibility both to Marin, my daughter, and my fellow women professionals. It should come as no surprise that women can sometimes be a bit, well, awful to other women. (You saw Mean Girls, right?). We aren’t known for intuitively lifting each other up or reaching down to pull up the next female leader as we climb the ladder.

Traditionally, women are known to have a scarcity mindset when it comes to leadership and power. And there’s good reason for that. When you’ve been marginalized or disadvantaged, it can feel extremely vulnerable to be secure enough in your position or power to reach out and bring someone else along side you. It feels like you have to work harder, prove your worth above and beyond what’s called for and never let them see you sweat. It’s exhausting, and difficult, to reach your arms out when you are clinging to everything you’ve worked so hard for.

There is certainly a shift among women in our country and community. There’s female empowerment and mentorship programs focused specifically on women leaders, and plenty of ceiling-shattering women who extend hand after hand to women around them. But, there’s more work to be done.

Sometimes the lack of action comes from the lack of understanding what the problem is or where the barriers to entry lie. So, I thought it could be helpful to outline three small (and free) ways in which you can empower women in the local workforce.

1. Examine your meeting times. Do your important, decision-making meetings (board, leadership, etc.) occur when all people are available without accommodation? If not, shift them to a time that’s within agreed upon working hours. In Rockford, we have a love affair with 7:30 a.m. meetings (my own board meeting included). While the practice harkens back to our manufacturing roots, that time of day unintentionally cuts working caregivers (who traditionally tend to be women) out of many important conversations, or it adds an undue level of stress to the prep time. Many working caregivers may not have adequate in-home care, daycare or before-school care that allows them the flexibility to come to meetings outside of normal work hours. Examining meeting times and shifting, often even just by 30 minutes or an hour, can eliminate barriers for a whole slew of people.

2. Help identify and reassign invisible labor. Think about your office kitchen … Who orders the coffee when it runs out? Who organizes staff birthday cards or retirement parties? Who takes notes during meetings? Those of you playing along at home likely answered those questions with a feminine name. It isn’t intentional that women tend to get saddled with additional responsibilities that typically do not lead to promotions, but it happens all. the. time. When performance reviews come around, no one says, “Hey Sally, we’re going to promote you to manager because you really picked the perfect birthday card for all employees this year.” It’s work that takes time, mental energy, and effort … and it’s not related to promotion or performance. To combat this unintentional imbalance of responsibilities, chart out what invisible labor is important to your organization and assign the work more evenly to all employees. While male counterparts may first balk at the idea of grabbing birthday cards during a Target run, they’ll soon come to see that the greeting card section is truly a welcoming aisle that accepts all.

3. Prioritize understanding women’s professional goals. Have an up-and-comer on our team that happens to be female? Take her to coffee and learn more about what her aspirations are. What does she hope to get out of her current job? Where does she see herself in five years? What projects would help her hone her skills, increase her knowledge or help her grow? Then, take that feedback and help design a plan for her to progress through her goals. This form of mentorship doesn’t have to take a large amount of time or a hefty financial commitment. But the act of caring enough to help her plan—that’s impactful mentorship.

One day, I hope Marin looks back at her childhood and is flooded with memories of support, love and understanding. I hope she remembers her mom showing up for her, working to understand her specific wants and reaching down the professional ladder to bring her right on up beside me. I hope she remembers all of this while feeling fulfilled in her chosen career, supported by the leaders in her community and loved by family and friends.