Organizational culture the key to gender diversity

A recent study, reported by the Bulldog Reporter this week, discusses that to dramatically improve performance, companies need to be sure they have healthy percentages of women on their executive leadership teams and Boards, and that their corporate cultures include traits traditionally thought of as “female.” The article cited a research report from PA Consulting Group.  This shows that gender diversity and organizational culture can play a critical role in achieving “performance magic”—which is having both strong financial results and a high performing culture. The research demonstrates that performance is inherently linked to inclusive culture and gender diversity.

PA Consulting Group analyzed the public reports of 50 U.S. and U.K. companies over a six-year period to reveal that the ones with female leaders generated higher total shareholder return (TSR). The report’s key findings:

• Firms with women on the board generated up to 600% TSR, while those without women generated less than 100% TSR.
• Organizations that had performance magic also had the greatest percentage of women (50%) on their executive leadership team.
• What creates a successful, inclusive organizational culture is not merely having women on the senior executive roster, but rather is also allowing and integrating those traits that have been typically thought of as “female”—such as: collaboration, listening skills, focus on development, and valuing different opinions.

See my next blog post for this article’s valuable discussion on high performing cultures.

 

Employee Engagement is the most important issue for organizations

The Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM) and Globoforce recently released the findings and report of its annual employee survey.

Their key findings:
In the SHRM/Globoforce survey, 803 HR leaders and practitioners shared their practices
and perspectives on engagement and recognition and their impact on performance.
Some of the findings include:
1. Employee engagement is the most important HR challenge facing organizations.
2. Employees are more motivated and perform better when rewarded through praise
and prize.
3. Stand alone years-of-service awards are often an ineffective type of recognition.
4. Leveraging the collective recognition across a company provides a clearer picture of
employee performance.
5. Crowdsourced feedback can make performance reviews more effective and enhance
manager and employee appreciation.

The full report is attached.  Enjoy!

shrm 2013 report

Sustainable careers require bliss, demand, and unique skills

Never working a day in our lives because we love our jobs is the nirvana many of us have been seeking since college.  Now, Monique Valcour, a professor of management at EDHEC Business School in France, who has spent 15 years researching careers, adds dimension to following your bliss.

In a recent Harvard Business Review blog cited in a Huffington Post article, Valcour advises that,  when it comes to building sustainable success in your career, all of the self-awareness in the world is of little use if you can’t pitch your passion to a buyer.  A sustainable career is built upon the ability to show that you can fill a need that someone is willing to pay for.”

So what would a sustainable career even look like? As Valcour describes it:

Year after year, you perform work that makes full use of your skills and challenges you to develop new ones. Your work not only interests you, it gives you a sense of meaning. You enjoy opportunities for learning and development. You work with people who energize you. You are confident that your skills and competencies make you valuable and marketable and that you can access opportunities through your network. You are able to fit your work together with the other things in your life that are important to you, like family, friends, and leisure.

And… you get paid for it because it has value not only to you, but to others.

The article also offers five effective ways to be happier at work and build a sustainable career:

1. Analyze the data of your daily life.  Be aware and very observant of your daily experience at work.

2. Find a workplace that supports your priorities outside the office.  To me, it’s not really work-life balance; it’s more about work-life INTEGRATION.

3. Don’t underestimate the power of learning.  Continuous learning and growth is key to staying happy and fulfilled in your career over time.

4. Work with inspiring people. Work alongside smart, energetic, connected people who have taken an interest in you.

5. Develop rare and valuable skills. Develop passion around your work through the cultivation of rare and valuable skills. People who end up loving their work often follow a pattern of creating these sought-after skills, and then using them to better leverage their career trajectories.

I encourage you to read the whole article – it’s a valuable new perspective.