There are initiatives to encourage women to enter STEM fields. Organizations have programs to recruit women. Then what happens?
“Across all areas,” asks Claire Flannery, “How are we getting on with keeping and engaging the females we already have and stopping more from leaving mid-career? And what can we do to support parents to balance work and family and keep women in their careers?”
That was the focus of her DisruptHR presentation last year in Dublin.
She observed that women who have children are viewed differently by employers than are men with children, yet parenting “Brings a whole new perspective and wide range of skills: Problem solving, conflict resolution to name but a few. So why is this also not viewed as a positive thing?”
“Help your female talent through the early parenting years and they’ll come back to your pipeline when they’re ready,” Flannery said, urging support also for new fathers who, though they typically continue on with their career, still share parenting responsibilities.
How might companies support their female workers? Don’t judge, but approach new and expectant parents with an open mind, she offered. Provide support for them, before and after their child is born. Expect that employees, especially women, will have children and plan manpower around that, and “use leave to stretch other talent.” “Small steps make a big difference,” added Flannery.
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“We need more women to stay in the workforce, we need them to keep having babies and… we need them to remain sane in the process.”
In partnership with DisruptHR, TLNT presents some of the best Disrupt presentations from events across North America and now the world. Disrupt talks are modeled on the TEDx concept: Short, to the point talks on all things HR — talent, culture and technology.
