The flexible workThe possibility for an employee to develop his or her skills and abilities remotely for the company he or she works for has opened up more opportunities for companies to develop their skills and abilities. womenHowever, progress is not sustained at all levels.
This is shown in the Women in the Workplace 2023 reportof McKinsey & Companyin association with LeanIn.Orgwhich gathers information from 276 participating organizations employing more than 10 million people.
For this report, more than 27,000 employees and 270 senior human resources leaders were surveyed and shared ideas about their policies and practices.
"This year's research reveals some hard-fought progress at the top, with the representation of women in senior management at its highest level ever. However, with lagging progress in the middle and a persistent underrepresentation of women of color. True parity remains painfully out of reach," the document states.
According to this study replicated by World Economic Forumthe percentage of women in senior management increased from 17% to 28% between 2015 and 2023, while the representation of women at the vice president and senior vice president level has also improved.
But at lower levels of the hierarchy, at the level of managers and directors, women's representation has grown by a much smaller percentage. In addition, the report highlights that women in management positions are leaving their positions at a higher rate than in previous years, and at a significantly higher rate than men at the same level.
"At every stage of the process, women are just as committed to their careers and just as interested in being promoted as men. Women and men at the managerial level (when senior management is closer) are also equally interested in senior leadership roles. And young women are especially ambitious. Nine out of ten women under 30 want to move up to the next level and three out of four aspire to become senior leaders," the report highlights.
In other words, women are more ambitious, and after the pandemic, flexibility increased that ambition, she says.
"Approximately 80% of women want to move up to the next level, compared to 70% in 2019. And the same is true for men. Women of color are even more ambitious than white women: 88% want to be promoted to the next level. Flexibility allows women to pursue their ambitions: overall, one in five women say flexibility has helped them stay in their job or avoid reducing their hours," the paper says.
The 'broken step
The report finds that between the top management levels and the middle and lower echelons of organizations there is a "broken step"which means that there is less women in a position to rise through the ranks. And McKinsey says that without fixing it, it's impossible to achieve the gender parity at the top.
"While companies are increasing the representation of women at the top, doing so without addressing the broken rung offers only a stopgap remedy," the report says. "As men significantly outnumber women, there are fewer women to move up to director and the number of women declines at all subsequent levels."
For every 100 men promoted from entry-level to management this year, 87 women were promoted. For women of color there has been a reversal: 73 women of color were promoted for every 100 men this year, compared to 82 last year.
"It's disheartening to be part of an organization for as many years as I have been and still not see a person like me in senior leadership. Until I see someone like me in senior leadership, I will never really feel like I belong," said one Latina, a former executive director.
Flexibility benefits all workers
From being something pleasant for some employees, the flexibility has become a crucial benefit for most, although women value it more, probably because they still do a disproportionate amount of childcare and housework.
38% of mothers with young children say that without workplace flexibility, they would have had to leave their company or reduce their work hours.
"But it's not just women or mothers who benefit: hybrid and remote work is delivering significant benefits to most employees. Most women and men cite better work-life balance as one of the main benefits of hybrid and remote work, and most cite less fatigue and burnout," the report highlights.
And research shows that good work-life balance and low burnout are keys to organizational success, yet only half of HR leaders recognize employee productivity as a primary benefit of working remotely.
Recommendations for companies
As companies work to support and advance women, they should focus on five main areas:
- Monitoring the results of women's representation.
- Empowering managers to be effective people leaders.
- Address microaggressions head-on.
- Unlock the full potential of flexible work.
- Fixing the broken step, once and for all.
Source: World Economic Forum, McKinsey
