Industry Research: 5 Ways to Engage Women in Your Workforce and Avoid the “Great Resignation”

More than 2.5 million women left the U.S. workforce during the pandemic and more than half (55 percent) of American workers are currently seeking new opportunities that offer better benefits, flexibility, or pay. Both the “She-cession” and the "Great Resignation” up-ended gender diversity, employee engagement, and retention goals, plunging people metrics into the red, throwing teams into chaos, and rolling back progress on hard-won equality gains. 
 

Between the job hopping trend and an increase in women exiting the workforce, there’s an opportunity for organizations to rethink the ways they engage and drive loyalty among their female employees. Here are tips on how to avoid the “Great Resignation” and build a workplace where women thrive.

1. Democratize Support and Development  

reacHIRE research found that 68 percent of early career women believe they are not supported at work. Many organizations invest in high-potential employees when it comes to learning, development, and engagement opportunities, while unintentionally overlooking other employees.

Offering all employees access to learning opportunities and resources such as mentoring, coaching, and guidance can lead to significant benefits for your organization. In fact, research from LinkedIn found that 94 percent of employees would stay with a company longer if the company simply helped them learn and grow - which can help your team avoid the significant time, resources and costs associated with filling roles when employees leave your organization. 

To democratize support, companies can offer both always-on, community-based support to empower all women across an organization to grow in their careers, in addition to providing targeted, structured development opportunities to small groups of high-potential employees. 

2. Help Build Trusted Peer Communities

Women are 2.5 times more likely to become high performers if they have a tight-knit network of supportive women at work. Offering women opportunities to learn with, and from, each other through peer-to-peer connections improves their sense of belonging and community, ultimately increasing the chances that they will stay and thrive with your organization. 

Research from O.C. Tanner shows that organizations are 12 times more likely to thrive when employees feel connected and employees who establish an above-average connection with their colleagues are eight times more likely to produce great work. Companies can more effectively foster belonging and a sense of community by connecting women within organizations to learn, share experiences and gain real-life advice from other women who have navigated similar work situations.  

3. Offer Opportunities for Continuous Learning  

A recent survey from Prudential Financial found that of employees considering leaving their jobs in 2021, 72 percent are rethinking their skill sets.  To keep women in your workforce engaged and motivated - and ensure their skills remain fresh as the world of work evolves - it’s critical to offer continuous learning and career development opportunities.

Verizon’s Women in the Workforce study shows that of women who left the workforce during the pandemic, 62 percent said they expect their next employer to offer more opportunities for skills development and advancement. Top learning and development delivery methods extend beyond formal learning programs to include leadership-building bursts, micro-learning modules, skills assessments, on-demand learning and development videos, and community-based Q&A to ask peers for advice and input.

4. Provide Expert Human Guidance 

While informal peer connections and access to learning resources and technology can go a way to drive engagement and help women grow with your organization, employees also benefit from expert, human guidance. 

To support career growth, some companies set up 1:1 mentor relationships between individuals within the organization, while other companies might offer dedicated career coaches to targeted employees. Research shows that only 42 percent of women say they get enough out of their mentorship programs at work, compared to only 57 percent of men. 

However, this 1:1 approach leaves the majority of women without access to experienced advice or guidance. Left on their own to find formal guidance, eight in 10 women lack confidence when it comes to seeking out mentors. Providing more women access to real people - such as certified Guides - to offer confidence, advice, and support, not only builds one leader, but a team of leaders. 

5. Encourage Workplace Flexibility 

The pandemic caused both workers and companies to rethink how, when and where we work, and blurred the lines between individuals’ work and personal lives. In large part due to challenges with balancing work and personal responsibilities, The Women in the Workplace 2021 Report from LeanIn and McKinsey & Co. found that 42 percent of women “often or almost always feel burned out” and this jumps to more than 50 percent for those responsible for managing teams. LinkedIn CEO, Ryan Roslansky, recently introduced the concept the “Great Reshuffle” to describe this time of workplace upheaval. 

As companies gradually make the switch back to in-office or hybrid work following over 18 months of remote work, many women wonder how this will impact their careers. Data from CNBC and SurveyMonkey found that 39 percent of working women are concerned that opting for flexible work arrangements could harm their career goals - increasing to 53 percent for women with children under the age of 18.

To engage and retain women - and other employees - during the pandemic and beyond, it’s important to offer and encourage flexible work arrangements, whether this means options to continue working remotely, a hybrid work environment, adjusted hours or offering working parents additional support for childcare to meet the needs of family and other personal priorities. 

According to The Women in the Workplace 2021 report, more than three in four senior HR leaders say allowing employees to work flexible hours is one of the most effective things they’ve done to improve employee well-being. By adopting the mindset that as long as work gets done, it doesn’t matter where or when it happens, you can show employees they’re trusted, which ultimately helps boost productivity across your team.

Take Action to Support Women in Your Workforce

Data from McKinsey found that one in three women are considering leaving the workforce or downshifting their careers. It’s important for all companies to be proactive about supporting women so they thrive and stay with your organization. To do so, identify ways to foster a sense of belonging, provide continuous learning and skill-building, improve employee engagement, and increase loyalty.

Learn more about how to bring career opportunities, learnings, and community to help support and encourage loyalty among all the women in your organization. And turn the “Great Resignation” into the Great Retention.

As the CEO of reacHIRE, Addie Swartz works with Fortune 500 companies to create opportunities for women at all ages and stages of their careers. From return-to-work programs with industry leaders including Fidelity, Wayfair and T-Mobile to the Aurora employee engagement platform for early and mid-career women, Addie is a leading voice on how to support and advance professional women. Connect Addie Swartz