What women want… |
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August 26th, 2007 -- by Harleen Kahlon
I haven’t yet had the pleasure of meeting Joel but, from talking to him on the phone, I can tell that he’s a very cool, accessible guy — although our initial conversation focused largely on professional development issues related to women (a topic that does not always engage everyone as much as it engages me!), the vibe of the talk was more like one you might feel in a conversation over mojitos at a beachside cafe — fun and chilled out. The fact that Joel was on vacation at the time may have had something to do with that, but I’m convinced that his friendly, chatty nature had something to do with it also.
So, naturally, when Joel asked me to join this blog to talk about all things related to recruiting and professional women, it was a no brainer considering his likability and, of course, the strength of the Cheezhead platform as a place for discussion on recruiting topics.
As a starting point, I think it’s important to note that there’s a movement afoot among professional women — more than ever before, we’re thinking carefully and strategically about our professional opportunities because we can afford to. When we feel underappreciated, we know we have the resources to quickly shift jobs or industries, or to leave and start our own companies. And, we often do.
But, attracting and retaining female talent is not rocket-science. Women are not excessively demanding. An employer who wants to keep female employees happy can do so fairly easily, and just has to pay attention to the ways in which women, and the marketplace, have changed.
Once upon a time, to be deemed women-friendly, a company simply had to offer a generous maternity leave package, or promise to rigorously follow government-mandated rules on how to prevent/address sexual harassment. Today, in addition to offering a great maternity package, an employer may also have to demonstrate an ability to seamlessly integrate the employee back into her role without her feeling compromised by her leave. Or, in addition to following the letter of the law on sexual harassment, an employer may have to take precautions that the law does not require.
Over time, I’ll discuss these topics in detail as I try to share some insight into what matters to professional women, and how corporations can better attract and retain female talent. I’ll reference my own experiences from my time as an attorney in Manhattan, and my experience founding and managing DamselsInSuccess, a place where professional women get inspired, network, and find jobs. And, I will do my best to make it feel like a conversation at the beach!
August 28th, 2007 at 2:04 pm
This post caught my attention because it’s essentially the same title and same subject matter I wrote about last year on the blog that got deleted. (Actually, it was the title of a discussion thread. I renamed the post “Women’s Incentive” from October 19.) Thanks to the Wayback Machine, the words survive in a difficult to reach manner. (It’s so much fun to be in the black.)
http://web.archive.org/web/20061110191644/portal.recruiting.com/Viva/archive/2006/10/
And many of the strategies to keep and then promote women into senior management and executive positions were the topics I covered in most of the webinar I did for ZoomInfo earlier this year.
I’m glad to see your words. They provide reinforcement to the fact that it doesn’t take rocket science to figure out how to make a woman happy and ready to come into the office each day.
Appeal to her mind!