anet Hanson knows a lot about what companies need to do to recruit and retain
experienced women. After working for Goldman Sachs for 14 years, she left to take
time off with her kids. During that time, Hanson recalls that she felt isolated
and removed. As a result, she founded 85 Broads, a network of 17,000 women around
the globe, whose purpose is to give women a voice and a venue to connect. (The group’s
name is a reference to Goldman’s Manhattan address.)
After working to help Lehman Bros. recruit and retain women, Hanson recently
founded Broad Impact to help companies in various industries to reach out to women.
Here are a few pointers to employers on what they need to do to get talented women
and keep them:
Constantly nurture your best talent. "Big firms have to do a better job of monitoring
their talent," Hanson says. "This is not just doing the year-end performance review."
Employers need to make sure that they communicate with their best employees about
possibilities of promotion and leadership opportunities. Getting talented women
is just part of the challenge. Keeping them is a whole other issue, Hanson says.
Give women the opportunity to network. This is not about creating a committee
and giving women a task. For young women, networks provide a sense of being part
of something important early on in their careers. But employers can use networks
to give experienced women leadership positions. It can be a venue for senior women
to meet other women outside of their divisions and become role models for one another.
"It’s about recognition," Hanson says.
CEOs shouldn’t micromanage a company initiative to create a culture that recruits
and retains women. "This has to be organic and has to come from the women," Hanson
says. The best firms, like Lehman Bros., have allowed this to happen.
Do what’s right for your culture. Companies can’t just look at other firms’ initiatives
and adopt them, Hanson says. They have to figure out what will work best for their
corporate culture. "Figure out what’s right for you."
Understand the business imperative. "Recruiting and retaining women is not longer
an HR initiative," Hanson says. "Big firms are short on talent, and if they don’t
find ways to recruit and retain women, they will be at a serious disadvantage."
Companies need to be able to look two to five years down the line and understand
the implications of not doing anything.
Workforce Management Online, April 2007 -- Register Now!
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