Episode 23
23: Women in Leadership: Harnessing Their Strengths for Successful Career Growth
Links mentioned during this episode:
- Get it Made article: https://get-it-made.co.uk/insights/manufacturing-industries-that-employ-the-most-women
- THE MANUFACTURING EXPERIENCE: Closing the Gender Gap: Recruiting and Retaining Women in Manufacturing: https://www.themanufacturinginstitute.org/research/the-manufacturing-experience-closing-the-gender-gap/
- Women Make America Initiative: https://www.themanufacturinginstitute.org/women/wma/
Lori: Welcome back, fellow listeners. We are in the new year, which is super awesome, and we're excited about lots of great new things that we're going to be doing on a broadcast for manufacturers. I know you like and very much enjoy our normal banter. But guess what? This entire episode is going to be banter with myself, Erin, and Kris, it's going to be awesome. We found a very inspiring, enlightening article on the website. Get it made. We'll add that link in the show notes. I'm just going to have a little side note that this is well-done marketing content for a manufacturing company. So the article is titled manufacturing industries that employ the most women. And the data is collected from the bureau of labor statistics to rank the manufacturing industries that employ the most women in the US. Today. I found it quite fascinating that only three out of every ten employees in manufacturing are women. And then when it gets to the higher levels, that number gets lower, unfortunately. And the article does a really interesting job of ranking all the different types of jobs and fields in manufacturing. And where you see the most women, which is roughly 50%, is in the textiles, apparel, and leather manufacturing space.
Erin: Let's say that you're talking to a woman who's at some maybe mid-level leadership right now, and she's got her eye on the prize too. She wants to get there. What kind of advice would you give?
Kris: Yeah, absolutely. I will say that the first thing that I did is I volunteer for areas within my strengths. And a lot of people will focus on their weaknesses and they will think that they need to go work very hard on their weaknesses and they spend a lot of time overcoming them. To a certain degree, of course, we have to be aware of our weaknesses. And if we have a job that requires us to execute certain functions and we have a weakness, then we have to correct that in order to perform our job. But whenever in my career I had an opportunity to volunteer for things that were challenging, I rose my hand when I knew it was to my strength. Which gave me new opportunities to be successful. And as leaders saw me be successful in these areas, I was given more opportunities that aligned with my strengths. This is advice that I share with so many people that I get a chance to mentor all along. And I, of course, am always looking for the team member strengths that exist across our organization. We want to give work to those strengths. So that, I think, is something that has really been a part of my success. Now, I have had tremendous leaders above me who I learned from. I always like to say, you take the best and leave the rest. So that's really critical. But now if we want to just get in the space of how do we ensure we have women who can climb and get to those executive levels of an organization? Where we saw the lack in this article is we have to give women opportunities. We have to be thinking about the women in the room as well. I think it has to come from some intention.
And so much more…
Connect with the broads!
Connect with Erin on LinkedIn and visit http://www.earthlinginteractive.com for web-based solutions to your complex business problems!
Connect with Lori on LinkedIn and visit www.keystoneclick.com for your strategic digital marketing needs!
Connect with Kris on LinkedIn and visit www.genalpha.com for OEM and aftermarket digital solutions!
Transcript
Lori Highby, Kris Harrington and Erin Courtney.
Speaker:Three broads bringing you stories and strategies exploring manufacturing topics
Speaker:that challenge the status quo while laying the foundations for future success.
Speaker:Together with special guests, they'll
Speaker:celebrate what's working and unpack what is not.
Speaker:So you can learn, grow, and succeed.
Speaker:You want to learn more about your host?
Speaker:Make sure to listen to episode one.
Speaker:Welcome back, fellow listeners.
Speaker:We are in the new year, which is super awesome, and we're excited for lots of
Speaker:great new things that we're going to be doing on a broadcast for manufacturers.
Speaker:I know you like and very much enjoy our normal banter.
Speaker:But guess what? This entire episode is going to be banter
Speaker:with myself, Erin, Kris, it's going to be awesome.
Speaker:We found a very inspiring, enlightening article on the website.
Speaker:Get it made.
Speaker:We'll add that link in the show notes.
Speaker:I'm just going to have a little side note
Speaker:that this is well done marketing content for a manufacturing company.
Speaker:Yes, definitely.
Speaker:Learn from this.
Speaker:Right there.
Speaker:We got value 100%.
Speaker:That's what it's all about. Yeah.
Speaker:So the article is titled manufacturing industries that employ the most women.
Speaker:And the data is collected from the bureau of labor statistics to rank the
Speaker:manufacturing industries that employ the most women in the US.
Speaker:Today.
Speaker:I found it quite fascinating that only
Speaker:three out of every ten employees in manufacturing are women.
Speaker:And then when it gets to the higher
Speaker:levels, that number gets lower, unfortunately.
Speaker:And the article does a really interesting
Speaker:job of ranking all the different types of jobs and fields in manufacturing.
Speaker:And where you see the most women, which is
Speaker:like roughly 50%, is in the textiles, apparel, and leather manufacturing space.
Speaker:What do you think about those data points, ladies?
Speaker:Yeah, I got it handed to Kris for bringing this to our attention.
Speaker:She's got her eye on the prize when it comes to women in manufacturing.
Speaker:So thanks for elevating this article for
Speaker:that and always keeping these issues in mind for us.
Speaker:I have a question for you, Kris.
Speaker:So the article makes an interesting breakdown, as Lori discussed, between
Speaker:leadership and lower level employees, noting that numbers really drop.
Speaker:Like Lori said, again, at that leadership
Speaker:level, there are just nine out of 100 CEOs are women.
Speaker:That's it. Nine out of 100 CEOs are women.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I got one more right here thats Kris Harrington.
Speaker:I just want to say congratulations, Chris. It's awesome.
Speaker:You're the newly appointed CEO of your company, gin alpha, and I think we all
Speaker:share pride in seeing such an incredible leader get elevated to that role.
Speaker:So that's awesome. Thank you.
Speaker:Very kind of you.
Speaker:I got one of you right here in front of me.
Speaker:What do we do to address that leadership challenge?
Speaker:We're going to be talking about all levels today, but specifically, what do you think
Speaker:about women leaders, CEO specifically in manufacturing?
Speaker:How do we have more?
Speaker:Yeah, so how do we get there?
Speaker:How did I get here?
Speaker:Maybe yeah.
Speaker:Let's say that you're talking to a woman who's at some maybe mid level leadership
Speaker:right now, and she's got her eye on the prize too.
Speaker:She wants to get there.
Speaker:What kind of advice would you give?
Speaker:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker:I will say that
Speaker:the first thing that I did is I volunteered for areas within my strengths.
Speaker:And a lot of people will focus on their
Speaker:weaknesses and they will think that they need to go work very hard on their
Speaker:weaknesses and they spend a lot of time overcoming them. T
Speaker:o a certain degree, of course, we have to be aware of our weaknesses.
Speaker:And if we have a job that requires us to execute certain functions and we have a
Speaker:weakness, then we have to correct that in order to perform our job.
Speaker:But whenever in my career I had an opportunity to volunteer for things that
Speaker:were challenging, I rose my hand when I knew it was to my strength. W
Speaker:hich gave me new opportunities to be successful.
Speaker:And as leaders saw me be successful in
Speaker:these areas, I was given more opportunities that aligned with my
Speaker:strengths. T his is advice that I share with so many
Speaker:people that I get a chance to mentor all along.
Speaker:And I, of course, am always looking for
Speaker:the team member strengths that exist across our organization.
Speaker:We want to give work to those strengths.
Speaker:So that, I think, is something that has really been a part of my success.
Speaker:Now, I have had tremendous leaders above me who I learned from.
Speaker:I always like to say, you take the best and leave the rest.
Speaker:All have great leaders above us.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:So that's really critical.
Speaker:But now if we want to just get in the space of how do we ensure we have women
Speaker:who can climb and get to those executive levels of an organization?
Speaker:Where we saw the lack in this article is we have to give women opportunities.
Speaker:We have to be thinking about the women in the room as well.
Speaker:I think it has to come from some intention.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:We have to find a way to attract women.
Speaker:And we're going to talk a lot about this today.
Speaker:But one of the things that I can, again speak back to my own experience is that I
Speaker:was given a lot of professional and personal coaching throughout my career in
Speaker:manufacturing, and that was so significant to my personal growth.
Speaker:And really, I mean, both professionally and personally, that because I was being
Speaker:invested in and I was given the opportunity to grow.
Speaker:And I cared enough to grow because there were others who got that training too.
Speaker:And not everybody takes action on the things that they learn.
Speaker:But when you invest in give your leaders
Speaker:and newly to come leaders an opportunity, there's a sense of loyalty that happens.
Speaker:I became very loyal to the industry of
Speaker:manufacturing because it kept giving me opportunities to learn about myself,
Speaker:opportunities to travel the world, opportunities to try new things.
Speaker:And I think in response to that, as woman, I didn't want to leave.
Speaker:I just wanted to keep pursuing further.
Speaker:That's what I can just being asked here
Speaker:off the cuff, those are things that I know is really critical for me to both be
Speaker:successful, but also to want to stay here and keep rising and keep doing more.
Speaker:Are you familiar with the book Strength Finders?
Speaker:Yes. I love that.
Speaker:I mean, what you're talking about is exactly that.
Speaker:The book helps you identify your strengths.
Speaker:But then I love the philosophy of why try
Speaker:to improve your weaknesses, rather make your strengths even stronger and just be
Speaker:the best you can be in the areas you already have some talent in.
Speaker:And I suspect I need perhaps a sociologist to back me up
Speaker:on this, but that is such a revelation for women.
Speaker:I think a lot of men would be like, well, yeah, I'm super good at this.
Speaker:That's all I'm going to do.
Speaker:What do I got to think about what I'm not good at?
Speaker:Poor. So this is a good piece of advice
Speaker:specifically for this conversation, is as a woman listener,
Speaker:we're pretty obsessive about the things that we're not amazing at.
Speaker:We let that take up a lot of real estate in our brain.
Speaker:But to do reach Strength Finder, that's an excellent recommendation.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:And think about what Chris is saying about how she was able to shine.
Speaker:She didn't obsess about her shortcomings.
Speaker:She recognizes that they're there and there's an opportunity to work on it.
Speaker:But she really went for it with the things that she knew she was good at.
Speaker:And I think that's such a great observation and message.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:One thing I think that's important to say
Speaker:here, though, about my own experience that I think is going to be relevant for
Speaker:the later conversation and some of the stuff we've pulled out of these articles
Speaker:is that also I am married but without children.
Speaker:And I know that that has an impact on
Speaker:some of the factors that limit us attracting women into the field.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:So flexibility, daycare, lots of health care.
Speaker:We're going to talk about some of these things.
Speaker:My needs were more limited than some of the other women.
Speaker:And I would guess if we looked and this
Speaker:would be a guess, this is a Chris opinion now, right?
Speaker:So if we went and we looked at those nine
Speaker:out of 100, our executive leaders, they're going to be in situations like me because
Speaker:we had more available capacity to say yes to certain things that other women didn't
Speaker:have the flexibility or weren't given flexible options to take.
Speaker:So I think it's important for me to say that just for others to hear it.
Speaker:And we see you we see you mothers out
Speaker:there who want to rise, and we want you to rise as well.
Speaker:So we have to find a way to solve all
Speaker:those problems so that even that is equal opportunity.
Speaker:So I think it's important just to.
Speaker:Mention that, yeah, I think that's a sticky situation.
Speaker:That's a sticky topic.
Speaker:It's complex for women.
Speaker:But I think that people are it's been beautiful.
Speaker:I'm sorry to take us off on that.
Speaker:I have two kids of my own and recent challenges in my career related to that.
Speaker:And I noticed post pandemic, just because the media paid attention or people were
Speaker:vocal about it, what have you, that it's not just a deficit to be a mom.
Speaker:It's a challenge that we can overcome if we set up systems that
Speaker:recognize that we do need to procreate this kind of requirement of the species.
Speaker:I think that's very compassionate of you, and
Speaker:I think that's part of why you were able to pursue that success so effectively.
Speaker:But we're going to move to where there's
Speaker:more opportunities for people that are taking care of small children.
Speaker:And they still need to be aware of those other two amazing points you made in terms
Speaker:of know your strengths and capitalize on those and really look to good leaders to
Speaker:give you opportunities and to take those opportunities when you can.
Speaker:So point will take it.
Speaker:But I still think that you're an inspiration.
Speaker:Well, thank you for that.
Speaker:Well, so I had another thought about this article.
Speaker:I'm just going to make a confession.
Speaker:My favorite conversations that we've had
Speaker:with guests on this podcast have been with those women leaders at manufacturing
Speaker:organizations like, I think of two right now, sue and Ashley, and there were
Speaker:probably others, but they just really stand out to me.
Speaker:And one of the reasons that they stand out is the degree to which they just have such
Speaker:love and loyalty and care for the people that work for them.
Speaker:Doesn't everybody want to work for a boss like that?
Speaker:Isn't that one of the amazing?
Speaker:And I'm not saying every woman does or the men can't, but it's just a small sample of
Speaker:two, something that was really apparent in our conversations with them.
Speaker:Yes, I enjoyed for very similar reasons.
Speaker:For sure,
Speaker:they are the passion in their voice, for sure about what they were doing.
Speaker:Do you think that their employees pick up, like, notice that?
Speaker:Do you think that becomes part of the culture in the organization?
Speaker:Yes, absolutely.
Speaker:Yeah, I think it becomes part of the culture.
Speaker:I also feel that it's somewhat expected
Speaker:nowadays in that people don't want to stick around at
Speaker:companies that don't have that kind of empathetic leadership.
Speaker:And is that more easily accessible to women?
Speaker:I mean, I'm getting into a little bit of trouble area here, but let's go there.
Speaker:Well, I mean, definitely women tend to be
Speaker:more emotional than men are and more caring, giving
Speaker:and have different perspectives on what's happening in people's lives as opposed to
Speaker:just what are the numbers at the end of the day.
Speaker:So I would say why I think beyond
Speaker:manufacturing, that's a topic that's been addressed.
Speaker:It's not just manufacturing leadership,
Speaker:it's look at all of the big companies regardless of what industry they're in.
Speaker:And that's been a major issue.
Speaker:But there's also data that says typically the ones that are led by women actually
Speaker:have better outcomes, better numbers at the end of the day.
Speaker:You mean just like bottom line, bottom.
Speaker:Line or higher retention?
Speaker:I mean all the data points just lean a
Speaker:little bit in a stronger position when the organization is ran by the right female.
Speaker:Even countries, right, that have been I
Speaker:was thinking about that by women and went through the COVID response.
Speaker:There were fewer deaths
Speaker:relative to the population in the countries that had women leadership.
Speaker:So I think we see some of that.
Speaker:There is a sense that there's a care for the whole being that is slightly different
Speaker:and of course they're going to be extremes on both sides.
Speaker:So I know we're alienating some, but
Speaker:that's just the topic of conversation here, right?
Speaker:That women in general
Speaker:have more care for the entire human than maybe the care for the numbers
Speaker:or the performance or the productivity, some of those more hard stats.
Speaker:And it's not that women care less for
Speaker:those, but they just add to those lines, I think.
Speaker:Yeah, there's a capacity for both and I
Speaker:would argue that's not necessarily biologically determined.
Speaker:It's kind of two sides of the same coin.
Speaker:Like the assumptions that we can handle it
Speaker:because we're too soft is the other side of the coin of bringing
Speaker:care to the workplace and the benefits that that provides.
Speaker:That's a generalization that has both
Speaker:elevated us and held us back to some extent.
Speaker:And the same can be true for a male leader.
Speaker:Meaning you may feel slightly awkward or uncomfortable with vulnerability and I
Speaker:know there's been a lot of progress in that area.
Speaker:That vulnerability isn't just about you getting better in touch with yourself.
Speaker:It's about you finding the path towards connecting to your employees in a way that
Speaker:creates that loyalty and that sense of community that I was referencing that I
Speaker:heard from both Ashley and Sue Our in conversations with them.
Speaker:Yeah, well, I think that's why there's
Speaker:been so much research and papers written and people,
Speaker:specifically employees and executives being taught empathetic leadership and the
Speaker:whole empathetic piece and how that can drive better results overall.
Speaker:I do think there's an area here that's been explored and is closing this gap so
Speaker:that all of us can contribute to this type of success and not just be something that
Speaker:we think of more aligned with women versus men.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:This is a learning opportunity for everyone.
Speaker:Well, what we really want to do, I think what would help us, we want to be part of
Speaker:the drumbeat that attracts more women to manufacturing that's motivated all three
Speaker:of us throughout the development of this podcast.
Speaker:And Chris, I heard you a few minutes ago
Speaker:saying that you were going to bring that up with us.
Speaker:Would now be a good time?
Speaker:I'd like to hear what you knew about how we're going to get that done.
Speaker:Yeah, well, this ties back to a former episode that we
Speaker:had together where I had just learned that the center for Manufacturing Research and
Speaker:Colonial Life had put together a paper back in November of 2022.
Speaker:It's called the Manufacturing Experience.
Speaker:Closing the gender gap.
Speaker:Recruiting and retaining women in manufacturing.
Speaker:Okay, right on.
Speaker:We just read this great article that
Speaker:showed 29% of the manufacturing workforce today is women.
Speaker:So the remaining 71% is men.
Speaker:And then when I went back and looked at this article, the same numbers match.
Speaker:So obviously, they're talking about the same things.
Speaker:What's really interesting about the key
Speaker:findings in the paper that was put together by this group, I'll kind of list
Speaker:them off to you, and then we can just kind of this way our readers will know what
Speaker:we're listeners will know what we're talking about here.
Speaker:But the key findings that were that
Speaker:prioritizing a diverse workforce is key to attracting workers, improving productivity
Speaker:and employee retention, and growing a company's bottom line.
Speaker:So
Speaker:obviously, when we have a more diverse workforce, it helps all areas of the
Speaker:business, something we know we've talked about.
Speaker:Women represent a sizable talent pool that manufacturers cannot ignore.
Speaker:So as it stands, women make up more than 29% of the manufacturing workforce.
Speaker:By raising the percentage of women in the manufacturing sector to 35% of total
Speaker:employment in the sector, there would be 800,000 more female manufacturing
Speaker:employees to fill almost every open job in the meantime.
Speaker:There you go.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I think this is just so great for our listeners to hear.
Speaker:Another key finding.
Speaker:Companies that have increased worker flexibility have seen a correlation with
Speaker:the ability to attract new employees and retain current staff.
Speaker:So new policies have included part time
Speaker:options, adjusted shift schedules, and opportunities for remote work.
Speaker:There's so much talked about today.
Speaker:And then another one.
Speaker:Both men and women cite lack of key child care options.
Speaker:Support to be an issue?
Speaker:Sure, though a consensus suggests this is a larger issue for women.
Speaker:Workforce flexibility can aid in addressing this challenge, though some
Speaker:companies are exploring subsidized or on site solutions.
Speaker:And then finally providing job training and continuing education opportunities.
Speaker:Developing employee resource groups and
Speaker:establishing mentorship programs also help with retention and recruitment.
Speaker:And certainly my story lines up with that.
Speaker:Implementing policies that can help
Speaker:advance and train a diversity of leaders shows a commitment to employee growth,
Speaker:making the company a more attractive place to stay or join.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:And we will definitely link to this in the
Speaker:article or in the show notes, but I guess just a question for you guys.
Speaker:So you hear all of that.
Speaker:What was your sense of what would be needed to increase the goal here?
Speaker:As far as what they're kind of we'll talk a little bit about the goal, but they want
Speaker:to get up to 35% women in the workforce as an initial step, which is pretty
Speaker:significant growth, which includes all those gaps in job openings.
Speaker:But how do you think we would get there?
Speaker:I'll start with you, Laurie.
Speaker:I was going to say, I have so many opinions, let's go share them.
Speaker:Are you ready? Let's go.
Speaker:One thing I've learned over the years when I went to school for business, like HR was
Speaker:one segment, marketing was another, and they were all kind of siloed.
Speaker:But at the end of the day, HR and
Speaker:marketing are very much alike because you're attracting a certain type of
Speaker:individual and you're trying to get them to take action on something.
Speaker:That's marketing. That's HR.
Speaker:I would say within the last probably two
Speaker:years, a lot of the marketing programs that we're doing, a percentage of the
Speaker:budget is being used to attract new employees and new talent.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Some of the things that I'm finding, I see that are misses.
Speaker:So this is more at the company level, but
Speaker:I also have kind of bigger picture stuff to bring to the table too,
Speaker:is businesses are not doing a good job in just their website and social and digital
Speaker:presence, even showing any sort of diversity in their culture at all.
Speaker:They only focus on what they do from like, this is who we do business for.
Speaker:They don't talk about the experience of working at their organization, especially
Speaker:Chris, you talked about the mentorship programs or having a career path and
Speaker:letting people know if you get in the door, you know, at this level, that within
Speaker:twelve months we can move you to this level.
Speaker:And this is the learning opportunities and
Speaker:really sharing what that experience is going to be like working within an
Speaker:organization to try to attract the type of talent that you want.
Speaker:But any visuals that you have in your
Speaker:digital presence should really showcase that you are diverse.
Speaker:You don't want just the white male in all of your photos, on your website, on your
Speaker:social channels because that's going to push people away.
Speaker:People that especially women want to see
Speaker:that they're not going to be the only female within an organization.
Speaker:The other side of marketing is like once
Speaker:you understand who that ideal customer is or who is that kind of targeted talent
Speaker:that you're trying to attract, where are they hanging out?
Speaker:Where are they getting their information?
Speaker:I mean, are there mom groups?
Speaker:If we're trying to get more of these moms,
Speaker:and maybe you have to look at some flexibility, maybe we can't get someone in
Speaker:40 hours a week, but can we get two moms at 20 hours a week?
Speaker:That would suffice and make a full time
Speaker:role because they do have to worry about childcare and whatnot.
Speaker:So it's just really being open to flexibility when it comes to
Speaker:attracting that right audience, but understanding where they hang out.
Speaker:Don't just do the same old post the job on your website.
Speaker:Hire a recruiter who's dipping in the same talent pool over and over again.
Speaker:Step outside that comfort zone.
Speaker:Step outside that box and say, if we want
Speaker:more women to be or a more diverse workforce, let's figure out where these
Speaker:people are hanging out and go have a conversation with them.
Speaker:Let them know that this is our mission and there's opportunities for growth and
Speaker:mentorship and it's an amazing opportunity.
Speaker:So that's my little marketing soapbox.
Speaker:You are an expert. Yeah.
Speaker:I think what I'm hearing from you is that HR needs a marketing plan 100%.
Speaker:I feel that they're stuck in their old ways.
Speaker:This is how we've always done it mentality and it is not working.
Speaker:All of our manufacturers listening out there.
Speaker:Get your HR team on a marketing plan.
Speaker:Integrate yourselves with key marketing people like Laurie, Heidi, and all the
Speaker:resources that they provide, because this is important stuff.
Speaker:You want to attract the next generation worker, which includes females.
Speaker:We've got to do the things that Laurie
Speaker:just mentioned and it's a lesson for all of us.
Speaker:I look around my organization and I know
Speaker:we have to continue to keep working on a diversity as well.
Speaker:So this is something we'll need to just continue working on.
Speaker:But I think that's such great advice.
Speaker:What were you going to say, Aaron?
Speaker:I love the practical like tips and tricks.
Speaker:I just I think that's what our listeners are here for.
Speaker:I tend to come still from the more the research side of things.
Speaker:So as I was reading the first article they were discussing,
Speaker:I remembered I had read something about this gentleman, Roland Friar.
Speaker:He's a Harvard economist and he did
Speaker:research on bias that sheds some light on the disparities.
Speaker:And it's interesting because he unpacks the assumptions and looks at the actual
Speaker:data behind disparities, both racial and gender.
Speaker:But this study in particular was that he was able to identify.
Speaker:So there was a hospital and the leaderships.
Speaker:We realized that there is a 33% difference.
Speaker:Men in our hospital facilities make 33% more than women.
Speaker:We don't know what we're doing.
Speaker:We're, we're going to do some trainings.
Speaker:You know, we got to look at, we got to talk to HR.
Speaker:And he said, slow down, let's take a look at the numbers and what he revealed.
Speaker:And I was so pleased to hear some of the
Speaker:points that you made, Chris, about flexibility, because what he discovered
Speaker:was not that the hospital itself was fundamentally misogynistic or sexist.
Speaker:It's that the scheduling as it was set up
Speaker:made it much easier for men who didn't have childcare responsibilities to gain
Speaker:those extra hours to get that more experience.
Speaker:And that what the hospital needed to do, was to look at how they structured their
Speaker:hours and their scheduling to create those opportunities for women.
Speaker:So I think the takeaway there is that we bad mouth companies when we see these
Speaker:numbers and we just kind of look for a boogeyman sometimes.
Speaker:And that boogeyman might not be there.
Speaker:I mean, they're out there, but it's actually just like it's a broader problem
Speaker:that we all have and how we frame the way things work.
Speaker:And I think, especially to Lori's point,
Speaker:that's the way we've always done it keeps you in this box.
Speaker:And even though you know you're not executing on bias, you are not allowing a
Speaker:different scenario to play out because you're in your box.
Speaker:I thought that was really great insight that he had.
Speaker:Well, it kind of goes back to what I was
Speaker:saying about, like, knowing your customer, which is the target to pick their brains.
Speaker:And if you're trying to attract that
Speaker:diverse or more, employ more women, understand them, get
Speaker:inside their heads, ask them what type of work schedule would work better for you,
Speaker:instead of just making the assumption and saying, these are your options.
Speaker:And I just love that example that they went deeper right.
Speaker:What was really causing the disparity.
Speaker:And it turns out it's not just the dollars for dollars thing.
Speaker:And that is a great lesson for everybody as well, to step into that and
Speaker:work through those numbers and see where your opportunities might be.
Speaker:So I love that.
Speaker:Did you want me to dive into some more of
Speaker:just some of the basic findings so that our audience can.
Speaker:Yeah, let's do a quick rundown before we
Speaker:wrap up just so that people have those takeaways.
Speaker:Yeah. So.
Speaker:Here is the biggest labor force challenges heard from both male and female employees.
Speaker:I think just for anybody listening that
Speaker:doesn't get a chance to read this, here's some of the big things.
Speaker:So, lack of flexibility.
Speaker:We talked a lot about that, but what are they talking about?
Speaker:They're talking about job sharing, split shifts, and telecommuting.
Speaker:So think about those things.
Speaker:Lack of child care support, lack of female role models.
Speaker:That's something we haven't talked about, but certainly a critical one.
Speaker:If you've got some female leaders in your organization, how are you giving them the
Speaker:space and the capacity to help lead other females?
Speaker:Minimal opportunities for advancement?
Speaker:That's always challenging in companies.
Speaker:If there isn't an opening to go vertical, but people still want those vertical
Speaker:opportunities, are there ways to move people
Speaker:horizontally, to give them new experiences and things?
Speaker:Insufficient compensation.
Speaker:So, of course, men and women,
Speaker:zero or minimal maternity, family leave, something to think about.
Speaker:Lack of on site maternal accommodations, lack of elder care support.
Speaker:That's an interesting one.
Speaker:And then workplace harassment and safety concerns.
Speaker:I think sometimes those are perceived challenges that in our mind we might talk
Speaker:about at higher levels, but really they were at the bottom.
Speaker:They were even lower than other.
Speaker:So just as not that those aren't important
Speaker:and things that we need to overcome, right?
Speaker:Any workforce harassment or safety
Speaker:concerns, we certainly want to address those, but those being raised by men and
Speaker:women are very low compared to all of the other.
Speaker:Just some things that when interviewing or communicating with female candidates for
Speaker:an open position, what are the motivating factors they value most when applying for
Speaker:or considering a job at a company, specifically a manufacturing company
Speaker:location was number one, by female costing compensation, number two, job description.
Speaker:Number three.
Speaker:Benefits four and clear path forward for advancements.
Speaker:Raises bonuses.
Speaker:Was number five.
Speaker:So those are some things on top of mind for women.
Speaker:When communicating with female candidates for an open position.
Speaker:What are specific benefits they value the most?
Speaker:Health care, number one, pay time off.
Speaker:Number two, flexible remote offerings, number three.
Speaker:So for those that are wondering if that's still an important criteria for hiring and
Speaker:finding people, it certainly seems that yes is the answer.
Speaker:Training, professional development opportunities, paid maternity, paid family
Speaker:leave and retirement benefits, kind of what round that out.
Speaker:And then rank the specific policies
Speaker:related to workforce flexibility that female employees cite as priorities when
Speaker:applying for or considering a job at your company.
Speaker:Number one was telecommuting.
Speaker:Number one, hybrid work.
Speaker:Three, part time options.
Speaker:Four, split shifts.
Speaker:And five, job sharing.
Speaker:Listen to that.
Speaker:Listen to that.
Speaker:Sounds so much like what we've been talking about.
Speaker:Just terms of, like it's the whole plate of responsibilities.
Speaker:I just want to take a quick second to say
Speaker:moms have the most obvious set of responsibilities.
Speaker:But if you're thinking about some of the stereotypes, which I believe in them that
Speaker:we were talking about earlier, and women in their community of care is large,
Speaker:we have a lot of things that we as people care about and are responsible for.
Speaker:So that flexibility allows us to fill that
Speaker:big pie that we've set up for ourselves and get it all done.
Speaker:So it's not just about moms.
Speaker:It's about the degree to which we
Speaker:contribute to our families and our communities.
Speaker:And the company that recognizes that is a great member of their own community.
Speaker:So thank you for sharing all of those with us.
Speaker:And I really hope our listeners recognize this as the sort of
Speaker:disruptive, paradigm shifting information that it is to get us all to a thriving
Speaker:economy where both men and women can benefit from a more modernized workplace.
Speaker:Let's just get to it.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And I think maybe just to round out this particular article, they did talk about
Speaker:how the Manufacturing Institute is trying to raise the female workforce to 35%.
Speaker:They have that as a goal by 2030.
Speaker:So if manufacturing organizations want
Speaker:some of the resources that they're offering in their mission to.
Speaker:Help companies get there.
Speaker:They should check out the Women Make
Speaker:America initiative at the Manufacturing Institute.
Speaker:We'll include it in the Show Notes.
Speaker:As well, for sure.
Speaker:One thing I want to talk about, we're talking very much at the company level.
Speaker:These are things that companies can do.
Speaker:But I'm part of a program called the
Speaker:Goldman Sachs 10,000 small business program.
Speaker:I don't know if either of you ladies have heard of it before from.
Speaker:You, because it's so cool.
Speaker:There's a big initiative, an advocacy initiative to support small businesses.
Speaker:And two of the things that
Speaker:I went to Capitol Hill to not totally my thing, but I did it anyways.
Speaker:It was a fascinating experience, totally different conversation.
Speaker:But two initiatives that I think are something that people,
Speaker:businesses can try to get in front of their Congress, people to advocate for
Speaker:addressing the workforce and competitiveness challenges, goodness,
Speaker:especially related to hiring and retention.
Speaker:These are two things that the 10,000 Small
Speaker:Business Program that we were advocating and speaking to our Congresspeople about.
Speaker:So that one is helping small businesses to
Speaker:offer benefits like retirement plans and paid leave and renew some tax credits
Speaker:focused on the rehiring and retention opportunities.
Speaker:The other one, I think this is so
Speaker:important, and again, to your point, Aaron, about, like, let's boost the
Speaker:economy here and let's get people at the top involved, is to get the government
Speaker:involved in increasing access to affordable, quality childcare.
Speaker:Let's help small businesses jointly
Speaker:provide child care, centralize the information resources that are available,
Speaker:and improve any sort of funding and tax credits for that.
Speaker:I think it's not just the company by company.
Speaker:It's looking at the big picture as a whole here.
Speaker:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker:Key to a vibrant economy is having a workforce.
Speaker:How about that, people?
Speaker:Something I talked about earlier, and
Speaker:again, one of the shows there is the Women in Manufacturing Group.
Speaker:I think all companies should get their women involved in this.
Speaker:It's so motivational.
Speaker:It's not only for women.
Speaker:There are men allies, male allies as well,
Speaker:that are, of course, invited for everything that Whim does.
Speaker:The annual summit is in September of this year.
Speaker:I think we should have links to that in the Show Notes as well.
Speaker:There are opportunities here.
Speaker:Let's make sure we're utilizing everything.
Speaker:So love the Goldman Sachs one as well. Yeah, for sure.
Speaker:Love it. Wow.
Speaker:This is a super fun, long, banter conversation.
Speaker:If you were waiting for our guests to come on.
Speaker:Sorry, no time.
Speaker:All right, I think that wraps it up.
Speaker:I'm just going to give a nice little shout out to all the manufacturers out there.
Speaker:We want you to go make some cool shit.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:This wraps up today's broadcast.
Speaker:If you're looking to shake up the status quo at your organization or just want to
Speaker:connect with these broads, visit Mfgbroadcastcom.
Speaker:Contact Laurie Heidi.
Speaker:For your strategic digital marketing initiatives, contact Chris Harrington for
Speaker:OEM and aftermarket Digital Solutions and contact Aaron Courtney for Webbased
Speaker:Solutions for your complex business problems.
Speaker:We've got a great offer specifically for our listeners.
Speaker:You can find more information about the offers and your hosts@mfgbroadcast.com.
