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Women in Leadership


Tendencies and patterns of the past decades reveal that many organizations do not move beyond level three in the above smart curve model, indicating that organizations do not yet reap the benefits of tapping into the pool of talented women available.

In the 21. century, the rise of dual-income households, single parents, and shared parenting has influenced the lives of employees and how men and women live. Additionally, and due to our technology-enabled, service-based economy, the way we work has changed fundamentally as well. Regardless of their career stage, people seem to be prioritizing, and looking for, flexibility. Flexibility with regards to how they work and where they work included. Thus, designs of work- and career paths have changed significantly and quickly across the labor market.

However, the way organizations manage people’s careers is largely based on legacies of the past - and out of alignment with current behavioral tendencies and priorities in today's working environment. Many organizations are structured to the traditional linear career trajectory where; the 20s are about career foundation, the 30s about career acceleration, the 40s about career consolidation, and the 50s about transitioning to retirement (see model below). This, organizations do not take into account external factors important to their employees nor consider how they can change the career trajectory in order to reduce the risk of potentially loosing talent. Adhering to the traditional career model limits an organizations ability to optimize the available talent pool due to:

  • The clash between the "career acceleration" and the "family formation" stages, including its resulting impact on women’s career advancement.

  • Its failure to align with the shape of today’s work pattern, where people enter and exit careers a number of times during their working life, cycling through the "foundation", "acceleration", "consolidation" and "exit" -stages.

  • Overlooking the fact that people in their 50s often want to work longer and make up a huge pool of potential knowledge and skill. This is particularly significant in the fact that women over the age of 50 are the fastest growing segment of the labor market.

Smart organizations pay attention to the interaction between career and life stage and ensures that their people have real access to appropriate arrangements, including flexible working opportunities.

Tendencies and patterns of the past decades reveal that many organizations do not move beyond level three in the above smart curve model, indicating that organizations do not yet reap the benefits of tapping into the pool of talented women available.

In the 21. century, the rise of dual-income households, single parents, and shared parenting has influenced the lives of employees and how men and women live. Additionally, and due to our technology-enabled, service-based economy, the way we work has changed fundamentally as well. Regardless of their career stage, people seem to be prioritizing, and looking for, flexibility. Flexibility with regards to how they work and where they work included. Thus, designs of work- and career paths have changed significantly and quickly across the labor market.

However, the way organizations manage people’s careers is largely based on legacies of the past - and out of alignment with current behavioral tendencies and priorities in today's working environment. Many organizations are structured to the traditional linear career trajectory where; the 20s are about career foundation, the 30s about career acceleration, the 40s about career consolidation, and the 50s about transitioning to retirement (see model below). This, organizations do not take into account external factors important to their employees nor consider how they can change the career trajectory in order to reduce the risk of potentially loosing talent. Adhering to the traditional career model limits an organizations ability to optimize the available talent pool due to:

  • The clash between the "career acceleration" and the "family formation" stages, including its resulting impact on women’s career advancement.

  • Its failure to align with the shape of today’s work pattern, where people enter and exit careers a number of times during their working life, cycling through the "foundation", "acceleration", "consolidation" and "exit" -stages.

  • Overlooking the fact that people in their 50s often want to work longer and make up a huge pool of potential knowledge and skill. This is particularly significant in the fact that women over the age of 50 are the fastest growing segment of the labor market.

Smart organizations pay attention to the interaction between career and life stage and ensures that their people have real access to appropriate arrangements, including flexible working opportunities.



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