#ChooseToChallenge the biases that prevent women from reaching their full potential

As a father of two young-adult daughters, I, along with my wife, try to do be as supportive as possible in their choices without interfering. We try to instill in them confidence about their potential and push them to take risks, knowing that they can always ask for help. Julie, who is 20, experienced her first internship a couple of years ago in a local start up called Batmaid. I enjoyed hearing how she was daring to try new things at work — and succeeding. I hope these type of varied experiences will shape her future, to be daring and take risks in her career, which will also contribute to personal developments in her journey. I also know that building a career can be more difficult for women than men, and that employees succeed when they are encouraged and supported by their managers to risk going beyond what they think is their own potential.

 Leaders will usually tell you that spotting potential in an employee is obvious: they get great results, they learn quickly, they demonstrate the company’s values.  But sometimes the potential is not as obvious. Sometimes we’re not looking at it in the right way. I’ve seen that this is more true when it comes to evaluating the performance of women than of men: women can be overlooked for promotions when managers don’t look deep enough for potential. And this often leaves women behind. 

 Is it because men are generally more vocal about their accomplishments? They have no problem talking about what they’ve achieved and where they want to go in their career. My wife always tells me I brag a lot about my accomplishments even though I think I don’t.  Interesting no? On the other hand, women can often be less vocal, less directabout specific career goals, especially when it comes to identifying a specific position they want when they know the person who is currently in that position. We’re told that these differences are because men have more confidence than women. We know that one of the reasons this happens is because what boys and girls are taught is “correct” behavior becomes engrained and carried throughout life. But studies have shown that the differences are also a reaction to how men and women are treated in the workplace. 

 A study from LeanIn.org found that both men and women more readily associate men with leadership, and when it comes to assessing teamwork, women’s contributions are attributed to the whole team while men are singled out as taking a leadership role. The same study found that managers more often give women negative feedback on speaking style, whether it’s for being too confident or not confident enough.  It’s so important that we’re aware of this kind of bias in order for us to recognize and confront it, and other biases, that prevent women with high-potential from advancing. Too often I’ve seen women who have been inadvertently taught throughout their careers to fit within this mold of expectations, and therefore they get overlooked, put into the “average potential” category.

People will generally meet your expectations. If you think an employee has average potential, they will live up to that, perhaps only because they have no external motivation to go beyond, perhaps because they think it won’t matter if they do more because their manager won’t notice. But if you believe in someone and put that into action by giving them projects that they think are just beyond their capabilities, and ensuring that they have the support to succeed, they will also live up to that. I strongly believe this makes a huge difference.

 I have continually challenged my leadership team to look beyond the surface when it comes to supporting women to develop in their careers. I encourage them to really examine the potential in women at all levels in the company, scratching beyond the surface and confronting any biases, and then providing the encouragement and guidance needed. There are many practical ways to do this: assign projects that stretch people’s abilities but are within their reach; give them specific feedback, tell them why something was successful and how it could be even more successful next time; give them short-term assignments outside their current areas to expand their experience and expertise; and just as importantly, expressing your confidence in them to instill the confidence they need in themselves to succeed. Doing this with the leadership team at Nestlé Health Science has such a positive snowball effect and it’s wonderful to watch. 

 Finally, while mentors are good, women need sponsors at the highest levels. Research has shown that women’s sponsors are usually less senior than men’s sponsors, and therefore their level of influence in advocating for the employee is limited.  

 Knowing that my daughters will soon be entering the professional workforce, I hope that their future managers are learning about encouraging, supporting, motivating and advocating for women. From my own experience, I see that taking action has had such a beneficial effect on our employees and our company: it creates positive energy and we keep growing our tremendous, diverse talent pool.

 I #ChooseToChallenge myself and my leadership team to continue to be aware of gender biases and to look beyond the obvious when assessing potential. #iwd2021