Men: it is not about the money; if you want to retain women in your business think about your business culture

According to a new survey by Technisource, men and women have similar outlooks on job and career opportunities in IT; however, they have key differences in how they perceive the metrics of success in their IT careers.

The greatest disparities centred around how women and men view their compensation, career progression and flexibility within the IT field:

74% of women felt that female IT workers face a different set of career challenges than their male counterparts (48%).

78% of the women polled said they don’t believe compensation is equivalent between them and their male colleagues. But almost half of the men surveyed believed compensation was equal between the genders.

More women than men saw being challenged and flexibility as important factors for career satisfaction, whereas more men felt compensation was important in their career satisfaction.

This correlates with the global research and survey we undertook as the basis of our book: Your Loss, how to win back your female talent. Whilst our research was not sector specific, the women how chose to turn their backs on their successful careers to then become entrepreneurs highlighted that:

Passion at work is key

Home-in on what they enjoy working on and what really “turns them on” intellectually. Sounds like management 101, but surveys on engagement levels worldwide highlight that this basic management principles is clearly overlooked.

Foster a flexible culture

Move beyond the traditional “flexi-working”; make flexibility in the career path (i.e. non-linear), offer flexible ways of cutting the work-pie so that individuals focus on the areas of their strength. Most importantly, actively work against the stigmatizing and stereotyping that takes place when parents (of either gender) asks to work from a different location other than the corporate HQ.

Inspire Innovation

48% of our research base highlighted that women were eager to have opportunities to be more creative, to incorporate their diverse outlook on business issues to commercial realities. However, corporate cultures stifled that innate creativity; this is why they endeavoured the path of entrepreneurship.

Support Sustainability

Linked to the desire to have a flexible, even scenic career path, the women we spoke to were advocates of an experiential talent management process, with diversity of learning experiences forming the backbone of their corporate development. Why should employees not be encouraged to take a year off for a sabbatical, or to work for a cause they care for (or even, have children) and the learnings from these experiences to be brought back into the workplace?

If you are a man looking to build the talent base that will create your future competitive advantage, and save yourself the millions of dollars that losing your top female talent is costing your business, you can discover the best retention strategies here.