What's Holding Women Back in the Workplace?

Despite support at the top, gender equality is a long way off at most U.S. companies. A study by Lean In and McKinsey reveals why—and what employees and companies can do about it.

Why aren’t there more women in the upper ranks of corporate America?

Cue the broken record: Women rein in career plans to spend more time caring for family. What’s more, they are inherently less ambitious than men and don’t have the confidence that commands seats in the C-suite.

Not so fast.

Something else is happening on the way to the top. Women aren’t abandoning their careers in large numbers; motherhood, in fact, increases their appetite for winning promotions; and women overall don't lack for ambition and confidence that they can take on big jobs. Yet when asked whether they want a top role in their companies or industries, a majority of women say they would rather not grab the brass ring.

Those are the findings of a major new study of women in the workplace conducted by LeanIn.Org and McKinsey & Co. The research, which gathered data on promotions, attrition and trajectories from 118 companies and surveyed nearly 30,000 men and women, is among the largest efforts to capture attitudes and data about working women. The study involved major North American companies and North American units of global ventures headquartered elsewhere. It reveals sharply different views of the workplace, in which women say they experience a playing field at work that is anything but level. Read more at WSJ.com

The 1 Sure-fire Way to Ignite Your Team's Passion

Leaders tend to be less comfortable with emotional engagement, because they have never learned what to do. Here is one simple, high-impact thing you can do to ignite your team's passion.

Engaging the heart tends to be more challenging for leaders than engaging the mind. It's the softer side of leadership, and it's harder to get your head around. Traditional leadership development programs don't emphasize the skills necessary to engage employees' hearts. As a result, most leaders tend to be less comfortable with this side of engagement simply because they have never learned what to do. Since emotional engagement creates an advantage that is very difficult for your competitors to duplicate, it's worth learning to do well.

The heart represents the emotional side of people that is based on connections. Engaging the heart creates passion. This side requires the art of leadership that focuses on relationships.

We live in a world driven by emotional decisions. Seventy percent of customers' buying decisions are based on human interactions. Likewise, employees are primarily driven by emotional and personal considerations. When people go to work, they don't leave their hearts at home. We live in a high-tech world, but leadership is still a high-touch job. Read more at INC.com

5 Reasons Your Millennial Employees are Quitting

Can't seem to keep your millennial employees engaged at work? It may be because of one of these 5 reasons.

More than 1/3 of the United States workforce is now between the ages of 18 to 34, indicating millennials have now surpassed Generation X to represent the largest share of the American workforce. Unfortunately, today's business leaders are not well-equipped to deal with the mindset and motivations of this new generation.

But some companies have figured it out and know how to maximize the unique talents and needs of millennials. Infusionsoft, a small business email service provider located in Chandler, Arizona, is ranked as one of the "100 Best Workplaces for Millennials" by Forbes. Game rooms and snacks are only part of the equation. The employees at Infusionsoft report enjoying a fun and cooperative work environment, feel that they are genuinely appreciated for their contributions, and also have the ability to take time off work when needed.

Unfortunately, too many companies simply assume what millennials want and barely scratch the surface when trying to recruit and keep them. Companies offer perks millennials simply don't value, while skimping on what does matter. This can create mass turnover for many companies. To stem the flow of quality employees leaving your organization, here are five reasons your millennial employees are quitting--and what to do about it. Read more at INC.com

Goodbye nine to five, hello work-life balance

Employees want flexibility and freedom from outdated work practices. For this to happen, organizations must empathize with the individual.

So many of our current working patterns are hugely outdated. The idea of “nine to five” was conceived during the industrial revolution, prior to the invention of electricity, never mind the internet. Our culture of presentee-ism was born out of conformity, rather than evolving working patterns into what we truly need, both in terms of motivation and productivity.

Large organizations embrace a fixed regime of regimented hours and a single office space because it enables them to retain control over their workforce. Big businesses that allow employees to work from home on Wednesdays, leave early on a Friday, or work a four-day week are not offering true flexibility, they are merely extending the leash. But the tide is turning: people are now taking the matter of work-life balance into their own hands. One in seven workers in the UK has chosen self-employment as the most effective means to take control. Read more on The Guardian

De-stress your workplace

Workplace stress is a silent killer that is plaguing India Inc. Stress in the context of a workplace is anything that stretches an individual's ability to cope. But not all stress is bad. A balanced stress does drive exceptional performance. Dis-stress is when the intensity of stress is so high that an individual exhausts their coping potential. Dis-stress is the number one lifestyle risk factor among Indian workers. As per a recent study by Towers Watson, it ranks above physical inactivity and obesity at the workplace. More than 10 out of 25 people feel that excessive workload is the biggest cause while 2 out of 5 attribute it to inadequate staffing. That is not all. There are other factors like unclear job expectations, overwhelming work demands, technology that expands availability beyond normal work hours, which are identified as top reasons for stress at workplace.  Read more here.

Make your employees your brand ambassadors

Exceptional customer experience is what all companies aspire to deliver, and one of the keys to achieving it lies in having a high level of engagement between their employees and their brand.

How many businesses are aware of just how crucial internal brand engagement is to customer service and satisfaction?

According to research by communications agency Involve, almost half of marketing, brand and customer experience directors believe that their own internal brand engagement programs are ineffective.

While they understand the value of engaging their employees, they see external marketing activities as more prestigious and influential. In fact, many companies are failing to invest or measure the success of their employee brand engagement programs. Read more on theguardian.com

How to Start Fitting Work Into Life (and Stop Fitting Life Into Work)

Finding work-life balance can be challenging, especially for entrepreneurs. Sometimes, we fall prey to the illusion that personal time is another name for time we can put to better use by working. We might even feel that we'd be more productive if we could only forgo rest to work more. But our bodies will likely overrule us on that one.

And that's a good thing because the truth is, we can’t do our best work if we stay plugged in 24/7. To cite an age-old example, Isaac Newton spent plenty of time working, but he didn’t truly understand gravity until he rested under an apple tree.

What's more, there are benefits to spending time on things other than work and sleep. We don’t just take downtime to distract ourselves from responsibility: Time away from work actually makes us work harder and smarter during the hours we dedicate to working.

Work hard; play hard.

Technology has fundamentally changed the workplace: it's actually difficult to get away from work what with cell phones in our pockets and laptops on our coffee tables. However, to get the full benefits of recharging ourselves (not our devices) during our time off, we have to make sure that that time off truly is "off."

We accomplish this by being fully present in everything we do. That means no cursory glances at email under the table and no quick texts to employees when no one’s watching. Blocking off time for leisure makes this easier.

If I want to eat dinner with family, grab a drink with friends, exercise or read a book, I schedule some uninterrupted time to focus on that activity. Setting parameters helps me eliminate the guilt of not working while getting the most from my personal time.

This is more than just what you “should” do. It’s a complete priority shift. While shifting mindsets sounds like a daunting task, we can make the transition easier on ourselves by following a few simple steps: Read more on Fox News

Survey: Half of Americans worry about work while on vacation, then return stressed

More than one-third of U.S. employees (39 percent) don't believe their bosses encourage them to take allotted vacation days, and almost half (45 percent) say their bosses don't help them disconnect from work while on vacation, according to a Randstad US Employee Engagement Study released this week.

Forty-one percent of survey participants said work-life balance is impossible to achieve.

“Employers who proactively maintain positive relationships with employees and encourage them to utilize allotted vacation time are more likely to boost company morale, reduce turnover and increase productivity, all of which can positively impact a company's bottom line,” Atlanta-based Randstad US said in a statement about the study.

The Employee Engagement Study also found :

Vacations can be stressful: Forty-nine percent feel stressed after they return from vacation. Forty-six percent say they worry about work while on vacation.

Hold the vacation: More than one in three employees (38 percent) believe taking fewer vacations makes them look better in the eyes of their boss.

Change of plans: More than one in three employees (36 percent) have had to cancel vacation plans due to work. Read more on bizjournals.com

Imagine that for a second. More than 40% believe that work-life balance is impossible to achieve? How on earth is it possible to engage employees under this scenario? It is any wonder then that employee engagement levels in the U.S. are at all-time lows and job burnout is soaring. But you can’t change what you don’t measure. If you’re not doing some sort of employee survey, whether satisfaction, engagement, pulse, or something else, then you have no idea how to improve things.

3 Things Bosses Can Do to Support Mental Health at Work

More people are starting to speak out at work about the importance of mental health.

 

Among them, according to The Wall Street Journal, are members of a new organization called the Stability Network, which is dedicated to promoting professional support for Americans who suffer from mental illness. Another is entrepreneur Indigo Triplett, founder of Careers in Transition, a human resources consulting firm, and an Inc.com columnist who writes about mental health at work.

 

Many functioning professionals are afraid to admit to a disability for fear of discrimination. They may struggle to find a workplace where their diagnosis does not define them. They often don't disclose it until they are comfortable that the work environment will be supportive.

 

Employers are legally required to make accommodations after an employee discloses a mental or physical disability. Mental health advocates are seeking to encourage employers to go beyond mere accommodation and build in proactive, purposefully inclusive workplace policies and procedures.

 

Here are some best practices for business owners and managers seeking to cultivate a more inclusive and supportive work environment for mental health. Read more in INC.com

Design Your Office to Fulfill Employees' Most Basic Needs

 

In the war for talent, savvy companies understand that office space is both a key component of their recruiting strategy and a platform they can use to amplify their culture. One way to design a space that will become a competitive advantage is to understand exactly what it is that your employees need to be happy.

 

And for help on that front, you might think about Abraham Maslow’s 1950s theory about human motivation and his hierarchy of needs.

 

How can something like office design aid in fulfilling those needs? Answering that question is key to helping companies design spaces their employees love. After all, the same principles that apply to people should also be considered when designing for people. Here are four to consider. Read on Foxnews.com

 

Wishing everyone a safe and happy July 4th.

You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness.  You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism.  ~Erma Bombeck

From all of us at Insightlink Communications

3 Categories of Employee Perks That Have a Bottom-Line ROI

From free, daily catered lunches to company yoga classes to Friday happy hours, workplace perks are here. And they're great additions to standard 401(k) plans and vacation days. Perks like these break the everyday monotony of the workplace, attract the newest generations of talent and keep current staff happy.

 

But, that’s not all.

 

Employee perks also have a strong impact on a company’s bottom line. That’s right -- there’s a quantifiable benefit to taking the team out for drinks.

 

So what is the return on investment of employee perks? Here are three categories of popular perks companies are providing today and the data-backed ROI that comes with them: Find out here