Getting To Equal Requires Tapping into Diverse Talent Networks

International Woman’s Day is a day designed to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. It’s also a good time to ponder the root causes of the gender pay-gap (recent research indicates that women earn just US$73 for every US$100 a man earns) and give some thought to the solutions that will close the gap.

Last week, in celebration of International Women’s Day, Accenture released their latest research on creating a culture of equality. Their Getting to Equal report revealed that there are “almost three times more women on the fast track in organizations with at least one female senior leader than in organizations in which all senior leaders are male (23 percent and eight percent, respectively).” The professional services firm defines a “fast track” woman as one who reaches manager level within five years and leads her peer group in terms of advancement in the workplace.

Getting to equal by recruiting more female senior leaders shouldn’t be a difficult task, but many organizations struggle to do so. In her recent article on getting more women on boards, Anita Sands explains that creating diversity in boardrooms is a challenge because most searches for new members begin by asking current board members for candidate recommendations. When members tap into their own networks, which tend to be comprised of similar people, the approach tends to perpetuate a lack of diversity. Generating a more diverse slate of candidates for senior roles hinges on tapping into new and larger pools of potential candidates.

We get that for some organizations, especially those that are currently heavily led by men, tapping into a network of qualified women can be a challenge. That’s why we exist. We make finding top female talent easy.

The Second Shift delivers a solution for the pipeline issue. We offer a vetted network of exceptional, professional women available on-demand. The women we work with bring maturity, pride of work, and unbridled enthusiasm for new opportunities to utilize their skills. Accenture states that “increasing the percentage of women leaders from 0 to 35 percent leads to the biggest gain in women’s advancement.” We’re here to make that shift a reality for your organization. Are you ready? Post a job on The Second Shift today! Reach out to us with any questions—info@thesecondshift.com

#makeworkworkforyou #ondemandtalent #thesecondshift.com