Don't Fix the Women, Fix the Workplace

One in three women are considering reducing their working hours, taking a less stressful job–or, leaving the workforce altogether.

Companies are investing roughly 8 billion per year on gender diversity trainings, but the impact is questionable. One Harvard organizational sociology professor ran through thousands of data points only to discover that these programs are backfiring.

Companies are trying to “fix” women when instead they should be fixing the workplace. And how do we do that?

Stop leaning in, it’s time to lean OUT

Here are three science-based ways to attract and retain women:

Hire and promote with neurosignature diversity in mind.

Currently, we most often promote people who are highly ambitious, stress resistant, and tough-minded into leadership positions. And as a result, we overlook and lose out on a lot of valuable skills and talents. This is what I call the neurogap.

Respect different optimal stress points.

People reach their highest performance at an optimal stress point that is unique to them. Being highly stress-resistant does not mean that you will automatically come up with the best ideas or deliver the best results. We need the sensation seekers AND the deep thinkers to truly create diversity of thought in the workplace.

Offer autonomy and flexibility in roles to fully support a work-life balance.

Why is it only possible to reach the highest rank by sacrificing your health, your well-being and the time with your loved ones? It’s not smart and it’s certainly not how our ancestors used to work. Our brains work best when given autonomy and flexibility to complete the task at hand – both in men and in women. Instead of “supporting families” by having one partner put in 80 hour weeks and the other go down to part-time, we need to find a way to support and find balance for both!