The exodus of women leaders from the workforce

Caption: Why Are Women Leaving Executive Role? Reasons by Gender

Women leaders are leaving their roles at the highest rate ever. Given that women are already drastically underrepresented at the leadership level, this mass departure is cause for significant concern, according to a recent report from Russell Reynolds Associates’ Margot McShane, Leah Christianson, and Joy Tan.

“This all comes down to motivation,” said Ms. McShane. “Women frequently go through more complex, multi-variable calculations every time they have to make a career decision. This, of course, affects how they consider leadership opportunities. Now, the Great Breakup signifies that women leaders are reprioritizing their lives. On one side of the ledger: all the roles they play, both within and outside of the workforce. On the other: career engagement and growth.”

To get more women into leadership and retain the women executives already in place, organizations can reframe career growth—or even the top roles themselves—as something that could improve every aspect of women leaders’ lives and, by extension, the organization’s success, according to the Russell Reynolds report. Relative to the population, women are far from well represented on leadership teams.

As Russell Reynolds explored in its recent article, “Gender Diversity in the C-suite, ” women account for 47 percent of the U.S. workforce benchmark but make up just 28 percent of executives in the S&P 100.

Read the full article at: https://huntscanlon.com/a-look-at-what-is-driving-female-leaders

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