Young women entering the workforce may be overlooking a lucrative sector: manufacturing. According to a survey conducted by Women in Manufacturing (WiM), a group of nearly 500 women dedicated to attracting, retaining and advancing women in the manufacturing sector, many of the opportunities that young women are seeking can be found in the manufacturing sector. Women’s skills in building community, communication, and emotional intelligence are in growing demand as manufacturing begins to gradually return to United States and expands to greater heights in Canada. Manufacturers can attract women by deploying leadership team building for women in the workplace along with strategies that improve existing teams.
The WiM survey, which was co-produced with Plante Moran, included more than 870 women participants, and included both experienced workers in the manufacturing sector, as well as young women contemplating their career choices.
The survey found that young women entering the workforce consider compensation as their top consideration, with an interesting and challenging position coming in a close second. The manufacturing sector, as well as other sectors hoping to hire young women, can focus on leadership team building strategies and systems to attract women to their open positions.
When it comes to leadership team building specifically for women in the workplace, there are many different aspects to consider. This article references a few topics presented by the following articles: How ModCloth Created a Female-Friendly Engineering Culture, Why Organizations Thrive With Feminine Leadership, and Female Leaders Are More Effective Than ‘Macho’ Counterparts, Study Finds .
Organizations can attract and retain women candidates by implementing the following strategies.
Provide individualized mentoring programs. According to How ModCloth Created a Female-Friendly Engineering Culture, internal, individualized mentoring is required for ModCloth employees to advance into senior positions. This allows for all team members to have the opportunity to work closely with leaders and gain valuable insight into position requirements. This tactic creates a level playing ground for all candidates.
Identify the qualities that successful leaders possess. There are many different qualities that successful leaders can possess, but according to Why Organizations Thrive With Feminine Leadership, women innately possess many qualities that have proven successful in leadership roles. A few of these qualities include strong communication skills, empathetic and persuasive natures and clear visions for the company or role. Women leaders are also found to be team builders who actively listen to diverse ideas and give other team members a voice, which is a valuable attribute for successful leaders to possess. Women also are able to facilitate high levels of cross functional team problem solving when deploying a system that promotes a 100% success rate for new team development rather than the 40% currently seen at executive levels.
Consider a “feminine” rather than “macho” leadership model. According to Female Leaders Are More Effective Than ‘Macho’ Counterparts, Study Finds. a recent survey conducted by Ketchum Leadership Communication Monitor found that out of 14 leadership qualities presented on the survey, women outranked men in 10 categories. The survey focused on how effective each leadership quality is, and then asked participants to compare how men and women are able to implement these qualities. Women led the way by communicating in an open and transparent way (62 percent vs. 38 percent), admitting mistakes (66 percent vs. 34 percent), leading by example (57 percent vs. 43 percent), and bringing out the best in others (61 percent vs. 39 percent).
Many studies are finding that women possess many innate qualities for effective leadership, so if your organization is lacking in diversity in upper management, consider implementing a leadership team building system to propel women up the ranks. As for young women looking for a career path, consider the opportunities that the manufacturing sector can offer, and consider that more than 80 percent of women in manufacturing today say that their work is interesting and challenging.
Copyright TIGERS Success Series, Inc. by Dianne Crampton
About TIGERS Success Series, Inc.
TIGERS is a team development system that helps leaders track and measure the team development process. It produces productive team behavior and process norms that take much of the sting out of team management and teaches leaders how to deploy very effective strategies that produce strong teams for complex problem solving and change initiatives. TIGERS offers licensing and certification to HR Executives, Project Managers, and Organizational Development Practitioners.
