Engagement and Retention. Why Leading with Empathy is More Important Than Ever.

The One Thing Leaders Can Do Now to Support Their Teams

Engagement and Retention. Why Leading with Empathy is More Important Than Ever.

Recently, I’ve conducted many Leading with Empathy webinars for my clients, and it’s clear that these past months have been challenging, particularly for women. The virus has sent most people home to work virtually. Women (and men) are dealing with new pressures of balancing educating children at home with finding enough bandwidth and quiet spaces to work, all while ensuring their voices are still being heard at the decision-making tables.

Add to it a massive loss of jobs, financial instability, health and caretaking concerns and protests against racial inequality, and it’s no wonder people are feeling overwhelmed. Some women have dropped out of the workforce or are considering doing so, while others have taken on the equivalent of multiple full-time jobs, which is unsustainable. 

Employee/Business Resource Groups have a unique and critical opportunity now to step up and provide a collective Voice for Women within the organization.

My recent YWomen Gender Conversation QuickStarter newsletter* provided BRGs with a ready-now survey that can be adapted for your organization and dropped into a Survey Monkey or other data collection tool. The survey is designed to gauge the issues your members are struggling with today. 

Click here to download the PDF questions. Edit them to make them relevant to your organization. Once the survey is complete, consider the following next steps:

• Share the collective results with your Sr. Leaders.
• Pick one or two key points and have leaders talk to the organization about how to better support their teams. 
• Host a webinar that covers how employees can manage key issues most effectively. 

This is a critical time for leaders to speak and act on their values. Your employees will remember what you did and said in a crisis, and it will be remembered longer and more vividly than what you did and said during “normal” times. 

This moment calls for each of us to become better listeners. I encourage you to use the opportunity to listen to women’s experiences in your organization and use their feedback to make adjustments and course corrections. 

Related articles:

• Getting Personal: An Invitation to Other Fathers to Be Advocates For Equality.
• Expanding the Gender Equity Conversation #Pride2020
• Keeping Women Visible – A New Reality

*To receive my monthly newsletter with tips on having gender conversations at work, staff-meeting-in-a-box and tips for engaging male allies and advocates, sign up here.