Many women in Australian workplaces hold ambitious career goals, including promotional aspirations for their future.
However, when their pathway towards these goals is filled with hurdles and a lack of support, companies miss out on exponential potential.
According to a recent survey by Women’s Agenda, in partnership with Cultivate Sponsorship.
Women with promotion aspirations are active career planners, with 62 per cent having a career plan of at least more than two years into the future.
And yet, 43 per cent of respondents say a lack of clear options available is getting in the way of their next promotion.
Other promotional hurdles that are getting in women’s way are a lack of visibility in the workplace (31 per cent), competition in the role (24 per cent), general caring responsibilities (26 per cent), a lack of flexible work options (21 per cent), insufficient skills/experience applicable to the role (14 per cent) and discrimination (18 per cent).
When it comes to knocking down these barriers and supporting women’s career ambitions, here are three actions that employers can take.
Creating clarity for future potential
Real progress comes from looking at the future potential of employees, which means only having one yearly review usually isn’t enough. It’s important for employers to have real and meaningful conversations with employees often.
When looking at an employee’s future potential, employers should take into account a combination of employee aspiration, engagement and cognitive agility.
Whilst more than a quarter of women (26 per cent) do not have a career plan, women still have ambitions for career progression. Nearly half (48 per cent) have at least a 2-5 year plan, 14 per cent have a 5-10 year plan and 12 per cent have a 12-month plan.
However, when asked if they believe they have clarity on the next options available for their careers, 36 per cent of women say they do not.
With a lack of clear promotion options available being a progression hurdle, there is great potential here for employers to better consider how they communicate these options to existing team members, along with future hires.
Encouraging open conversations and ambition
While having these conversations about the future, it’s also important for employers to ensure women feel comfortable and safe in their workplace environment.
Awkward conversations can lead women to feel uncomfortable expressing their future aspirations in the review meeting. This could make it more likely for women to turn to friends or trusted people outside of work, rather than an employer.
Survey findings reveal that for women who have a career plan, management and leadership in the workplace are not the main groups that are hearing about their career goals.
Most women tell their friends outside of work (64 per cent) or their immediate family (57 per cent) about how they want their career to progress.
This could be heavily impacted by the perception of ‘ambition’, as Cultivate Sponsorship has heard from women who say they believe being ‘ambitious’ is perceived as a negative in workplace
One woman said in her feedback: “I have really struggled with the concept of ambition. I have learnt to accept that I want to succeed. I now show up differently and am bolder. I will take on a new opportunity even if I am not 100 percent sure.”
This woman was supported in her workplace by a sponsor, who said “It was personally rewarding having [my sponsee] recognise and articulate her ambition and achievement without there thinking there was something negative in ‘ambition’.”
Providing sponsorship
Mentorship and sponsorship can be key drivers of change for employers when it comes to supporting women’s ambitions in the workplace.
Seventy-two per cent of women agree that a sponsor is someone who actively helps an employee with career advice.
There’s a gap for this support in Australian workplaces, as 63 per cent of women do not believe their current or most recent employer is offering enough support for mentoring and sponsoring women.
Nevertheless, 28 per cent of women say they have been sponsored in the workplace, indicating that sponsorship is emerging as a prominent strategy for employers to support women.
There also looks to be a strong pool of talent available, who are interested in supporting workplace and industry initiatives that aim to lift others up.
With just 14 per cent of women saying ‘no’ to sponsoring someone in the future, it’s clear the vast majority of women see themselves as supporting other people’s careers either today, or into the future.
There are great opportunities for employers to establish opportunities for women to be sponsored, which in turn, could lead to helping women gain visibility at work as well as get clarity over the career progression options they have ahead.
This article was written in partnership with Cultivate Sponsorship. You can find out more about their programs here.