The Rewards of an Engaged Female Workforce

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Employee engagement is a critical indicator of a company’s success. Engaged employees feel a bond with their company, are proud to work there, and take steps to improve the company’s prospects. However, BCG’s latest research shows that some of the world’s biggest and best-known companies have lower engagement than they should among senior-level women. This creates two problems. First, research has shown that companies whose employees aren’t engaged have weaker financial performance. Compounding this outcome, if promising women leave, companies could pay an additional financial penalty for having a less diverse leadership team. Matthew Krentz, Claire Tracey, Miki Tsusaka, Rainer Strack, Jennifer Garcia-Alonso, Diana Dosik, and Julie Kilmann analysis of the factors that contribute to engagement among approximately 345,000 individuals reveals the scope of the issue. It also suggests how companies can respond. By rewriting the rules for how employees interact with each other and with management, fostering peer-to-peer connections, and making leaders accountable for results, companies can create a more engaging environment—not only for senior-level women but for all employees.  Among both men and women, engagement typically increases with rising seniority. As people take on greater responsibility and have more direct interaction with the C-suite, they tend to become more engaged. Our data shows that companies with the highest overall engagement scores1 (those in the top quartile) do not have a gender gap. Women and men at all levels are equally engaged. Yet companies with lower overall engagement—those in the remaining quartiles—show a notable gender gap. In other words, when companies get engagement right, everyone benefits. When they don’t, senior women feel the pain disproportionately.

The data we’ve collected on seven areas critical to employee engagement highlights the problem. We have ranked these areas on the basis of their relative importance among the employees we surveyed. For all seven areas, our findings focus primarily on the companies with lower overall engagement scores (those in the second, third, and fourth quartiles).

1. Appreciation.

2. Work-Life Balance.

3. Cooperation and Good Relations with Colleagues.

4. Mentorship, Sponsorship, and a Strong Relationship with Managers.

5. Compensation and Promotion Opportunities.

6. Job Attributes.

7. Company Objectives and Aspirations.

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More in: bcg.pers[ectives The Rewards of an Engaged Female Workforce by Matthew Krentz, Claire Tracey, Miki Tsusaka, Rainer Strack, Jennifer Garcia-Alonso, Diana Dosik, and Julie Kilmann

The authors thank the following BCG colleagues for their contribution to this publication: Susanne Dyrchs, Grant Freeland, Federico Fregni, Anna Green, Jim Hemerling, Leila Hoteit, Iván Martén, Dolly Meese, Antonella Mei-Pochtler, Stéphanie Mingardon, Renata Moniaga, Yves Morieux, Nina Morton, Massimo Portincaso, Mai-Britt Poulsen, Vaishali Rastogi, Julia Reichert, Joseph Reiman, Jaime Rooney, Michelle Russell, Eva Sage-Gavin, Margaret Schear, Frances Taplett, Roselinde Torres, and Judith Wallenstein.

In addition, they would like to thank their external collaborators: Dan Henkle and Bobbi Silten, at Gap; Liz Burton, Jayne Haines, and Kalpesh Joshi, at GSK; Ursula Mead, at InHerSight; Rohini Anand, at Sodexo, and Michael Montelongo, formerly at Sodexo; and Susan Somersille Johnson, Sue Mallino, Miguel Sepulveda, and Suzanne Vincent, at SunTrust.

The authors are grateful to Katherine Andrews, Gary Callahan, Kim Friedman, Jeff Garigliano, Abby Garland, Amy Halliday, and Sara Strassenreiter for their contributions to the writing, editing, design, and production of this report.