Supporting women in marketing: what questions are your female employees asking themselves?

The marketing sector is one of the most forward-thinking and developed sectors in the world. Despite this, there are still barriers that women face when entering into and working within the industry. It is important to identify and resolve any pain-points that may deter women from working with your business, and rectify them. This will ultimately create a more diverse and inclusive workforce, and will attract top female marketing professionals to your organisation. 

So, how can you identify the barriers within your business, and actively take steps to remove these so top female talent can excel?

The key questions that women are asking

Can I balance my work and personal life?

One of the main issues that women come up against, especially within the more commercial sectors, is lack of flexibility. Whether it be flexible hours in the morning to do the school run, or finding part-time roles that cater to women re-entering the workforce, to manage a healthy work-life balance. 

Workplaces often make the assumption that women will require or request flexibility later in their career, due to maternity leave or other family commitments. Unfortunately, these assumptions accompanied by a lack of willingness to accommodate such requests can sometimes mean that women are disregarded for promotions or overlooked for roles. Which means that many women fear to ask such questions.

Being proactive about supplying this information to all candidates at the application stage would help to improve this. If you interview a female candidate that would be a great fit in your team, then it is important to let her know your willingness to be flexible in order to support her in managing a positive life-work balance from the outset. By letting applicants know that flexibility is available throughout the interview stages, you are providing them with more reassurances and confidence to apply for roles. 

Can I afford the cost of returning back to work?

Accommodating a demanding work pattern can mean expensive costs. Childcare and nurseries are a luxury that many struggle to justify, to the extent that they can negate the financial worth of women returning to work.

You should let your employees know what a future in your business might mean for them. While it may not seem financially viable for someone to return to their current role, it may be worthwhile in the longer term. Clarity and transparency over how you recognise and promote talent in addition to the rewards and opportunities available are critical.

What if I’m not good enough?

Imposter syndrome is a well-documented barrier for high performing women. While this is by no means an exclusively female trait, many women, eminently capable of taking a step forward in their career, find the fear of being ‘found out’ prevents them from putting themselves forward or asking for the flexibility they may need.

Working on development points is a necessary part of any appraisal system, but don’t forget your employee’s strengths. Sufferers of imposter syndrome can easily put any success they have had down to a favourable set of circumstances or even a ‘fluke.’ Without fully understanding the strengths that have enabled their achievements, they may never have the confidence to take on the next role.

How to attract and hire a diverse workforce

Attracting a diverse workforce starts with eliminating unconscious biases from your hiring process. Recruiters are often the first line of the filter process, so ensuring that you are working with a recruiter that puts diversity at the forefront of their own agenda is essential. Other practical steps that a number of businesses have adopted include the removal of certain information from CVs such as name or school background and increasingly, reviewing job descriptions to ensure the language and format used has a more inclusive appeal. 

Ultimately, businesses that want to be known as inclusive need to shout about it. A diverse team that feels empowered, comfortable to bring their whole selves to work, and in turn, able to voice their opinions to build their career tends to talk about it to others. Your business brand is key, which is why exhibiting both internally and externally a culturally consistent, unbiased approach to hiring and supporting staff is crucial. 

Holding events is also a great external method to demonstrate that you are actively choosing to approach hiring processes with diversity at the forefront of your agenda to boost the representation of women in your marketing function. This can be in the form of seminars with female speakers, or events providing information on internal changes to support women within the business.

Women in the workforce are looking for sufficient training, support, and development within their roles. This, teamed with flexibility and the right external perception of the business is key to make sure you are doing the utmost to attract and hire the top female professionals in the marketing sector. If businesses could get to a point where the male workforce is considered as likely to take parental leave, then many of the biases women face would be eliminated. If this is possible then the next natural step we should aspire to is shifting our language to entirely non-binary terms. 

If you are looking for top marketing candidates to join your team, here at Michael Page we have access to a wide pool of talent across the country who would be a great fit for your role and organisation. Get in touch with one of our specialist recruitment consultants today for a confidential discussion.