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What Women Want in Business What’s the largest emerging market in the world? Many would respond with China. However, Sylvia Ann Hewlett, CEO of the Center for Talent Innovation, has a relatively unconventional answer to this question. At the inaugural Quality of Life conference hosted by Sodexo, Hewlett gave a presentation where she argued that women are in fact the largest emerging market.  She explored how to get women involved in business by analyzing the factors that motivate and inspire them. Hewlett began her talk with an anecdote about Rajasjree Nambiar, the first woman to serve as head of branch banking in India. Nambiar, displeased with the condescending attitudes of her male banker colleagues, chose to open two bank branches in India primarily run by women. Nambiar worked to add quality of life to her branches, with services like babysitting and a coffee bar. Nambiar also understood that women want to connect their work with their life’s meaning. This understanding proved successful for Nambiar as these became the two most profitable branches in Asia. This idea that women want to find meaning and purpose in their work was a consistent theme in Hewlett’s presentation. The industry is out of touch with women’s needs and that is a costly oversight. Consider a study that looks at seven growth markets, which found that 66 percent of investible assets in these countries were in the hands of women. Yet, many of these women did not retain a financial advisor, because of the perception that the financial services world lacked a focus on meaning and purpose. As a result, $4 billion are not being invested. Hewlett also analyzed a study entitled “Women Want Five Things”, which looked at 35-50 year old women and what really inspired them to become truly engaged in their careers. Women were similar to men in two motivating factors: the desire to excel and the desire to earn well. However, three other factors set women apart. The study found that women want to flourish in their work. For Hewlett the word flourish, had impactful meaning.  “[Flourish] means wellbeing, it means self-actualization in all three arenas of your life, your community, your personal life and work, and they're very intermingled these days. This flourishing thing [is] huge. It’s a much bigger concept than work life balance. It's very forward thrusting. It's very exhilarating. It involves control in agency, all those great things. It's huge for women,” Hewlett said. The study also found that women want to empower others. More importantly, they want to align their beliefs with their work. This has far-reaching implications for employers; when companies tap into their employees’ sense of meaning and purpose, they have the opportunity to see real engagement on the part of their employees. Hewlett offered an anecdote where Moody’s Investors Service went through a period of reinvention following the financial crisis, and saw their employees become incredibly involved. The business started working at improving a ratings tool for micro finance. The employees, especially the female employees, became highly involved in the project, offering their free time to work on the tool. They invested personal time because they saw this project as a way of using their skills to alleviate poverty and ultimately contribute to the greater good. Hewlett also highlighted the lack of women in the top ranks of industry. She argued that  to get women into positions of leadership is not to give them more training, but offer them sponsorship. “Sponsorship is how power is transferred in organizations and left to itself it’s a mini me situation. Because it's much easier to trust someone who has the same background,” Hewlett said. However, women are currently half as likely to have a sponsor as their male counterparts. Instead, women have more mentors, which is beneficial in some ways, but does not offer the same opportunities to rise up the ladder of industry as sponsorship does. In the end, if companies take women’s motivations into account they will not only improve the quality of life for their female employees, but also see benefits themselves, as the women become more engaged in their work.   About: This synthesis feature was adapted from the inaugural Quality of Life conference report by Sodexo. The contributor, Sylvia Ann Hewlett, CEO, Center for Talent Innovation, gave a presentation on gender balance in the workplace.

The views presented in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the views of any other organization.

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What Women Want in Business What’s the largest emerging market in the world? Many would respond with China. However, Sylvia Ann Hewlett, CEO of the Center for Talent Innovation, has a relatively unconventional answer to this question. At the inaugural Quality of Life conference hosted by Sodexo, Hewlett gave a presentation where she argued that women are in fact the largest emerging market.  She explored how to get women involved in business by analyzing the factors that motivate and inspire them. Hewlett began her talk with an anecdote about Rajasjree Nambiar, the first woman to serve as head of branch banking in India. Nambiar, displeased with the condescending attitudes of her male banker colleagues, chose to open two bank branches in India primarily run by women. Nambiar worked to add quality of life to her branches, with services like babysitting and a coffee bar. Nambiar also understood that women want to connect their work with their life’s meaning. This understanding proved successful for Nambiar as these became the two most profitable branches in Asia. This idea that women want to find meaning and purpose in their work was a consistent theme in Hewlett’s presentation. The industry is out of touch with women’s needs and that is a costly oversight. Consider a study that looks at seven growth markets, which found that 66 percent of investible assets in these countries were in the hands of women. Yet, many of these women did not retain a financial advisor, because of the perception that the financial services world lacked a focus on meaning and purpose. As a result, $4 billion are not being invested. Hewlett also analyzed a study entitled “Women Want Five Things”, which looked at 35-50 year old women and what really inspired them to become truly engaged in their careers. Women were similar to men in two motivating factors: the desire to excel and the desire to earn well. However, three other factors set women apart. The study found that women want to flourish in their work. For Hewlett the word flourish, had impactful meaning.  “[Flourish] means wellbeing, it means self-actualization in all three arenas of your life, your community, your personal life and work, and they're very intermingled these days. This flourishing thing [is] huge. It’s a much bigger concept than work life balance. It's very forward thrusting. It's very exhilarating. It involves control in agency, all those great things. It's huge for women,” Hewlett said. The study also found that women want to empower others. More importantly, they want to align their beliefs with their work. This has far-reaching implications for employers; when companies tap into their employees’ sense of meaning and purpose, they have the opportunity to see real engagement on the part of their employees. Hewlett offered an anecdote where Moody’s Investors Service went through a period of reinvention following the financial crisis, and saw their employees become incredibly involved. The business started working at improving a ratings tool for micro finance. The employees, especially the female employees, became highly involved in the project, offering their free time to work on the tool. They invested personal time because they saw this project as a way of using their skills to alleviate poverty and ultimately contribute to the greater good. Hewlett also highlighted the lack of women in the top ranks of industry. She argued that  to get women into positions of leadership is not to give them more training, but offer them sponsorship. “Sponsorship is how power is transferred in organizations and left to itself it’s a mini me situation. Because it's much easier to trust someone who has the same background,” Hewlett said. However, women are currently half as likely to have a sponsor as their male counterparts. Instead, women have more mentors, which is beneficial in some ways, but does not offer the same opportunities to rise up the ladder of industry as sponsorship does. In the end, if companies take women’s motivations into account they will not only improve the quality of life for their female employees, but also see benefits themselves, as the women become more engaged in their work.   About: This synthesis feature was adapted from the inaugural Quality of Life conference report by Sodexo. The contributor, Sylvia Ann Hewlett, CEO, Center for Talent Innovation, gave a presentation on gender balance in the workplace.

The views presented in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the views of any other organization.