Closing the Gender Gap: A Call to Action

As a member of the food and beverage community, have you ever stopped to consider what it costs an organization in terms of time, money, and resources to develop an emerging, early-career individual who doesn’t stick around long enough to ascend to a senior leadership role?

It happens frequently, and some of the reasons for that might surprise you. According to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics,U.S. businesses lose a staggering $1 trillion annually due to voluntary turnover. The bulk of this loss is self-inflicted as employees, particularly women, leave organizations for reasons that could be addressed with more inclusive approaches.

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Since I founded Females in Food four years ago, hundreds of women have shared stories of barriers they have faced in the workplace. A lack of flexible work arrangements and paid family leave benefits, microaggressions, unequal pay, and insufficient development and career progression opportunities lead the list of barriers they cite. Their stories resonate with me because over the course of my own career, I have been confronted with many of the same barriers.

Even women who advance within their organizations face challenges. For every woman at the director level who gets promoted, two women directors leave their companies, according to a McKinsey & Co. and LeanIn.Org report.

In our workplaces, are decisions regarding hiring and promotions truly fair and equitable? In a recent survey of women in the food and beverage industry conducted by the International Dairy Foods Association, 61% stated that their gender played a role in missing out on opportunities. Nearly half (46%) of the women who responded to the 2022 IFT Career Path Survey said that they believed that their opportunities for advancement and compensation were impacted by their gender.

When women exit the workplace or fail to advance, it’s a loss of expertise and innovation. It is also an economic issue. Research by the Peterson Institute for International Economics across 91 countries and nearly 22,000 firms found that having women at the C-suite level is linked to increased net profit margins.

To address these issues, we need to focus on two fundamental goals: getting more women into leadership positions and retaining the women who are already leaders. The “broken rung” phenomenon, where women are underrepresented in management positions, particularly in the first step up the ladder, hinders progress in gender equality.

The broken rung poses several problems. It limits diversity and the range of perspectives in decision-making processes, perpetuates gender stereotypes, reduces the availability of role models for aspiring female leaders, and hampers economic growth.

Flexible work arrangements and better parental leave policies can help women balance their professional and family responsibilities and are vital to retaining female talent. Inclusive workplace policies, including equal pay, anti-discrimination and harassment policies, and diversity, equity, and inclusion training, must be in place and regularly reviewed.

We need to challenge the notion that things can’t change in our industry. Numerous examples from other sectors demonstrate that it is possible to create more inclusive and supportive work environments.

If you’re a leader, regardless of your gender, consider what changes you can make in your organization. Start by supporting career development, formalized professional development, and learning opportunities. Invest in identifying and nurturing future leaders within your company.

Mentoring and sponsorship are key to helping women advance in their careers. Sponsorship, in particular, ensures that women get access to opportunities that they might otherwise miss. Women tend to be over-mentored and under sponsored, so consider whom you could sponsor to help her advance.

Building a community and network is also essential. A recent Harvard Business Review study found that women with a diverse circle of contacts are more likely to secure executive positions with higher pay. Allocate resources and time for women to connect with other industry leaders. Let’s work together to plug the leaks in our leadership pipeline and ensure that we retain great leaders and reap the rewards of our investments.

I encourage you to start the conversation within your organization, knowing that there is industry support available through groups like Females in Food. Together, we can create more inclusive and supportive workplaces where all employees, regardless of gender, can thrive. As Barack Obama said, “We can go fast alone. We can go further together.”ft

The opinions expressed in Dialogue are those of the author.