Boss Ladies | How We Can Help Our Employees

I follow a ton of “women in the workplace” articles to keep up to date on market changes, how women are breaking glass ceilings, and what’s still holding us back. A good friend of mine Brianna (who is absolutely killing the tech game in her 20’s) shared this article with me that really shifted my perspective on what women are needing in order to truly thrive in our careers. The bottom line is, too few women are advancing to the top of their organization and taking on leadership roles. Blessed is an understatement for how my career growth has been. Coming into my career I had a boss from the start who not only advocated for me to move up, but had built enough leverage of her own for her words to be taken seriously.

Now that I’m a manager, it is so crucial that I make sure I’m giving my team the support, work and sponsorship that’s going to ultimately align them with their career goals. Whether you’re a manager, or struggling with being able to vocalize what you’re needing in order to get to where you want to be within your company or career, here are some things you can do to support or request the sponsorship that’s needed to elevate women in the workplace.

Ask What Growth Looks Like to Them | Tell Management What Growth Looks Like to You

I can’t properly assist anyone that I manage if I don’t know what they’re wanting out of this position. Have you ever had a manager genuinely ask if the role that you were in was what you wanted to be doing? The more I’m in alignment with what my employees are wanting to achieve, the easier it is for me to assign work that will get them there. If the shoe is on the other foot, have a meeting with your manager and let them know what growth looks like for you within the next year. Get feedback on how realistic your expectations are for that particular company or position and if the allotted timeline sounds achievable.

Ask How You Can Support in Their Goals | Tell Management How They Can Support Your Goals

I frequently say “let me know what I can do to help”, and I mean it genuinely. If I can help you achieve your goals by inviting you to attend an important meeting with me, introducing you to project managers in a division that you want to work more closely with, or allowing you to send important monthly reports on my behalf to our VP’s, I am all for it. Think about how small actions can add up to building familiarity and value for those that support you.

Give Feedback Frequently | Ask for Feedback Frequently

Don’t wait for things to go exceptionally well, or really bad to give feedback. Touch base often on what you think they could be doing more or less of in order to do the best job possible. Giving or receiving feedback gives us the opportunity to quickly altar things that may need to change instead of letting the behavior or habit continue for months at a time – only leading to a bad annual review by the time it’s finally discussed.

Act as a Sponsor | Find a Dedicated Sponsor

When you get the leverage to act as a sponsor, make sure you take advantage of it. Even in my position, I may not have the same level of say-so as my VP’s, but as a manager to my employees, there are things I can advocate for that will go overlooked if I’m not the one to bring it to light. If you see potential in an employee, take it as your personal responsibility to help them up to where they want to be. You can learn more about finding a sponsor at work here.

Talk Your Employees Up Around Management

When you’re in those important meetings, lunches, or even happy hours, be very mindful of how you speak about your team. I tell mine all of the time, whatever goes wrong, we’ll handle internally. When it comes to talking about our work dynamic to anyone else outside of this group, we will sound like the most creative, efficient and talented group of individuals at this company. Be VERY careful about what you say about your employees as well as how you say it because you don’t want anyone above you keeping mental notes of any of their wrongdoings.

Strategize Advancement

Don’t wait for your yearly review to discuss direction, advancement or strategies for growth. The boss I had was very vocal about what I could be doing to make sure I was being seen as well as what I could be doing to add to my value in my department and within the company. You should hopefully have a bit more insight than any of your employees as to what you both can do to guarantee advancement.

If you manage or supervise at work, please share below what you’ve struggled with in your career path or what tactics you use to guarantee growth in other women in your organization!