Our Solution
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technology. innovation. equality.
Women can do it all.
Women deserve it all.
Our Solution Builds on Three Pillars
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An ideal solution creates win-win outcomes. When negotiating among partners where that isn’t possible, it often makes sense to begin with any part where there is agreement. This is why the core components of the “Make It Easy” kit address the performance rating process and family work life policies.
Make It Easy for Employers
Make It Easy for Employers
Many employers dislike existing performance review systems. A Deloitte survey found 58% of managers don’t believe traditional performance reviews serve their purpose. Moreover, Deloitte found their existing performance process consumed over 2 million hours per year. Only 14% of employees strongly agree their performance reviews inspire them to improve.
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This grant proposal would sponsor the development of “plug and play” performance rating software that interfaces with an employer’s email, project planning, sales tracking and other systems. This software automatically would retrieve and analyze a variety of inputs in order to create specific metrics.
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Develop
Bias-Free
Performance
Review
Software
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Some metrics will be obviously quantifiable (e.g. sales) and others will be quantified by the software. For instance, the program will track who is receiving “corporate housekeeping” projects, who receives requests for help from teammates, etc.
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Manager work would be minimized through this automated process. They would have 24/7 access to employee dashboards and would receive monthly alerts showing if the allocation of glamour and corporate housekeeping assignments appears unbalanced.
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Employees could view their progress throughout the year as well. Managers would provide feedback via email on a regular basis
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The software program would analyze this feedback and the manager dashboard would advise whether the feedback includes specific actionable advice or if it has been too vague to help employees improve.
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Development of this program would involve major employers to develop standard data sets relevant for the typical types of employee positions (e.g. accounting, marketing, etc.). This would develop a uniform framework that could be applicable to any corporation. There already are many standard systems that apply across corporations. For instance, GAP accounting standards are used by virtually all publicly traded companies.
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Advances in technology create enormous opportunity to address longstanding performance rating issues while increasing the efficiency of execution. However, technology presents risks as well. If artificial intelligence is “taught” based on historical patterns that embed bias, then AI would continue to perpetuate bias. The development process for this software must include specific checkpoints to assure this does not occur.
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Build Software from the Ground Up
Pilot employers would allow focus group and survey work with entry level positions by category (e.g. financial analysis, software engineer, etc.) to identify:
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what are your most important contributions to work and what objective metrics could be used to measure?
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what assignments consume your time but don't help you advance (e.g. taking notes in mtgs)?
Managers of first line employees would be inteviewed:
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what are your employees' most important functions and what objective metrics could measure?
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What assignments are given that you don't value as much?
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Destigmatize Flexible
Work
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As mentioned above, women may be penalized for accessing flexibility programs. It’s also important to recognize that men may face a penalty when they pursue flex-work options as well. Research indicates men may be perceived as poor organizational citizens if they utilize flex-work and are more likely to face penalties such as demotions or lay-offs in the future. As a result, men may be leery of using options like paternity leave, even when available.
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Failure of fathers to take parental leave can have long term impacts on the egalitarian nature of future caregiving. Research shows that when both parents take parental leave, these parents are more likely to maintain a more balanced and egalitarian approach to caregiving and household responsibility over the long term. This intuitively makes sense. If mothers are the only ones to take parental leave, then they are more likely to shoulder a disproportionate share of caregiving while the father works. This establishes routines and schedules that are then difficult to change (for the baby as well as the mother and father) once a mother returns to work.
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Men Don't Take Leave During Significant Life Event
55%
Surveyed Companies Offer Paternity Leave
79%
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This proposal would launch an orchestrated campaign to urge Fortune 50 companies to adopt the “Make It Easy” kit. The campaign would enlist sympathetic CEOs, leverage ESG investors as well as organize other public pressure through social and traditional media.
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Part of this strategy would include collaborating with stakeholders in the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) community. This emerging new investment strategy categorizes potential investments based on environmental criteria and social criteria regarding how a company manages relationships with employees and communities.
A variety of organizations -- including brokerage firms and mutual fund companies -- have begun to offer financial products that follow ESG criteria. Ultimately, the ESG movement is about risk assessment and companies that fail to meet ESG criteria are considered higher risk than other companies.
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One individual investor example is BlackRock -- the largest asset manager in the country -- who in 2018 emphasized that companies should serve a social purpose. Some CEOs have begun to move in this direction as well. In August 2019, the Business Roundtable issued a statement that broke with their long standing view that shareholder interests are primary. In their new statement, the Business Roundtable indicates a commitment to five stakeholders -- including customers, employees, suppliers, communities and shareholders. This includes a specific commitment to “foster diversity and inclusion…”
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)
Investors show an increasing interest in categorizing companies based on their environmental, social and governance performance (e.g. greenhouse gas emissions, diversity, etc.). Investment management companies are including ESG metrics in their selection process and these decisions may be aided by artificial intelligence and other analytic algorithms.
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The European Union has issued rules in this area, acccerlating attention by international companies based in the U.S. To Learn More:
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Currently, about 21% of C-Suite roles are held by women. In the next management level down, about 26% of women occupy positions. This translates into hundreds of thousands of women in upper management. Aren’t they protecting women in organizations from discrimination and retaliation? Sadly, most probably do not feel able to do so.
The reality is that executive women have an incredible amount to lose and statistically, their intervention is likely to lead to being pushed out of the company.
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Unfortunately, the EEOC is unlikely to be able to help. They are overwhelmed with complaints and therefore 83% of complaints result in EEOC simply sending a “right to sue” letter -- meaning the plaintiff is on their own and will not receive intervention from the EEOC.
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Less than ten percent of these individuals pursue the case further. Pursuing a legal case is an extremely difficult, lengthy, all consuming and mentally draining process. Plaintiffs prevail in only 1% of cases. Moreover, most corporate women are bound by mandatory arbitration agreements. Arbitration also is expensive and extremely taxing on a plaintiff. It is not unusual for arbitration to require $100,000 in legal fees and stretch to an entire year of non-stop legal filings and stressful meetings. However, arbitration occurs without a jury. Female plaintiffs have only a small chance of success and generally, there is no ability to appeal the decision.
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Women More Likely To Perform Office "Housework"
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As a result, if we want to convert this upper echelon of women into protectors -- we must dedicate resources to arm and defend them. This could be accomplished by establishing a legal foundation to assist executive women (e.g. vice presidents, C-Suite, etc.) who have been retaliated against through termination or having their career sidelined. It may seem counterintuitive to focus initial foundation services on executive women. However, successful defense of these women will create a “Shield Maiden” wall across the country that can protect lower level women and hold their companies accountable.
Fighting Goliaths with a Goliath
Hold Corporations To Their Mottos
The Foundation would evaluate complaints and if accepted, would:
Lose Jobs During Complaint Process