In anticipation of the 2021 Women in the Workplace report, which was published in September, I was prepared for more bad news. Specifically I was preparing myself for a dramatic reduction in the representation of women in the corporate pipeline. After all, millions of women have left the workforce since the start of the pandemic. However, this year I was also surprised—more positively—to find that representation of women was still able to improve despite the challenges the pandemic has brought.
Case Study: Givaudan Return to Work with Intention
We love working with our repeat clients to develop tailored content to best meet their audience’s needs. Over the years, we’ve gotten to know the leaders of Givaudan’s We Lead women’s initiative with programs focused on communication and burnout. As 2021 is coming to a close and organizations are continuing to adjust and re-adjust their return-to-office plans, it seemed like the perfect time to address this upcoming transition. While we have a standard topic on Equity in Hybrid Work, Givaudan’s workforce has varied working structures—some hybrid, some all in-person, some all-remote—which has been true throughout the pandemic. Through our planning we chose to deliver a workshop focused on Intentional Transition regardless of each person’s particular working situation.
Three Steps to Stopping Collaborative Overload
A few weeks ago we introduced you to the bad side of collaboration: the collaborative overload that has led so many of us into a nonstop burnout cycle before we could realize what was happening. We asked you to take a good, long look in the mirror and ask yourself, “Why do I take on too much? Why is it so hard for me to say ‘no’?” Getting to the root of your “why” is the first step in reducing collaborative overload, so if you missed the first part in this series, start there. Once you understand your “why”, you can begin to tackle your “what” in taking tactical steps to reduce unnecessary collaboration.
Case Study: Inclusive Hiring with Prysmian Group
Stop Collaborating and Listen To Yourself
Collaboration, on the surface, is good. But the reality is that collaboration and burnout have become inextricably linked. As organizations have become increasingly focused on constant innovation, communication, and output, employees have been required to collaborate with colleagues and external stakeholders more than ever before. Time for deep, focused, individual work is gone – which leads many employees to feel like they can never get anything done. Which leads us to ask the question –
Case Study: DriveWealth Communicating Confidently and Assertively
DriveWealth has been in a period of hypergrowth in the past year, adding over one hundred new employees to the organization. In March of 2021, a new group was started to support women in the organization through networking and development opportunities. Women at DriveWealth meets monthly with varying topics and activities during the virtual sessions. Since the group has begun, there has been a desire to provide structured professional development opportunities to the group participants. Based on participant feedback, the planning team chose to offer Gild Collective’s Communicating Confidently and Assertively workshop.
Return to Work: A Conversation with Katy Tombaugh of Wellness Collective
Like a lot of you, we’ve been talking about the so-called “return to work” for a while—thinking about how to maintain equitable practices in remote work, and how to support women and caregivers in the return to work. We’ve been chatting with our clients and those in our networks about their unique approaches, and the keys to ensuring equity along the way. I recently had a conversation with a connection we’ve had since the early days of Gild Collective—Katy Tombaugh of Wellness Collective.
Career Advancement: A Conversation with Paula Gorman of Lift Up Career
Write a resume that proves you are THE candidate, not A candidate
I’ve been the applicant and the hiring manager many times, so I know firsthand what works and what doesn’t. Whether you are writing your first resume or your 100th and are not hearing back from recruiters or hiring managers and want to re-evaluate your resume, these best practices are for you!
Your resume should reflect you and there is not a rule that says it has to look any specific way, however after reviewing hundreds of resumes, ranging from entry level to C-Suite level folks, I do feel strongly about a few things…
Returning to Work as Caregivers: Insights from Katelyn of Mother Nurture
Mothers and caregivers have unique challenges, and therefore unique needs, to take into consideration as organizations are establishing their “return to work” plans. We invited Katelyn Denning of Mother Nurture. Katelyn is a life coach who helps busy, working moms manage their time, be more present, and truly enjoy their lives. She herself is a mom of three young kids, and has navigated a “return to work” pre-pandemic several times.
Case Study: Ohio Banker's League 2021 Next Gan Conference – Navigating Burnout
The theme of the 2021 Next Gen conference for the Ohio Banker’s League was “Building for the Future”, with a focus on preparing emerging leaders for an industry that is moving forward. The conference was an opportunity for industry rising stars to come together, albeit virtually, to learn, grow, and inspire. Attendees came from all functions of the bank, most relatively early in their careers. All were hoping to come away from the conference sessions with tactical skills that they can use daily to grow in their leadership capabilities.
HCMx Radio Podcast: What's Next for Gender Bias
The HCMx Radio podcast is hosted by Rachel Cooke, Michael Rochelle, Mike Cooke and the Brandon Hall Group Analyst Team, and focuses on innovative, cutting-edge human capital management topics. I (Rachel) was thrilled to have a conversation with Rachel Cooke from Brandon Hall Group about “What’s Next for Gender Bias”.
Watch or listen, here!
Case Study: Women in Bio Burnout Series
This Summer, we returned to a past client—Women in Bio—an amazing organization of professionals committed to promoting careers, leadership, and entrepreneurship of all women in the life sciences. Together with collaborative partners, we delivered a 3-part Navigating Burnout + Building Support Series.
Case Study: Cintas WAVE 2021 – Effective Communication
Women Adding Value Everywhere (WAVE) was started 5 years ago as the Cintas women’s Professional Business Resource Group (PBRG). As the Cintas team was planning the WAVE event for 2021, they decided to take a virtual approach to still provide valuable programming during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our focus for the session was on giving employees a thorough understanding of their personal and professional strengths as an integral first step to creating equitable pathways for communication in the workplace.
Supporting Women in the Return to In-Person Work
Along with many of our clients, Gild Collective is beginning the transition back to in-person work. With several in-person workshops scheduled this June, the trend for companies returning to some amount of in-person work is clear.
As the transition to in-person work begins, how can each of us—regardless of role—push back against the negative impacts on women caused by the pandemic, and avoid new ones?
Case Study: InfoSec Unconscious Bias Series
Infosec helps IT and security professionals advance their careers with skills development and certifications. The organization recently initiated a Women at InfoSec employee resource group and one of the group’s first recommendations was a company-wide bias training. We worked with the team to develop a 3-part series to provide a foundational bias understanding and tailored tools for interrupting bias for both individual contributors and managers.
Case Study: Guggenheim Partners, Effective Communication
Like most organizations, Guggenheim Partners came to us as they were adapting adapting to the unexpected shift from in-person to remote work. Existing communication challenges had been highlighted, and new ones had been created. In partnership with their women’s network we planned a program focused on building effective communication skills specific to remote work and advocating for oneself and demonstrating value in negotiating.
#StopAsianHate – Allyship for AAPI People
White people, and the United States as a whole, have a longstanding and despicable history of dismissing white violence against Asians and quickly letting it fade into cultural irrelevance. And while the new year did not bring a respite from violence and discrimination against AAPI people, it did bring the opportunity for us all to grow as allies, advocates, and anti-racist activists for AAPI communities everywhere. It did present us with the opportunity to keep our eyes open. To truly see these horrific acts for what they are – discrimination, prejudice, and hate crimes. To turn our outrage into action.
Case Study: Communicating Effectively – International Women's Day with Circor
We partnered with Circor for International Women’s Day – March 8, 2021, the theme for which was #ChooseToChallenge. The theme reminded us that a challenged world is a changed world, and without individuals willing to challenge the status quo (which had led to gender inequity for so many, for so long), things would never truly change. For that reason, our focus in this workshop was on communicating effectively to encourage assertiveness in individuals raising these challenges.
Meeting Women's Needs Today + Planning for Growth Tomorrow: Dress for Success Cincinnati
Dress for Success Cincinnati has been the “first step to a better life” for thousands of women in this community since its founding. The mission of Dress for Success Cincinnati is to empower women to achieve economic independence by providing a network of support, professional attire and development tools to help them thrive in work and in life. Join us for this short conversation with Executive Director Lisa Nolan on how DFS Cincinnati has shifted to meet the needs of women during COVID-19, and how they will be able to expand their vision even further with their new location and the TransformHER Campaign.