A learning journey: Retaining women talent

Client Need

An American multinational food manufacturing company was struggling to retain its female employees. Attrition was high, primarily due to lack of development opportunities, underrepresentation of women in the workforce, and unconscious bias around talent designation. Thus, managers and executives needed to create an environment that better supported and championed their female talent.

The organization partnered with BTS to devise a learning journey aimed at strengthening the presence of female leaders and improving their career advancement opportunities.

Solution

The resulting learning journey spanned three months and consisted of multiple week-long small group coaching sessions and workshops. BTS helped facilitate three separate groups during the program, including 30 to 35 high-performing female employees, line managers, and executives. Participants used a platform called Momenta, a proprietary BTS tool, to access tasks specific to their development group.

‍High-performing employees participated in four discussion groups, which focused on:

1) 12 crucial habits that hold women back from getting to the next stage in their career.

2) Fundamental ways to approach different situations and relationships.

3) The organization’s outlook and how to connect with stakeholders.

4) A unique, winning formula for gathering support from their network.

‍Line managers participated in two discussions where they explored:

1) Factors that hold women back in the workplace and challenges specific to women at the company.

2) How to support other women in the workplace and step into another employee’s shoes.

Lastly, executives participated in five sessions and learned:

1) The pivotal steps to becoming a role model and how others perceive them in the workplace.

2) The importance of their personal leadership brand and how it contributes to their success as leaders.

3) About personal purpose and how to establish the legacy they wish to leave behind.

4) How to prepare a powerful story, solve problems, and overcome moments of crisis tailored to the issues and challenges women face in the workplace.

5) How to bring all elements of the journey together to create a successful action plan.

Results

The program yielded the following results, which were overall very favorable and demonstrate the success of the journey:

Managers:

High-performing employees:

• 7/11 participants agree that the facilitator delivered the content effectively.
• 2/10 participants said they would recommend the session to a colleague.

General Results:

• Half of participants strongly agree that the facilitator delivered the content effectively.
• 8/10 participants said they would recommend the session to a colleague.

Testimonials

-“The facilitators were great at pulling out the insightful information by asking open ended questions and picking up on key statements made by the participants.”

“[I] appreciate how well [BTS] read the group and the individuals to make people comfortable and engaged.”

“The 12 behaviors [made me reflect on] how they can be a benefit in one area of my career, but a hindrance in the next. It will help me to where I can make behavioral changes.”