As Borderless prepares to present at the Women in Leadership Forum on 5 October during the CPhI Congress in Barcelona, it’s timely to ask whether organisations are really committed to growing female talent. In a thought-provoking article, Avivah Wittenberg-Cox asks if it’s time to forget Cinderella and instead question whether the prince (that is, the business) is up to the dance.
Instead of companies spending money on recruiting women they cannot retain, Wittenberg-Cox argues they should be creating a level playing field for all. That might mean changing the way talent is identified, and when.
As Wittenberg-Cox notes, companies normally identify their high-potential future talent when workers are in their early 30s – just the time many women choose to have children. Is it another example of the many ‘systemic blindspots’ that are holding women back?
Read: Forget Cinderella, Find Fred Astaire
Share your thoughts with us via Twitter @borderlessexec #WomeninLeadership
Knowledge workers, employees with technical expertise and high-level executives alike can benefit from training to grasp the nascent tech. Across industries, businesses are laying out plans to train employees to use generative AI and AI tools effectively.
There also needs to be an understanding of the toll that caring takes on the mental, and sometimes physical, health of the individual. The constant mental burden of ensuring that both children and the elderly are cared for needs to be recognised by managers, followed by an honest discussion with employees about how best to manage and support it.
Next year will see some kind of embarrassing calamity related to artificial intelligence and hiring. That’s according to Forrester’s predictions for 2024, which prophesied that the heavy use of AI by both candidates and recruiters will lead to at least one well-known company to hire a nonexistent candidate, and at least one business to hire a real candidate for a nonexistent job.
