Women in Business – the key to success is sponsorship

The Catalyst organisation studied what it takes for women to get promoted. In August 2011 the report was published and it found that it takes more than just hard work for women to be noticed and get promoted. The key to success is organisational sponsorship.

Main findings:

• Sponsorship matters, especially to women. “Good sponsors can supercharge a woman’s career by providing her with access to essential networks, bringing her achievements to the attention of senior-level executives, and recommending her for key assignments. Effective sponsors also provide career coaching and guidance that enable protégés to make broader and more strategic contributions to their organizations.”
• Previous research shows that women can be penalized for exhibiting self-promoting behavior considered acceptable in men but unappealing in women. Because good sponsors recognize and reward talented employees by speaking up on their behalf, sponsorship can help high-performing female employees subvert this double bind.
• Sponsorship benefits sponsors, protégés and organizations. A protégé’s career is clearly enhanced by a good relationship with a sponsor. But sponsors benefit too—by establishing reputations as discerning leaders invested in talent sustainability, as powerful contributors to their organization’s success, by learning from employees at every level, and gaining leadership skills that can further enhance their own careers. Sponsors also reported a sense of satisfaction from actively supporting the careers of their most promising employees. Sponsorship benefits companies by creating more effective and committed teams and fostering a “pay it forward” mentality that makes employees feel valued and supported.
• Senior-level executives must recognize sponsorship as a necessary component of good leadership. Executives should understand what good sponsorship entails and how to use their influence to advance high-performing employees’ careers, be vocal advocates for their protégés, and build a foundation of support that will ensure their protégés’ continued success in the organization. Executives can become sponsors by paying attention to high-performing employees at all levels of an organization, including those who may often go unnoticed.
• There is no “silver bullet” for attracting the attention of a high-level sponsor. To attract sponsors, women need to make their skills, strengths, and work known to colleagues as well as senior leaders. They must build reputations as flexible, collegial professionals who are consistently committed to their own career development.

Successful sponsorship is a win/win/win. Everyone wins when employees make their talents visible to executives, when executives truly invest in high-performing talent, and when companies foster an expectation and an environment in which sponsorship can flourish:

• High-performing employees, particularly women, gain critical, career-accelerating experiences and advancement opportunities.
• Sponsors receive valuable feedback from protégés and build reputational capital as leaders committed to building a robust pipeline of talent.
• Organizations increase employee engagement, retention, talent development and the strength of the talent pipeline.