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Study Shows Sponsorship is Key to Women's Success

Mon 05 September 2011

, Leapredactie, Leap

For women especially, it takes more than meeting expectations to get noticed in the workplace. Female employees who work hard and play by the rules are often overlooked when it comes to plum assignments and big promotions. According to Sponsoring Women to Success , the latest in Catalyst’s series of reports on women and sponsorship, effective sponsorship is critical to accelerating a woman’s career—from getting her noticed by senior-level executives to being considered for her company’s top jobs.

Catalyst’s research shows:

Sponsorship matters, especially to women. 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.

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.

Smart companies create environments where sponsorship thrives. Companies must explicitly and transparently communicate an expectation of sponsorship to their executives. “At Catalyst, we believe that sponsorship is something good leaders do,” noted Ms. Lang. “Companies that educate their employees about sponsorship, link it to talent management systems, and make it a hallmark of organizational strategy will reap tremendous rewards.”
 

Read the full press release of the study: http://www.catalyst.org/press-release/190/catalyst-study-shows-sponsorship-is-key-to-womens-success