Why Do More Women Resign than Men?

In the UK, now,

• More women resign than men. More women are resigning now than ever.
• Women get promoted younger than men.
• Women are paid significantly less than men – and last year the gap widened.

These findings are from the Chartered Management Institute and Remuneration Economics.

What explains the high rate of resignations?

Is it the sense of injustice at the widening pay differentials as women take on more responsibility – younger – for less money than men?

Do women have more choices that they can exercise? They are more likely to take up self-employment than men. They may also be more ‘in-demand’ than men as their skill sets leave them better equipped to work in a modern economy. The ‘skill sets’ in which women generally outperform men include

• better improvisational skills,
• more relationship-focussed,
• less rank-conscious,
• more trust sensitive,
• more intuitive,
• more collaborative,
• more comfortable with ambiguity,
• better sharers of information
• more able to balance rational thought with intuition and belief,
• more articulate,
• better at reading non-verbal clues,
• better at multi-tasking, networking and negotiating to win/wins,
• a preference to take the long view,
• an ability to promote egalitarian team working and a
• more naturally empowering management style

Or is it because many management hierarchies are still male dominated cultures in which more feminine values linked to the enhanced skill-sets listed above are under valued?

One trend is very clear. Women’s power in a modern economy is increasing. This is driven by their generally superior leadership skills and their influence over just about every major purchasing decision.

This means that organisations that cannot recruit and retain women will be at a significant disadvantage in the marketplace.

“When land was the productive asset, nations battled over it. The same is happening now for talented people.”

Stan Davis & Christopher Meyer, futureWEALTH