For women to climb the corporate ladder, leadership must fix every rung.
The so-called “broken rung” metaphor refers to data that suggests when it comes to internal promotions, women (and especially women of color) are often passed over in lieu of their male colleagues.
According to a McKinsey study in 2019, for every 100 men promoted or hired at the manager level, only 72 women were hired or promoted to manager. To change those numbers, companies must be proactive, and local tech companies are also doing their part. At the healthy online marketplace Thrive Market, for example, the CFO and CMO created a mentorship program called “WELL,” which provides networking, mentoring and professional advice to women.
“As a result of establishing WELL and the emerging leaders development program, we are forecasting a significant growth in numbers of the next generation of women leaders at Thrive,” CFO and Head of Operations Karen Cate said.
Meanwhile, Jill Wilder, director of HR at gaming company MobilityWare, said their senior leadership team is comprised entirely of women, though she acknowledges that ensuring gender parity — both in their office and in the larger tech community — is an ongoing effort.
Below, Cate and Wilder shared the policies and actions their companies have put in place to empower the next generation of women leaders.
CFO and Head of Operations Karen Cate recently helped establish a mentorship program to develop women leaders at wellness e-commerce company Thrive Market. By investing in women early and often, Cate said the company is hoping to increase the number of people managers who identify as women.
How many managers at your company identify as women, and to what extent are you meeting your goals for gender diversity in your management team?
We have approximately 40 people managers across the company that identify as women, including two C-level executives. Our CMO and I have recently established a mentorship program to develop women leaders in the company called WELL, which stands for “women excelling in leadership and learning.” This program provides networking, mentoring, professional and personal advice for participants across the company.
I would describe Thrive Market as an organization that is highly collaborative and driven, and its values are aligned under one mission, which is to make healthy living accessible to all. When we’re strongly aligned in our mission, it helps break down barriers and embraces inclusivity and diversity across the company. Being a mission-based organization ensures that we are all focused on the best outcome for our members, which in turn provides advancement and growth for our people at all levels.
What programs and policies are you using to ensure that women have an equal chance at making that “first promotion” to a management position?
Alongside the WELL mentorship program, we are also currently piloting an emerging leaders development program. Through this program, our leaders will be able to nominate emerging people leaders from their team to go through an eight-week leadership development course to build the soft and strategic skills needed to be a great people leader at Thrive. We continue to expand and invest in our leadership and development courses available across the company and build out new training programs that are curated for each employee to support their growth through all stages of their career.
Through feedback, we’ll continue to improve our efforts on developing leaders, inclusivity and our Thrivers as a whole.”
Describe the results of those policies, and how you have iterated on them over time.
As a result of establishing WELL and the emerging leaders development program, we are forecasting significant growth in numbers of the next generation of women leaders at Thrive. Thrive Market just celebrated its sixth anniversary and we’re very proud of our growth as a company, recently reaching the incredible milestone of 1 million members. We’ve had Thrivers (as we call ourselves) who started in our member services department grow into leaders across the company, and within different departments such as tech, marketing and merchandising.
Our emerging leaders program will complete its pilot phase at the end of the year and we’re excited to hear employee suggestions on how we can enhance the program even further. Through feedback, we’ll continue to improve our efforts on developing leaders, inclusivity and our Thrivers as a whole.
Mobile gaming company MobilityWare boasts an all-women leadership team — but they know the work doesn’t stop there. To continue building an inclusive and diverse team, Director of Human Resources Jill Wilder said they make sure to always have a diverse candidate pool in the interview pipeline.
How many managers at your company identify as women, and to what extent are you meeting your goals for gender diversity in your management team?
I believe I work in a very unique environment where our staff on the senior leadership team is composed of all women. This includes Francesca Noli, CPO, Chandra Hill, CRO, and Kathy Delay, the vice president of finance. We have a number of other women leaders throughout the company in both product and technical roles.
What programs and policies are you using to ensure that women have an equal chance at making that “first promotion” to a management position?
When I came to MobilityWare almost four years ago, there was no policy on women in management specifically. We try to ensure that we always have a diverse candidate pool when interviewing for roles within the company.
We try to ensure that we always have a diverse candidate pool when interviewing for roles within the company.”
Describe the results of those policies, and how you have iterated on them over time.
Being an all-women leadership staff in an industry that is primarily male-dominated is something to be very proud of. We continue to evolve our staff and ensure that we are doing the best we are able to in order to support women and encourage their growth.
