
New research study looks at the impact of behavioural traits on retention and progression among a group of mid-level women.
It’s not news to say that the Built Environment has a problem when it comes to gender balance – and this issue is particularly marked at mid-level; research shows that it is this age and stage where we see the greatest drop off in the female talent. This retention challenge is often arbitrarily linked to one of childcare, the mid-level being the stage where women would typically think about having a family, and as such strategies to address this have typically focused on policies and procedures such as paternity leave or flexible working. While these interventions are certainly important in a more equitable work life for both genders – they fail to address the whole problem.
A wealth of research has identified that there are three core elements that contribute to global gender inequality in the workplace; societal, cultural and personal. It was the impact of the personal element, which includes women’s limiting self-beliefs, that The Circle Partnership looked to investigate in their first research study: what do women bring to the workforce that needs to be recognised, how do their contributions complement or differentiate from the overall group, and what do they need from their organisations to be at their best? By understanding the unique traits and behaviours that mid-level women bring to the workplace, and how these help and hinder retention and progression, the intention was to bring deeper data and insight to the challenge of gender balance to inform meaningful changes and solutions.
Who and what was involved
Supported by Laing O’Rourke and Cellence Plus, The Circle Partnership undertook a detailed Hogan assessment of almost 40 mid-level women working across the entire real estate supply chain. The women had a range of three to 13 years’ experience and were from of a mix businesses and technical professions. The assessment revealed each woman’s unique values, strengths and derailers and the individual data was then compared across the whole research sample.
Ceri Moyers, Director of The Circle Partnership comments: “The insight revealed by our Hogan study backs up many existing assumptions regarding traditionally masculine and feminine behaviours, but what was truly startling about these findings was their consistency across such a diverse research sample. While we’re of course not claiming these are traits that every single woman of this age and stage will share, the findings were markedly similar enough that conclusions can and should be drawn. Certainly, if the industry is serious about attracting and retaining female talent and easing costly and inefficient employee turnover, businesses should take heed of these behavioural tendencies and reconsider the ways in which women are managed, developed and rewarded.”
The findings
The unique traits that this group shared included:
- There is an overall tendency among this group for fitting in rather than standing out. These mid-level women will tend towards: ‘I’ll be what you need’ as opposed to: ‘This is who I am,’ and in the long term, frustrations regarding this lack of authenticity and/or insufficient recognition and progression could accompany this.
- These women very much aspire to get ahead and succeed, they are driven to make an impact and to seek public acknowledgement. They tend to prefer to influence behind the scenes and earn recognition through quiet competence, rather than overly competitive behaviour.
- Regarding ‘derailers’, those traits that could inhibit individuals’ potential, all of the high scores that emerged were linked to a flight response to stress; a ‘moving away from people’ pattern of behaviour. While these women are shown to be naturally empathetic and emotionally fluent, they will struggle with conflict. Rather than confront difficult situations, they may take ‘flight’ to protect themselves emotionally, with inevitable impacts on team dynamics and at worst, retention.
- These women’s emergent values showed them to be more cautious and risk averse when it comes to career and finance, which could be a key contributor to the ongoing gender pay gap. Research has shown that when women do negotiate they will typically ask for 30% less than their male counterparts.
- These mid-level women emerge as naturally empathetic and good with people, willing and able to prioritise others’ needs and skilled in creating cohesive teams and a positive work environment. As found by reports such as the World Economic Forum (WEF) ‘Future of Jobs Report’ 2023-27, these ‘relational’ skills are becoming ever more critical as work and home lives blur and new generations with new expectations enter the workforce. Businesses lacking these strengths through an absence of female talent could find themselves struggling to attract and retain employees and facing cultural challenges.
What these emergent traits mean for businesses
“What is clear from these findings is that mid-level women possess all of the necessary skills to build and lead productive teams and cultures in our modern and evolving workplace,” interprets Ceri Moyers. “The problem is that traditional more aggressive definitions of leadership, definitions of power that emphasise ‘power over’ rather than the more autonomous ‘power to’, and competitive cultures are not appealing to women. As a result, they opt out of progression in these terms and consequently can be seen as ‘unambitious.’ In addition, traditional approaches to talent management, development and recognition do not maximise women’s potential contribution. For us to truly effect change to gender diversity we need to collaborate to create new cultures and broader definitions of power and leadership. It’s time to begin re-examining the environment that favours traditionally masculine traits of extroversion, competition and leading from the front rather than expecting others to adapt to fit in.”
If seen as a predictor of future capability, these trait-based findings could help to better inform organisations’ female talent development interventions as well as broader gender diversity initiatives. Initiatives such as line management training, informed with understanding of the different ways in which women might show up in the workplace, female only development programmes targeted around these unique traits, regular career conversations rather than annual performance reviews, individual and group coaching all have the potential to make a true impact on women’s career progression.
Without more nuanced support, the retention challenge at mid-level that currently affects the Built Environment will remain, with inevitable consequences on the diversity of the long-term senior leadership pipeline.