TOPIC 8UNISEX

ORGANIZATION CULTURE

Organizations that accommodate both masculine and feminine work and leadership styles

Both/And > Either/Or

CompetitiveCooperativeDirectiveRelationalIndependentInterdependent

GoalsIdealsIndividualCommunityProactiveReactiveActionVerbal

Why unisex orgs are mandatory in the

21st century:

1. The West’s most important competitive edge in global business is innovation, which requires a unisex culture of cooperation, 360 feedback, virtual (informal) teams, & flexible operations > rules-driven 8:00-5:00.

2. Project work is the nexus of 21st century work = informal, self-empowered virtual teams which women can lead without formal command power (a fixture of male-dominated org cultures such as the military & athletics).

3. Women are innately better at community-building than men.4. Recent research studies have documented the performance edge women have over men in a number of 21st century professions, especially those involving interpersonal productivity.

P3Help you deal productively

with workplace dramas

Keys to Unisex Orgs:

1. Flex org cultures: unset hours; working some at home; cafeteria benefits

2. Virtual teams to promote a sense of community > competitiveness

3. Interpersonal skills rewarded as org asset

The 21st century avalanche of

“DOUBLE DOUBLE-WORK”:

corporate downsizing & expanded workload for remaining employees +

women with dual work/family

responsibilities

LEGAL “Red” DISCRIMINATION (Under-utilization)AGAINST WOMEN PROFESSIONALS

DIANA’S request to oversee global projects budgeting was tabled again because of her unique expertise with financial analysis and forecasting. “We’ve always seen you as our top analyst,” her boss told her. “We have a lot of money invested in your technical training and need your help there most.”

MARIA ELENA’S savvy people skills as high school counselor enables her to informally troubleshoot & resolve numerous stalemates and head-butting sessions among school faculty & administrators. However, over the past 7 years, Maria Elena has not been promoted , because her skills don’t make a “direct” contribution tostudent achievementtest success.

COURTNEY’S virtual team leadership paid off once again for her pharmaceutical firm with the new $23 million research contract pulled in under her guidance. Courtney’s boss got the credit for her work, but he enthusiastically thanked her for her behind-the-scenes inter-departmental leadership.

JAYREEN spoke up at the meeting: “I know that dental and eye care coverage are great for a many of our employees, but I would benefit much more from a daycare subsidy. So would a lot of other working mothers in our company.”

MERCEDES got her usual “satisfactory” annual performance review evaluation. Her boss gave her 3/5 on both “work quality consistency” and “professional reliability.” Mercedes even received an “above average” (4/5) for time management. In her company, HR doesn’t evaluate employees on project contributions, innovative thinking, interpersonal skills, problem-solving, or decision-making effectiveness; nor for client rapport-building. Unfortunately, these are the areas where Mercedes excels.

LILA, a single mother, has worked out a flex-schedule with her retail employer to fit her work hours around the needs of her kindergarten daughter. However, Lila is not a candidate for most professional development opportunities due to her “unpredictable” work hours.

The third time her husbandwas transferred viapromotion, CELESTE didn’t land on her feet. The first

two transfers were to large metro areas where Celeste’s CPA was put to good use. But this time in Indonesia, there was no use for a female accountant unversed in Islamic accounting. Celeste’s ambition for CPA firm partner status just became more elusive.

ANITA, lost her employee seniority with her marketing firm after staying home for a year after the birth of her first child. During that year, one of her co-workers was promoted into a position Anita had been in line for. Shorty after returning to work, Anita was moved to part-time status due to her flex-schedule childcare needs.

KRISTY clerks in a law firm even though she is a licensed attorney. She wants to take her children to school each day and be with them after school. In her global trading company, INDIRA mentors new sales reps doing business with India, because that’s more important to her than shooting for an executive position. OLIVIA didn’t follow her company in its move to Atlanta. Now she’s looking for another job in her city, so she won’t have to pull her 3 older children out of school again and disrupt her husband’s career.

MAKING PLAYS!

1. Determining what degree of unisex org cul you want to work in

2. Learning to managelead in a situationally-appropriate unisex style

3. Helping to max the professional potential of women you work with