Hidden brain drain in UK's workplaces

contractjournal.com Newsletter: 04.08.05

Hidden brain drain in UK's workplaces

Businesses are losing the battle to retain the brightest female minds.

An increasing number of top female executives are opting out of organisational life, leaving employers with a huge gap in their workforce and struggling to comprehend their female employees' resignations, warns Croner, the UK provider of business information, advice and support.

Despite incentives like flexible working and maternity leave, intended to enable women to manage family life and career more easily, successful women abandoning their careers are actually citing lack of fulfilment and development opportunities as reasons why.

Fears of a hidden brain drain seem inevitable as research has now shown that financial and other tangible benefits are of no consequence to these senior, high profile women executives.

A survey sponsored by Goldman Sachs, Ernst & Young and the Lehman Brothers found that four in 10 female senior executives are taking a complete career break, not because of family commitments, but because of a lack of job satisfaction.

Few companies can afford to lose or absorb the cost of replacing an experienced member of staff, yet all too many fail to understand and protect their crucial female employees' aspirations.

There are also worrying indications that women who leave jobs will never to return to their former employer.

Richard Smith, HR expert at Croner, explains: "Status and salary are not necessarily key drivers for women once they reach a certain level, but feeling valued and intellectually fulfilled is. It is important that employers consult with all their senior executives, listen to what they have to say, understand what motivates them and what they are looking to get out of their role."

As female graduates now enter the business world in nearly equal numbers to their male counterparts, it is increasingly disconcerting that they drop out as they rise up the ranks. How to retain this talent and increase women's representation in senior roles needs to become a serious concern for many employers.

Croner provides business advice to companies in all sectors on wide-ranging issues. Richard Smith explains: "Advice is available for those employers who realise the importance of continual development and senior level fulfilment and who are concerned about how to tap into the needs and ambitions of their top female employees. If employers can provide their high-flying female and male senior executives with consistent challenges and development that will continue to fulfil them, this will not only retain the best people but will also help to further enhance the business and its bottom line."