When it comes to the best benefits for attracting women applicants, the answers may surprise you. It isn’t paid maternity leave or on-site day care that women find most attractive, but ‘gender neutral’ benefits including telework, mentorship programs and paid training.
ClearanceJobs recently surveyed 1200 cleared professionals to get their perspective on gender bias in the defense industry.What’s keeping women from pursing defense careers? Perceived bias ranked higher than actual bias in preventing women from pursuing careers, according to the survey.But that doesn’t mean discrimination doesn’t exist – 83 percent of female respondents said they had witnessed discrimination or experienced it first-hand. In addition to combating bias, the defense industry has an image problem when it comes to female-friendly hiring,
“Even when women get the positions, they seem to leave quickly,” said one female respondent. “Lack of support and opportunity; lack of progression opportunities; bias; pay inequity [are all factors contributing to women leaving the job]”.
Good Benefits for Women = Good Benefits for Everyone
When it came to what benefits should be offered to women, men and women were in almost complete agreement – which may signify, good hiring policies for women = good hiring policies for all.
When asked, ‘How important are these benefits in attracting women to government/defense careers’ responses were as follows:
- 70 percent of all respondents said telework/flex time options were ‘very important’
- 64 percent of women said increased training and professional development opportunities were ‘very important’
- 49 percent of women said mentorship opportunities were ‘very important’
- 49 percent of women – and 55 percent of men – said paid maternity leave was ‘very important’
- 41 percent of men and women listed on-site daycare it as ‘very important’
Does this mean maternity leave and daycare options don’t matter to women? No. But it does mean that flexibility – including telework and flex time work options – are more important to both men and women. They’re also much easier for many companies to implement.
“I agree that maternity leave and child care are not on the top of my list when it comes to which benefits make a company attractive,” said Ana Sherman, a strategic communications consultant and the president of Ana Ramon Consulting. “For me, as a mother and as someone who wants to keep my profession on track, I consider flexibility (the opportunity to work remotely full time or as needed), room for growth (I always ask in interviews what the room for growth would be for a candidate like me – as a contractor it is EXHAUSTING having to always look for your next contract/project, find your own promotions, etc. so it’s always a plus if a company is invested in building its employees’ skill set and hiring from within), and mentorship/education in my top three – by education I mean companies that will help with tuition for advanced degrees or certifications related to your job.”
While the Air Force recently made headlines for making it easier for Air Force personnel to take a three-year sabbatical to pursue family or academic goals, the ClearanceJobs survey suggests flexibility is more important to female employees than easier on and off-ramping. Just 30 percent of respondents said easier on and off-ramping from government careers was very important.
Trading Pay
Recruiters aren’t looking for the best woman for the job – they’re looking for the best candidate. But affirmative action policies require non-discriminatory hiring policies and a working environment that’s friendly to all. For a defense industry with a ‘gray‘ problem, recruiting and keeping the best talent will continue to be a challenge. If your company has a great telework program, this may be a benefit to lead with, especially if the salary is less. A 2013 Dice survey found that 53 percent of tech workers were willing to trade a higher salary for the ability to telecommute – to the tune of a 7.9 percent pay cut. If you can’t get your target candidate the salary they’re looking for, consider what you can do in terms of workplace flexibility.
Recruiters are skilled at presenting the big picture when it comes to what a company can offer. For female candidates, make sure key benefits such as flex time and education are part of that picture if you want to make a hire you can keep.
