The situations that CEOs step into are often very different. An article from Inc.com recently examined an interesting trend in the circumstances surrounding female hires in particular.
Using the recent rise of Mary Barra at General Motors as an example, the author of the article, Bryce Covert, notes that in some cases women are chosen to be leaders specifically when companies face difficult times, which can skew the way they are seen to perform.
Calling this "the glass cliff," Covert uses it as an example of how unconscious bias can unfairly skew perception of an individual when his or her performance is later reviewed. If you only measure performance quantitatively, you lose much of the qualitative aspects of an executive's role.
"Time and again, these choices have the same impact: Women make advances, only to find themselves in near-impossible predicaments with narrow chances of success," Covert writes.
This doesn't mean that women aren't making progress in the higher levels of the workplace. In the U.K., a "Women on Boards" report noted that 20.7 percent of the members of executive boards for companies in the FTSE 100 are women. The report notes that this is still short of the organization's goal, which is 25 percent.
Regardless of where your business is located, placing any candidate requires the board to seriously consider the situation the new hire will be entering.
If your organization wants to play a part in promoting equality, you can start with executive search consultants who can successfully find and assess candidates based on your criteria. That way, you can grow your c-level staff with the assurance that you are setting yourself up for success.
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