How to Keep Your Female Talent

Good employees are hard to find and, when you find them, you want to keep them. Yet many companies continue to fall short when it comes to retaining and promoting a large portion of their workforce. With fewer opportunities to advance, a continued lack of managerial support and a climate of microaggressions,¹ women remain susceptible to burnout and are more likely to leave their jobs. What are the ramifications of this, and what can companies do to shift the tide?

The Fearless Girl Decade

The last decade marked a progressive leap for women throughout the corporate world. In 2024, there were over 79 million working women in America, representing close to half (47%) of the total labor force.² Empowered women everywhere were breaking glass ceilings. More than 60% of women in the workplace held college degrees,³ and 10.4% of Fortune 500 CEOs were women.⁴ In addition, 29% of C-suite positions were held by women, compared to just 17% in 2015.⁵ Fearless women appeared to be smashing outdated notions and blazing forward, or so we thought …

The “Broken Rung”

Despite years of effort to support gender equality, many women continue to face bias due to their gender, race, sexual orientation, physical ability or other aspects of their identity.⁶ The challenge begins at the outset, with women less likely to be hired into entry-level roles, and is exacerbated by the fact that women are far less likely to be promoted than men.⁷ This has resulted in what McKinsey has dubbed the “broken rung”—where female underrepresentation grows significantly in that first jump up to the manager level, leaving only a small pool of women who can climb to even higher levels of the corporate ladder.⁸

On its own, the broken rung constitutes a significant barrier to women’s advancement, especially for women of color.⁹ However, the story doesn’t end there. On a day-to-day basis, women continue to face competence-based microaggressions that are often unchecked at the management level.¹⁰ It is this environment that’s most likely to spur women to quit their jobs.

The most common reasons why women are leaving their companies:¹¹

As these women step away, it threatens to create holes in the corporate pipeline for generations to come.

How Companies Can Help

With workplace inequality still rife, many women have begun demanding more from their employers. Leading companies are heeding the call by taking steps to target benefits to women’s needs. For instance: 

• Roughly one-third of employers (36%) offer mental health benefits, such as free counseling sessions with a therapist or coach.¹²
• Employee benefits such as bereavement leave following a miscarriage¹³ and enhanced childcare and elder care support¹⁴ are on the rise.
• Almost 70% of U.S. companies now offer work location flexibility, compared to 51% in 2022.¹⁵

Yet more remains to be done. Companies focused on retaining female talent may want to consider additional initiatives, such as career development programs geared specifically to women, providing both on-site and remote employees with equal access to mentorship and sponsorship opportunities, and better manager training to promote inclusion. 

Yet more remains to be done. Companies focused on retaining female talent may want to consider additional initiatives, such as career development programs geared specifically to women, providing both on-site and remote employees with equal access to mentorship and sponsorship opportunities, and better manager training to promote inclusion.

Targeted Benefits Solutions

Knowledge is power when it comes to building impactful benefits, yet few companies have insight into their employees’ caregiving needs or financial wellness by gender. The absence of this data could create holes in benefits packages, leaving some employees without the solutions they really need.

To address this situation, there are a few red flags to have on your radar, including job exits, 401(k) loans and pay advances. When assessing these areas, take note of any trends, such as more job exits by female workers than their male peers. It may also be helpful to conduct an anonymous survey to learn about your employees' emotional and financial health, and better understand what workplace benefits they would use to address their needs.

Armed with this knowledge, employers may be in a better position to provide tailored wellness resources that support workforce needs. By further applying this information to offer accessible financial education and wellness resources targeted toward your female employees—such as emergency savings, dependent care and retirement planning—you can make important strides toward better supporting and retaining female talent.