A shaky economy is no excuse to cut DEI budgets—here’s why

And yet, in times like this, it’s critically important for companies to increase their investments in women leaders. 

Here’s why. 

Just over 10% of Fortune 500 companies have a woman CEO. Nearly half of women leaders say they are burned out, with a record number choosing to leave their company due to feeling overworked and undervalued. And 82% of women caretakers are concerned about losing their jobs. 

What’s also true: When you have a woman CEO, stock prices increase by 20%, profits increase by 6%, and stock returns increase by 8%. When women are in positions of power, not only do they bring diverse perspectives, but studies show they also lead firms to being more open to change. 

This may be playing the long game, but investing in women today isn’t just the moral thing to do, it’s also the most prudent way to safeguard your business for the future. 

When I created Chief, I set out to build the most powerful network of women executives so that we can not only corral the power of these leaders but share the massive hurdles that they’ve individually faced—and continue to face—as executives in a system that is weighted against them. 

For women, Chief is the community and support system they need to stay in their seat and keep driving to the top. For companies, Chief is revolutionizing how they support senior women leaders. In fact, since joining, the majority of Chief members feel more supported and confident in their leadership abilities, and nearly half have reported an increase in compensation, inclusive of promotions. 

While traditional company policies have been lacking in their support for women, today we have a transformative opportunity to identify systemic challenges and create root-based solutions. Through changes in policies and meaningful shifts in culture, companies can reimagine how they support women leaders in a way that enables both parties to experience tangible benefits. 

Advancement and promotional bias.

For every 100 men who are promoted into management positions, there are just 87 women. And when thinking about the bench, for every one woman who is promoted to senior director, two exit the workforce. We can’t keep running business as usual and expect to change the abysmal numbers of gender and racial diversity in top positions of power. The first step? All leaders need to address the elephant in the room: the bias may start with them. 

Women are 14% less likely to be promoted than men, simply because men are offered promotions based on their potential while women need to show proof of past leadership successes. And in the VC world, women founders receive just 2% of funding partly because of bias known as pattern-matching where investors favor founders who look like those who’ve started successful companies in the past, most of whom are white men. 

To address these biases, companies need to start investing in learning and development programs to develop a strong and diverse VP bench that builds the next C-suite pipeline. Currently, as more organizations adopt a hybrid or remote model, studies show that less than half of companies offer a virtual mentorship or sponsorship program—both of which are key factors to getting more women into leadership roles. And for companies that do offer these programs, it’s important to ensure that access is distributed equally, since Black and Asian women are less likely than white women to say a senior colleague has acted on their behalf as a sponsor. 

Additionally, as we move away from the standard in-office work model, leaders need to be mindful of proximity bias to ensure that women who work outside the office aren’t being overlooked for promotions and stretch assignments, compared to colleagues who work in office. According to LeanIn and McKinsey & Company, women who work remotely more often than their colleagues are less likely to report that their manager supports their well-being and career interest. 

Compensation equity.

You know what will keep talented women in their jobs? Paying them. We don’t need the pizza parties and foosball tables. Just pay them. Women take a 4% pay cut for every child they have. And men? They gain a 6% salary bump. It doesn’t matter how high you climb, the gender pay gap remains. When they do make it to the C-suite, women earn 75% of what their male counterparts earn, due to not being granted comparable stock packages. 

I was encouraged to see the salary transparency laws that have been enacted in Colorado, California, and most recently in New York State. Unfortunately, many companies in NYC have already figured out loopholes where they’ll post a wide salary range that isn’t specific to the role (for the record, $50K to $200K isn’t a helpful starting point for negotiation). Corporations need to start doing their part in actively auditing their own compensation packages across levels and fix the gaps. 

At Chief, we follow a role-based compensation framework, in addition to complying with all required disclosure laws, to ensure pay equity across the company and set a positive example for the broader business community working to abolish gaps across their workforce. 

Parental support.

Economists and women alike have deemed paid family leave to be critical in supporting new parents in the earliest months of their child’s life. Yet, without national paid leave, only 35% of companies offer this job security, and the length of leave varies widely.

The challenges continue as new mothers return to work. We know that even if their job remains, their role, career trajectory, or scope of work could have been diminished or eliminated. Fifty percent of surveyed women have said being pregnant had negatively impacted their careers. Many women return to work to a shell of what their job was meant to be; found they were passed over for a promotion; or relegated to a project that is non-promotable. All the while still making 25% less than their male colleagues.

Are we still surprised that women are voluntarily leaving the workforce?

We know offering parental leave isn’t the whole solution. That’s why at Chief, we created a re-entry coaching program to support new parents as they return to work. They’re paired with an executive coach to help them navigate this life-altering transition, while also receiving a month-long, part-time ramp up period that they can design to fit their own needs. 

Caregiving support.

More women are carrying the weight of additional caregiving responsibilities, such as taking care of elderly parents or sick family members. According to the Society of Human Rights Management, one in five employees are caregivers in some capacity and 61% of them are women. Employers have ample opportunity to make a difference—implementing policies such as flexible hours and work locations, for example, can be game-changing for caregivers. Additionally, benefits like caregiver sick days, counseling, and generous leave policies can keep women in the workforce. 

At Chief, we pay for 100% of health insurance premiums for employees and dependents, have a 100% flexible, remote work environment, and a culture of understanding, where our team can talk openly about managing the demands of work and any caregiving responsibilities. Companies should both offer tangible benefits that are written into their policies to support caregivers, while also having room for personalized solutions that are rooted in a culture of understanding. What works for one team member may not work for another, but the hope is that they feel comfortable and safe enough to discuss their individual circumstances with their manager.

So, how do we move forward? 

The last several years have forced every company to rethink and redetermine their workplace paradigms. This creates the perfect opportunity to rebuild with the intentionality needed to dismantle systemic policies and biases—one by one. Change doesn’t take place overnight, but it’s my hope that companies are willing to have these uncomfortable conversations. Only then can we stop the leaky pipe and see more women and people of color advance into positions of power, so that companies, and our society at large, can experience the progress.

Carolyn Childers, co-founder and CEO of Chief, is an experienced leader and operator, having successfully scaled several early-stage businesses. Prior to founding Chief, Carolyn was SVP of Operations at Handy, then led the launch of Soap.com and acted as GM through its acquisition by Amazon. Carolyn was named to Inc.’s Female Founders 100 List.

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