Women in the workforce are over-mentored and under-sponsored: lots of advice but little support

Women in the workforce are receiving lots of mentoring in the form of programs and advice. However, they are receiving little support in terms of promotion and recognition.

The Financial Times (July 9, 2013) reports that women assume that others in the workforce know their intentions. But they don’t. Women need to be more vocal. Women need to articulate want they want: promotions, extra experience, more challenges, a place on the board, etc. And companies need to encourage sponsorship of women, as well as mentoring programs.

Mentoring is a system whereby a person receives advice from a company colleague or external person, an avenue to discuss workplace issues and challenges, and information on business trends, company policies and management strategies. Sponsors, on the other hand, are typically in leadership positions, one or two levels higher than the person being sponsored. A sponsor will speak for, or act on behalf of, a person and advocate for a person’s promotion.

A program introduced by PwC in 2010, called Female Partner Sponsorship, identified 26 female partners who had “senior leadership potential” in order to facilitate diversity in their workplace. The 26 women were matched with senior male executives who introduced them to contacts and networks, and involved them in high-profile assignments and projects. Three years later, in 2013, the firm was surprised at the results: 90% of the women had been promoted and 60% had moved into leadership positions (such as a board member or leading a business unit). Therefore the sponsorship program had greater results than their diversity or mentoring programs.

A 2010 Harvard Business Review report revealed that more women were entering the corporate workforce than men (53% of females to 47% of males), but men advanced at a greater rate and in greater numbers to high level positions. At the very top corporate positions, men outnumber women by nearly four men to every woman. Men were 46% more likely to have a sponsor than women. Women were better at developing friendships in the workplace, but men were better at seeking someone who would help promote them. Men place different values on friendships at work—men make use of friendships to seek promotion.

Currently more companies tend to have mentoring programs for women, but few have sponsorship programs. Hence, women are over-mentored and under-sponsored. They receive lots of advice, but little support to achieve promotions and high-level projects.

Women also tend not to want to be a sponsor; they prefer to mentor other women or men. This is because sponsors have more to “lose” in the workforce. For example, a sponsor uses their influence to help the career advancement of others and therefore a sponsor takes a higher risk (but gains more rewards if the person they are advances proves to be a star). Mentors provide advice, and don’t stake their reputation on others in the workforce. In the past, companies thought mentors were advocates of their mentee, but this is not the case. Mentors play an advisory role, not a support role.

The Financial Times adds that a 2011 McKinsey Quarterly Report identified two types of sponsor that may be more damaging than supportive to women: (1) “the relentless coach” who pushes the person to breaking point, and (2) “the devil’s advocate” whose constant questioning drains a person’s confidence and energy. In addition, often if a senior male executive is a woman’s sponsor, the relationship may be viewed unfavourably in the workforce as “too inappropriate.” Also, sponsorship is not unconditional. A person being sponsored cannot expect to take advantage of office perks and cannot expect to be promoted automatically and unconditionally. The sponsor relationship should maintain its professionalism, with the person being sponsored delivering results. Unlike mentoring, sponsorship is a transactional relationship in which both the person sponsored and the sponsor should gain from the program.