Women want feedback

Honest feedback from management is the most important element in aiding women's careers, says a recent survey of 1800 human resource executives by Novations/J. Howard & Associates.

Feedback (96 percent) was chosen over flexible scheduling (94 percent), a strong mentoring program (91 percent), an aggressive diversity program (91 percent) and employee support groups (81 percent).

Said Audra Bohannon, Novations/J. Howard senior vice president, "Today women know what it takes to succeed and don't wish to be patronized....[They] want to be treated in a way that ensures their success. This means giving them constructive, pertinent feedback as to how they're doing by the standards needed to do the job well."

She continues, "Management must listen more closely to what women are looking for, and not pull punches when their performance falls short, especially in areas that are not tied to a specific task, such as collaborating, influencing, building strategic relationships and so on. To whatever degree management does this for men employees it owes such honesty to women as well."