According to the Economist, North America’s biggest companies hire women to fill just over half of entry-level professional jobs. But those women fail to advance proportionally: they occupy only 28% of senior managerial posts, 14% of seats on executive committees and just 3% of chief-executive roles, according to McKinsey & Company, a consultancy.

A McKinsey study in 2010 found that both women and men agreed: it is tough for women to climb the corporate ladder with teeth clamped around their ankles. Another McKinsey study in 2007 revealed that 54% of the senior women executives surveyed were childless compared with 29% of the men (and a third were single, nearly double the proportion of partnerless men).

Unilever, a consumer-goods firm, wants 55% of its senior managers to be women by 2015. To that end, it allows employees to work anywhere and for as few hours as they like, so long as they get the job done. Despite being one of the world’s most global firms, it discourages travel. McKinsey lets both female and male consultants work for as little as three days a week for proportionally less pay—and still have a shot at making partner. Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s high-profile chief operating officer, says that she has left the office at 5.30pm ever since she started a family in 2005.

Tired of consistently losing or not advancing some of your most valuable employees? Want to be seen as a progressive employer? Fill your organization with educated, talented, ambitious women at all levels. Discover the various hidden obstacles that are routinely faced by women as they rise within the corporate ranks. Then transform those obstacles into opportunities to retain and advance women to leadership positions. Better reflect your customer base, improve your ability to compete globally and increase your bottom-line.

Our team of consultants will assist you in assessing your current HR strategies as it relates to the attraction and retention of talented women, particularly during the child-bearing stages. We will then help you with strategically integrating effective HR processes, programs and practices into your daily operations.

Please fill in the form below and we will contact you to discuss any questions you have and if our services are a good match for your corporate needs.