A Practical Guide to Addressing the ‘Hollow Middle’

When filling leadership positions, do you feel like you don’t have the female talent pool you need? If so, you’re dealing with the “hollow middle,” which results from low promotion rates for women compared to men.

Even though entry-level hiring starts out basically even, only 79 women are promoted to management positions for every 100 men. Why does this happen? Research shows men are evaluated based on their potential. However, women are more likely to be judged on performance. In the early stages of their careers, without a built-in benefit of the doubt, women are often passed over for promotion.

As a result, this type of unconscious bias creates an experience gap that’s difficult to overcome as companies seek the business benefits of more diverse leadership.

Breaking the pattern

Here’s the good news. Breaking the pattern doesn’t take a complete overhaul of current processes. With the addition of strategic, evidence-based behavioral assessments, you can further neutralize unconscious bias and reduce cloning in early-career promotion decisions.

A central focus of my practice is helping companies tackle challenges like the hollow middle by applying strategic, objective tools to enhance existing processes and increase predictability when it comes to talent decisions. Contact me to talk about how these tools can help your company strengthen its leadership pipeline. And for more insights, click here to request my white paper, Where are Tomorrow’s Business Leaders?