Cross-industry findings by WFD Consulting find that the real barrier to women in leadership is time

Women work an extra day each week and are twice as likely to have a full-time working spouse as men.

Watertown, Massachusetts, April, 2002 - WFD Consulting a human resources research and consulting firm, reports that companies seeking to advance women need to exhibit a fierce respect for employees' time.
"Despite a genuine desire to level the playing field and make the most of women's talents, few companies have been able to achieve this goal, often because of leaks in the leadership pipeline that go undiagnosed," says Arlene Johnson, VP of WFD Consulting. "Our research and experience over the past two decades have shown that understanding the time crunch in women's lives can help plug those leaks."
WFD's research with 750,000 employees in over 25 companies, finds that exempt women work 46 hours a week at their paid employment and spend an additional 25 hours on household tasks, including child care. In contrast, men work 48 hours a week and spend 15 hours on household tasks. In addition, among married exempt workers, 76% of women have spouses who work full-time in comparison to 40% of men.
In a newly released research brief, WFD describes four key factors for creating a workplace where women thrive and contribute fully. Primary among them is a respect for time and rigorous monitoring of the leadership pipeline. "It is not enough for the company to have a couple of key women identified," says Monica Roper, a consultant with WFD specializing in women's advancement. "In order to plan for the future, the pipeline needs to contain a critical mass of female talent at all stages of career development-and that requires addressing the issues of time at various stages of women's lives."
The current issue of WFD's quarterly research brief It's About Time includes a case study of Marriott International's successful women's advancement efforts. Marriott is a winner of the 2002 Catalyst Award. Copies of It's About Time are available at www.wfd.com, or by calling 617-673-3280.
WFD is the thought leader and architect of the workplace of the future. Over the last 20 years, WFD has partnered with Fortune 500 companies in 26 countries to improve the quality of their work environments through human resources strategy, women's advancement and retention consulting, and workforce measurement.