Our Programs

Women's Leadership

SHAMBAUGH’s Programs For Women Leaders

Today's organizations are faced with important and timely challenges to recruit, develop, advance, and retain their top talented women leaders. These challenges have evolved into a solid business case for organizations to achieve critical growth goals, remain competitive, and sustain profitability. Consider these facts:


  • Demographics: Women represent 50% of the US Workforce and rising
  • Women are graduating with twice as many advance graduate degrees as men, positioning them to be significant prospects for future leadership roles
  • Studies indicate that organizations who have a significant number of women in top senior leadership and executive positions are more profitable, had greater shareholder value, and maintained a competitive advantage in the marketplace
  • 80% of the consumer buying base in the US are women which impacts customer decision making power
  • Organizations are challenged with moving women through the pipeline to next levels of leadership due to: personal choice, traditional and cultural barriers, lack of integrated development programs that get to the heart of women's skill gaps, and assumptions and beliefs that hold women back from advancement opportunities

 

To address these critical challenges and opportunities and to further the advancement of women leaders, SHAMBAUGH offers the following services and programs:

 

For more information or questions about any of SHAMBAUGH's Women's Leadership Development Programs, contact us at: info@shambaughleadership.com

 

Read SHAMBAUGH's Case Study:

Developing, Advancing, and Retaining Women Leaders
An Integrated Approach for Strengthening Individual and Organizational Capactiy - Developing, Advancing, and Retaining Women Leaders

Download a copy of this case study here: SHAMBAUGH's Women in Leadership Case Study

Client: Fortune 150 Company

Introduction:

A Fortune 150 company was concerned about the promotional rate and preparedness of women in their leadership pipeline as well as the retention of their current women leaders. Recognizing that the leadership role is stressful and demanding, the organization had invested in career development, personal development, and industry specific education for these women. Yet, those being groomed to advance to the executive and senior leadership ranks were either not applying for the positions or were not qualified to advance further. The company was also experiencing a higher attrition rate than anticipated which resulted in a number of regrettable losses in the leadership ranks.

SHAMBAUGH was asked to create and deliver a program that would facilitate both the promotion and retention of these talented women. 

Data Collection Procedures
The firm selected 30 women leaders and 50 highly promotable women for SHAMBAUGH to survey. One-on-one interviews were conducted with this cross section of women leaders as well as senior leadership and HR staff to discuss issues regarding retention and promotion. Each group was asked a series of structured questions. The answers to these in-depth interviews were correlated to determine the most effective development program for the women participants. This interview feedback provided the company with information regarding the candidates' leadership needs, the perceived obstacles to their success, and the critical success factors for helping them achieve their career objectives.   

Program Components

  1. Customized Leadership Development Forums: SHAMBAUGH customized a four-day program that included key learning components aligned with the firms’ and the individual women leader’s real-time development issues and objectives.  The customizing involved case studies and role-playing scenarios that reflected challenges and opportunities for the women leaders. The four days of learning were spread over four months.  This approach provided for lasting integration of knowledge through the practical application of tools and techniques between sessions. 
  2. Integrated Approach: To have a more sustainable impact, SHAMBAUGH recommended that they also involve men in this effort.  We did this for two reasons: 1) A majority of the managers of the women in the program were men; and 2) Most of the senior leadership and executive roles in this organization were currently held by men. Our initial interviews indicated that these men felt they were kept “on the side lines” in previous diversity programs and, if given the opportunity, they would like to be a part of this women’s leadership initiative. They not only saw the value of developing the next generation of leaders but they also recognized the business case for Balanced Leadership, based on information SHAMBAUGH had presented in an introductory session.

    SHAMBAUGH mapped out an integrated approach that on-boarded men and helped them to understand their role as change agents for developing a stronger leadership bench and also provided the tools, techniques and strategies to be an effective coach, mentor or sponsor.  

    A session, specific for this group of managers, was held mid-way through the four months of the Program. It essentially included men as a part of the solution and focused on:
    • The Business Case for Leveraging an Integrated Leadership Model- (Better balance of men and women leaders drives better business results!)
    • Targeted Modules on:
    • An overview of the women’s leadership curriculum as well as the Sticky Floors
    • The role of a coach/mentor/sponsor in leadership development
    • Effective coaching strategies, tools and techniques
    • Coaching women off The Sticky Floors
    • Roundtable discussions and panels on: Work Life Integration, Building Strategic Relationships, Asking For What You Want, Thinking Strategically, and Being Organizationally Savvy
    Impact: The feedback from the men, after attending this session, indicated that they now realized how they could help to further the development and advancement of women and that they felt they had a much better idea of specific ways they could make a difference. They appreciated knowing what the Program was about and were very interested in both the Program, as well as the coaching, tools and techniques we shared with them.
  3. Interim Coaching: To ensure the retention and successful application of new skills, behavioral changes, and the achievement of individual developmental goals, each participant was assigned a SHAMBAUGH executive coach to help facilitate learning between sessions. This process served as an invaluable resource from the women participants’ perspective as they did not feel that they currently had adequate mentoring relationships to support them with their career/leadership issues and challenges. The one-on-one coaching provided a disciplined and individualized process that helped the women apply the program’s key tools, assessments, and techniques, as well as stay focused and accountable for working on important development action plans.  

Results
SHAMBAUGH designed and implemented a pre and post measurement and tracking process for the program. The results indicated that the women participants experienced measurable progress in the following areas:

  • Retention: The Company avoided regrettable losses as several key women leaders were planning on leaving before they engaged in the program and decided to remain in the company after completing the program.
  • Promotion: 55% of the women participants were promoted within a year of completing the program. 
  • Communication: Women participants were better able to influence across the organization and were less resistant to having the “difficult conversations” required of senior leaders.
  • Productivity: Team productivity increased as a result of better prioritization, direction, and work efficiencies. 
  • Career Planning: Many of the women gained significant clarity regarding their own career goals and action plans. A majority of the women took the initiative to meet with their managers and co-actively mapped out a career plan that would lead to potential promotional opportunities.
  • Seeking Promotions: Nearly 80% of the women were willing to socialize their name throughout the organization and seek out other opportunities and promotions versus waiting for others to reach out to them. 
  • Changed Mindset: By engaging men in this process, they had a much better appreciation for the challenges that women face and how they could support them. They also learned, through learning and valuing the importance of Integrated Leadership, that having a balance of men and women on their leadership team was key for leveraging a broader spectrum of ideas and perspectives which helped to grow their business and enhance their competitive advantage in the marketplace.
  • Strategic Relationships: Women participants experienced greater confidence and started to establish relationships across the organization. A majority of the women saw the value of cultivating relationships with a broader spectrum of men of which they did not have before in their network.
  • Strategic Thinking: By engaging with other senior leaders (primarily men) across the company, a majority of the women indicated that the program provided them with a greater perspective of the business, allowing them to show up more strategically and effectively operate within the political and organizational dynamics.
  • Mentoring: Mentoring across the organization increased and improved between men and women due to specific concepts, skills and strategies they applied from the program to mentor others within the organization.
  • Retention: The organization reported stronger peer networking and higher job satisfaction among women due to program participants gaining: 1) Greater clarity regarding their own career goals; 2) Stronger ability to manage work/life balance issues; and 3) Broader strategic relationships across the organization. 

SHAMBAUGH continues to build on their many years of research, experience and expertise in working with a number of Fortune 500 organizations and hundreds of women across the country. Rebecca Shambaugh, President and CEO of SHAMBAUGH, is known for her pioneering approach to women in leadership and founded one of the first leadership development programs for women in the United States, Women in Leadership and Learning (WILL), over 15 years ago. This unique practice area has consistently delivered key results based on SHAMBAUGH’s experienced faculty, accomplished and certified coaches, targeted gender studies, and practical tools/ techniques- all focused on extraordinary leadership development for women.

SHAMBAUGH programs have been utilized by a number of premier organizations for succession planning, hi-potential development and retention, as well as for diversity goals and objectives.

Organizations sending women to WILL include but are not limited to:
IBM, MTV Networks, Marriott, Pfizer, MedImmune, Merrill Lynch, Sprint Nextel, SAIC, Intelsat, Cox Communications, Ernst & Young, Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, Ritz Carlton, Forte Foundation, USA Today, Freddie Mac, Bank of America