As the Chief Executive Officer and Chair of Cascade Engineering, a large second-generation woman-owned business celebrating 50 years as an innovative large tonnage injection mold manufacturer, we make products and components for the automotive, waste and furniture industries. In this capacity I have experienced my fair share of rooms where as a woman, I am in the minority, starting in business school at the Johnson School at Cornell, where woman represented only 20% of our graduating class.
From my perspective, there is great upside for us as a state if we can tap into more women at all levels in our organizations. We have found that a culture based on inclusion unlocks each employee’s full potential and empowers them to be fully engaged and committed to our mutual success. We believe diversity drives our innovation and as an organization we thrive on collectively solving difficult challenges that will improve our community, our environment and our financial prosperity. We are committed to creating an inclusive work environment in which every employee knows they are valued.
As a state, we need more talent in general. Over the next decades, Michigan’s population is expected to experience slow growth and then decline, and the future talent gap is even more pronounced in the manufacturing sector.
Increase On-ramps for Women to Manufacturing Careers Through STEM Education
To combat this talent gap, we need to create more on-ramps to get more women into manufacturing careers. Education is key and encouraging more high-quality early STEM education for all students, especially programs targeting young women is a key piece.
Second, reducing barriers to the on-ramps for folks that may be balancing a lot of priorities. We have seen in our work that a focus on childcare, transportation and housing are consistent issues that come up for our employees as barriers to employment.
To address these, one of Cascade Engineering’s keys to success has been access to the Source, an Employee Resource Network which provides social workers onsite, connecting resources for each of those barriers at the time in which they are experienced. On the housing front, we have added Cascade Housing Opportunity Program (CHOP) which covers down payment assistance for first homes and connects employees with resources to improve credit scores and gives classes on home improvement. On the childcare front, we participate in Trishare program which helps fund childcare.
Address Leakage Points Where Family and Career Building Collide
We also need to address some of the leakage points where women tend opt out of their careers. I have seen this being very pronounced in the late 30s / early 40s when the challenges of building a family and building a career come into direct competition and it seems sometimes that something has to give. Some antidotes I have found effective are ensuring women in your organization feel a sense of inclusion and belonging. This can come through a formal or informal woman’s network or a community-based corporate women’s group doing anything from goal setting to a simple happy hour.
A second antidote is creating a clear career path and offering mentoring. People are more likely to stay if they feel there is a career path for them within the organization and that they have an advocate or mentor in their organization helping them navigate their career. Reducing the mental chatter is also important. Not asking the women to be the “party planner” or office resource which can take up precious bandwidth. Outside the office, having help and support to carry less of the mental load at home, which takes up the limited bandwidth during these years is key.
Incorporate Diverse Perspectives and Data-Driven Decision-Making
Finally, when we make decisions as an organization, the practice of incorporating diverse perspectives and getting decisions out of back conference rooms and into data driven and fact based methods enhance the transparency and likely create better outcomes. This also increases the ability for people’s voices to be heard and listened to and increases the likelihood that you will have a diverse leadership team.
This approach of increasing on-ramps, decreasing leakage points, and more transparent and inclusive decision making takes time. While it may not result in ‘rapidly’ increasing improvements, these actions will be enduring. Actions along this line will position our state for continued innovation over time and strong growth.
Christina Keller is the Chief Executive Officer and Chair of Cascade Engineering Family of Companies.