Among the top reasons managers hesitate to give feedback to their employees, according to a study conducted by LeanIn.Org and McKinsey, is fear the employee may have an "emotional breakdown".
But if you've just imagined a man is behind this statement, you're wrong. Female managers are more likely to make this assumption than men are.
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The US study, Women in the Workplace 2016, released in late September, is based on data from more than 130 companies and over 34,000 men and women.
It found that women ask for feedback as often as men, but are less likely to receive it. When asked why managers didn't want to give employees feedback, 43 per cent of female managers and 35 per cent of male managers said that they were "concerned about seeming mean or hurtful".
![Women who negotiate for pay rises are 30 per cent more likely than men who negotiate to receive feedback that they are ...](/web/20161009112710im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/v/h/f/u/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.grvftl.png/1475656263102.jpg)
The next core reason was: "Don't want them to dislike me" (25 per cent for both female and male managers), that they were "concerned about an outburst" (16 per cent women, 17 per cent men), "concerned I will seem biased or prejudiced" (16 per cent women, 14 per cent men) and finally "concerned about an emotional breakdown" (15 per cent women, 6 per cent men).
The study, as expected, found women in corporate America remain under-represented at every level in the pipeline. It found women are negotiating as often as men for pay rises but face greater push back. Women who negotiate for pay rises are 30 per cent more likely than men who negotiate to receive feedback that they are "intimidating," "too aggressive," or "bossy" and 67 per cent more likely than women who don't negotiate to receive the same negative feedback.
Also, despite lobbying for promotions at similar rates, women are on average less likely to be promoted to manager than men. For every 100 women promoted, 130 men are promoted, and at every level, especially senior management, companies hire fewer women from the outside than men.
The good news is that despite the negativity coming their way, women are negotiating for promotions and raises as often as men. And doing so pays off: Women who lobbied for a promotion were 54 per cent more likely to report getting one than women who didn't.
![Women ask for feedback as often as men, but are less likely to receive it, McKinsey's study found.](/web/20161009112710im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/v/m/2/g/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.grvftl.png/1475656263102.jpg)
It's also worth noting that not all women want to be CEO – the study found that only 43 per cent of women believed becoming a top executive would significantly improve their ability to affect the business, compared to 51 per cent of men.
The findings are relevant in an Australian context. As other studies in Australia have found, companies may state gender diversity is a top priority, but this isn't always translating to visible action.
A report released in March by Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre in collaboration with the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) found that among the top-tier managers in Australian organisations, men are paid on average $100,000 per year more than women.
Then, even when women and men move through managerial positions at the same pace and reach a key management role in their 10th year, men can expect to earn $2.3 million and women $1.7 million in base salary over this period – a difference of $600,000.
The WGEA is collecting more detailed data from Australian employers on the rates of promotion by gender as well as the impact of having children on workforce participation. Director Libby Lyons said the new data, which will be released by year's end, would make clearer the drivers of workplace discrimination and what to do to end it.
While males typically still hold the top positions in corporations (and thereby power to change the status quo), it's clear from McKinsey's study that female managers have as much of a role to play in ensuring staff are awarded genuine opportunities for feedback and promotions.
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