Do Business Well

Even the most fair-minded male executives are sometimes guilty of unintentional discrimination against women on their staff, according to a study undertaken by Catalyst, a national research and advisory organization. The reason: Male managers‘ perceptions of women are often based on traditional cultural values rather than current work and family realities.

“One result is that men and women feel uncomfortable dealing with each other, and that can lead to communication and productivity problems,” says Lisa Hicks, a senior associate at Catalyst, New York, NY. Here are some of the most typical situations in which men’s well- intentioned behavior can backfire and how you can reduce the possibility of having it affect you and your female staff members:

• Awarding promotions and relocating. Given two equally qualified people, one male and one female, managers often assume that the male is the better risk because he is more likely to put career rather than family considerations first. That assumption is not necessarily valid. There are women who will make sacrifices for their careers and men who will put their families ahead of their work.

Before you rule out a female candidate, make sure that you know what her ambitions and level of commitment are. If women who work for you haven’t articulated their priorities, ask about them. It’s also important that your female staff members be aware of what’s necessary for advancement so that they can decide what they are—and are not—willing to do.

• Performance feedback. Some managers find it difficult to give women honest criticism because they’re worried that women will react emotionally—and perhaps even cry. Realize first that unless a person knows what her weaknesses are, she won’t be able to improve; so you’re effectively denying her the right to advance. Second, keep in mind that crying is as valid an emotional response as anger, and that there is no evidence to support the assumption that women cry more often than men in office situations. Finally, if a person you’re critiquing gets upset, you can always say “Let’s take a break,” and allow the person to collect herself or, as some consultants suggest, pass her a tissue and then continue the discussion.

• Travel. When overnight or extensive travel is required, managers often send male staff members because they assume—often subconsciously—that mothers should be at home with their children and wives with their husbands, or that travel isn’t safe for single women. These assumptions work against female staff members since travel can provide valuable job experience. Again, the best policy is to ask women on your staff what their preferences are and to let them know the type of experience they might gain before you rule out the possibility of sending them on business trips.

To find out if your polite and proper behavior may in fact be resented by the women you manage, you need to analyze your own reactions in different situations. Talk to female colleagues and staff members to learn about their perceptions of your attitudes.

If you find that you do treat women you manage differently, that insight alone may change things. It will certainly make you more sensitive to your own prejudices and how they affect others. And you probably will consider your decisions about female staff more carefully.

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