‘Women Rocking Wall Street’ Explores Teamwork Among Genders, Generations

Companies can embrace women’s “getting along” mentality to boost recruitment and profits, says advisory services expert.

For companies looking to attract new talent and increase profits, the answer may lie in creating a “getting along” culture. On a new episode of “Women Rocking Wall Street,” a podcast dedicated to helping women navigate the financial services workplace, Sheri Fitts hosts a lively discussion about the getting along paradigm.

Guest Dr. Solange Charas, CEO of Charas Consulting, shares her insights about teamwork among genders and generations. Charas, who provides advisory services to boards and C-Suite executives, says women by nature focus on getting along at work, while men tend to prioritize getting ahead. Women’s collaborative working style, she says, may help companies increase their bottom line and recruit employees.

“Women … care more about the other in the team, or as much as the other in the team, as they do themselves,” Charas says.

Research shows that cultures that value teamwork rather than individual gains are actually more profitable, Charas says. “Getting along” organizations can also attract new talent; in her discussions with millennials, she has found that both men and women in this generation prefer working at small companies or as entrepreneurs, to avoid the distinct hierarchy at large corporations. A company with lots of “getting ahead” employees and not much collaboration could face serious recruitment issues, Charas says.

Organizations should focus on rewarding team efforts in order to change the culture, Charas suggests. “Teamwork is a big conversation in organizations, but unless it’s really part of the core culture, unless it’s really rewarded [behaviorally] … we’re not going to see the system change,” she says.

Recruiting women for management roles can also foster teamwork. Women have a different leadership and accountability style, Charas says, and traditional corporate America is geared more toward a male-oriented working style.

To hear this episode and others, head to iTunes and download the “Women Rocking Wall Street” podcast, or visit http://womenrockingwallstreet.com.

For more information about Solange Charas’s work, visit
http://charasconsulting.com.

About Dr. Solange Charas