Most organisations skip the listening stage. That's why most interventions don't work.
When an organisation decides to address women's retention, the instinct is usually to move quickly to solutions. A new flexibility policy. A mentoring programme. A women's network. An unconscious bias training day.
These interventions are not without value. But they are frequently ineffective — not because the idea is wrong, but because they've been selected without a clear understanding of what's actually driving the problem.
Unconscious bias training in an organisation where the real issue is manager capability will not help. A mentoring programme in an organisation where women aren't progressing because of structural exclusion from informal networks will not help. A flexibility policy in an organisation where the lived culture penalises those who use it will not help.
Diagnosis before prescription
In clinical work, we don't prescribe before we assess. The presenting symptom — anxiety, depression, exhaustion — might have many different causes, and the right intervention depends on understanding which one you're dealing with.
The same principle applies to organisations. Women leaving, women disengaging, women not progressing — these are symptoms. The causes require investigation.
What investigation actually looks like
Not another survey. Not a focus group where people say what they think you want to hear. Genuine, confidential, skilled conversations — with women across the organisation, at different levels, in different roles, at different life and career stages — that surface the real patterns.
Where is trust being built? Where is it being eroded? Where are women getting stuck? What happens at the moments that matter — return from maternity leave, requests for flexibility, promotion conversations, life transitions?
What can you actually do about it?
These are the questions the Women at Work Listening Project is designed to answer. Before recommendations. Before programmes. Before prescriptions.
If you'd like to start with understanding, visit nataliemccandless.com/working-with-me-organisations