Qualities women bring to business
Women continue to thrive in the workforce. Wells Fargo reports that, from 2019 to 2023, the growth rate of women-owned businesses outpaced the rate of men-owned businesses in relation to number of firms, rate of employment and revenue earned. LinkedIn also indicates there are 114 percent more women entrepreneurs now than there were 20 years ago.
Every business owner or employee brings something unique to the employment landscape and certain characteristics are universal, regardless of gender. Still, there are certain qualities that women bring to the workforce that can help businesses excel. Forbes indicates women employees offer traits that can help drive engagement, productivity, satisfaction, and various other attributes. The following are some of the traits women may bring to business.
Emotional intelligence
Women First Jobs says that women often bring high emotional intelligence to the table. Emotional intelligence involves understanding and managing emotions and the emotions of others. Women may be more inclined to understand different perspectives and to help resolve conflicts and build relationships.
Collaboration
Women employees often have traits that can foster collaboration in the workplace, such as reading non-verbal cues and willingness to take turns in conversations, indicates Forbes. This can help everyone collaborate more effectively.
Room for improvement
Women in the workplace continually seek opportunities for improvement, advises Sparklight Business. This can involve taking advice from other workers and peers. Women leaders embrace opportunities to do things better and work to improve their skills for the greater good.
Communication
The IWEC Foundation, which empowers women entrepreneurs, says women tend to be effective communicators and often make great leaders because of this trait and their ability to inspire others. Communication often is key to any relationship, whether personal or in a business setting.
Organization and planning
Women may excel at organizing and planning. Women can look at things with a detail-oriented eye and recognize flaws in plans even before getting started. This means women can be in charge of distributing workloads or organizing the schedules of others.
Adaptability
Even though it is a cliche, women tend to be natural multi-taskers. Handling multiple jobs at the same time means women can adapt to changing situations.
Generally speaking, there are some inherent characteristics women may possess that can make them viable assets as business owners or leaders in their fields.