NCJ Number
157269
Journal
Newsletter Issue: 2 Dated: (April 1995) Pages: 3-6
Date Published
1995
Length
4 pages
Annotation
The author uses McKinsey's seven S's organizational diagnostic model to see what might occur in an organization that attempts to recruit and promote more women.
Abstract
The seven S's are strategy, structure, systems, style, staff, skills, and shared values; these factors are interrelated in an organization and affect one another. Strategy is the action plan of an organization that is designed to attain its objectives with the means available. In the case of recruiting and promoting more women, a strategy must give attention to the supply of women in the labor market in the environment of the organization. Structure is the way in which the division of responsibility and its coordination are shaped within the organization. The recruiting and promoting of women requires that the top level of an organization adopt this commitment and make adjustments in the organization to accommodate the needs of women, such as the need to work only part-time. Internal systems that govern and control the daily operations of an organization must ensure that women are not disadvantaged and are given opportunities to perform tasks that use their strengths and serve their career goals. Style refers to the typical behavior of the top executives of an organization; staff refers to the characteristics, qualities, and capabilities of personnel; skills encompass the knowledge and abilities of personnel; and shared values are those that employees must have to achieve central organizational goals. This article discusses how each of the aforementioned "S's" must be managed to serve the ends of recruiting and promoting more women in an organization.