How employee benefits can help to smash the glass ceiling for women

Advancing female talent

Well-designed employee benefits are far more than simply perks, especially when it comes to women’s talent and leadership advancement. Creating an effective talent strategy that uses employee benefits to genuinely support women’s career advancement is a vital part of helping women to thrive at work.

It starts with opportunities

We need to generate better opportunities for women in all industries, but science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), is a particular priority. According to LinkedIn data quoted in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2024, women’s workforce representation remains below men’s across nearly every industry and economy. Women account for 42% of the global workforce and 31.7% of senior leaders – hardly a celebration of parity. However, in STEM roles, just 28.2% of the workforce is female, compared to 47.3% in non-STEM industries. If women are not given opportunities in STEM from the very beginning of their career, we will not create the female leaders and influencers of the future.

Genuine flexibility is vital

Being adaptive is also a vital characteristic of successful future organisations – i.e showing resilience as business circumstances change, as well as quickly evolving or changing organisational models to support change in business environments.

Flexibility at a personal, as well as an organisational level is vital to achieving this. Women around the world value flexibility in their working lives. For example, according to Bain, in the US, 41% of men value flexibility at work compared with 61% of women. And Bain’s figures show that those trends are consistent globally – in every region where it collected data, women valued flexibility more than men. This is likely to reflect women’s greater role in caring outside the workforce – whether childcare or looking after other, adult relatives.

Recognising and responding to women’s caring needs, through genuinely flexible working, support for reskilling on return from longer periods of childcare and family healthcare support, can create an environment where women thrive at work and crucially build a long-term career.

Create a healthy female workforce

Women have different healthcare needs from men. As part of a future talent strategy, that means addressing both specific conditions but also recognising bigger picture trends such as women’s lower quality mental health and overall confidence in the workplace. 
Good quality women’s health care includes early interventions, such as virtual GPs and screening tests for conditions like breast cancer. This supports individuals’ health, as well as managing risk at an organisational level. By extending healthcare support to family members as well, this can help manage caregiving absence rates.

Menopause support helps to keep senior female leaders in the workplace, where in the past they might have chosen to leave. According to the Faculty of Medicine,  symptoms of the menopause can last between four and eight years, with conditions including tiredness, poor concentration and low confidence. Providing support for women going through the menopause at work helps to retain some of the most experienced and long-standing talent in any organisation.

Menstrual health and Fertility

Supporting women across all life stages is crucial for businesses to retain valuable female talent. This includes addressing menstrual health issues such as Endometriosis and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), as well as providing support during menopause. The Faculty of Medicine highlights that menopause symptoms can last between four and eight years, often including tiredness, poor concentration, and low confidence. Offering support for women going through menopause helps retain some of the most experienced and long-standing talent in any organization.

When it comes to significant life stages, such as fertility and alternative family-forming routes, offering comprehensive support to all employees sets businesses apart and demonstrates a genuine care for their workforce. For those affected by infertility (around 1 in 7 couples), the impact on their ability to work can be considerable. They may need extra time off for treatment and appointments, and the mental health toll can profoundly affect their workplace performance.

Support financial wellbeing

According to research from the Young Women’s Trust, 42% of women say their financial situation has got worse over the last 12 months, compared to just 27% of young men. And only 56% of young women say they have the support they need to progress in their careers, compared to 64% of young men.

Money worries affect women throughout their careers, from loss of earnings related to childcare, to more limited ability to save for a pension. Being able to build robust retirement plans helps put women in control in deciding when to leave work – or whether to take up choices such as part-time work, or ‘returnships’ (having a short sabbatical before returning to work) that will help to retain senior talent over a longer period of time.

Supporting pension saving across the whole of a woman’s career – including, for example, additional pension top-ups during periods of maternity leave, or financial support that is tailored specifically to women’s needs, puts women in control of their own retirement expectations and helps with talent planning for the future.

Closing the authority gap and supporting women’s career advancement requires intentional effort from employers. A well-designed benefits strategy isn’t just about perks—it’s a critical tool for enabling women to thrive at every stage of their careers. By aligning benefits with talent development, offering flexible working solutions, addressing financial wellbeing, and prioritising women’s health, organisations can create an environment where women are empowered to lead and succeed. The businesses that take these steps today will not only foster a more equitable workplace but also build stronger, more resilient leadership for the future.