Discussions about ways to improve opportunities for women often center on mentoring and sponsorships, but BCG has taken a slightly different tack – and the results have been positive. Five years after launching their Apprenticeship in Action initiative, BCG was able to increase female promotion rates by 22% among senior managers.
Apprenticeship is defined as the working relationships of junior team members learning alongside experienced colleagues.
According to an article in Harvard Business Review, “The AiA program focuses on the three components of apprenticeship that drive satisfaction and retention: relational connectedness, strengths-based development, and coaching for a range of effective communication styles.”
Also, “AiA introduced training and tools to enable managers to ground personal development in an individual’s differentiating strengths by creating a strengths inventory and linking each strength to a specific area for development. This allows people to leverage their strengths to accelerate improvement.”