The challenge of hiring and retaining women: an interview with the head of HR at eBay

Human Resource Management International Digest

ISSN: 0967-0734

Article publication date: 1 May 2009

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Keywords

Citation

McPherson, J.R. (2009), "The challenge of hiring and retaining women: an interview with the head of HR at eBay", Human Resource Management International Digest, Vol. 17 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/hrmid.2009.04417cad.009

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2009, Emerald Group Publishing Limited


The challenge of hiring and retaining women: an interview with the head of HR at eBay

Article Type: Abstracts From: Human Resource Management International Digest, Volume 17, Issue 3

McPherson J.R., Mendonca L.T., Axelrod B.The McKinsey Quarterly (USA), 2008, Vol. 4 No. 4, Start page: 59, No. of pages: 7

Purpose – Reports on an interview with Beth Axelrod, senior vice president of human resources (HR) at eBay, on how companies can improve their approaches to hiring, retaining and promoting women. Design/methodology/approach – Axelrod traces her unusual career change, from consulting to HR, to trace the large amount still to be achieved if HR is to become a full strategic partner with businesses. Findings – The questions involved in the interview covered: the importance of women in the overall struggle for talent; the prerequisites for success when initiating specific programmes for the hiring and retention of women and how common themes emerge across companies; the fact that some HR issues remain the same today as in 1989; what foundational processes or systems companies must put in place to hire and retain women; what informal steps can help companies motivate and develop female leaders; the lack of helpfulness in approaching the topic of hiring and retaining women from the viewpoint of gender differences; and the importance for people to be free to talk about and act on gender-related issues. Originality/value – Draws on Axelrod’s extensive experience as leader of McKinsey & Company’s War for Talent project, which quantified the challenges facing leading US companies in finding talented executives. Includes the article in a special issue of The McKinsey Quartely devoted partly to the theme of “Women and leadership”.ISSN: 0047-5394Reference: 37AZ937

Keywords: Employees, Gender, Human resource management, Organizations, Promotion, Recruitment, Retention, Sex discrimination, Women, Women executives, Women workers

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