BonWorth, America’s favorite mother-daughter store, is about so much more than BeBonworthBeautiful. They are about community, about empowerment, and about making a difference. For COO Gurumoorthy Gurusankar, it wasn’t just about regular promotional offers, sales, and encouraging people to make savings. Rather, it was about making the community of Henderson, NC, and in fact North Carolina as a whole, a better place for everybody. And one area on which he focused in order to achieve that, was that of female employment. By now, a huge percentage of Bonworth employees are women, something that has inspired others across North Carolina. Indeed, the state now ranks as one of the best for diversity. One of the main reasons why Gurunsakar felt this was important, is because women are such fantastic communicators.
Bonworth on Women and Communication
It has been scientifically proven that women are better communicators. They use more words than their male counterparts and they have greater empathy and emotional intelligence. This means that they are much better at managing through difficult tensions. Their strong emotional skills are hugely important during interview processes as well. Indeed, the University of Western Ontario has completed a study that showed women were better capable of handling the stress associated with interviews. This means that they are also likely to be better at handling stress in the workplace. Indeed, although many people think women have a tendency to freak out, the reality is that they are incredibly good crisis managers.
Womens’ emotional skills also make them stay on top of their game when going through a hiring interview process. A study published by the University of Western Ontario found that women can better handle interview stress – which is a good predictor for more efficient workplace stress management. Against common misconception that women tend to freak out more than men in crisis situations, science shows that we fare far better during the actual event. In Henderson, NC tornados are quite frequent, so this is an important fact.
Because women are both better communicators and better stress managers, and it quickly becomes obvious why so many businesses, including Bonworth, are increasing diversity in their workforce. Be it in negotiations, sales, inter department relationships, PR, management, promotional outreach, or any other field, women employees simply do better. And they do more for the community as well.
Women listen better as well, and this is why they are so good at managing customers as well. Sensitive tasks, such as business pitches, sales, and customer service, are much better left to women. However, women do have to learn how to maximize their skills. Hence:
- No matter whether they want to work for a company like Bonworth or for a multinational conglomeration, they must make sure they focus on their communication skills and relax before the interview.
- It is possible for anybody to increase their emotional intelligence. Training to be better at managing, negotiating, and working is possible for everybody, regardless of their gender.
Bonworth is proud to have so many female employees, befitting of their image as most loved mother-daughter store.
