Few issues confronting our TRSA members today rank higher than the ongoing labor shortage. Whether we blame government disincentives or competing job opportunities, the fact remains that many of us have too few qualified employees—particularly in the middle and upper-level management ranks. While our control over the first two challenges is limited, we can widen our access to quality managers by doing more to tap a group that’s sorely underrepresented in our companies: Women.

As TRSA’s first female chair and one of a handful of female executives at a linen, uniform and facility services company, I’ve experienced this challenge firsthand ...