Women at the top: Restoring the balance

In the early career stages, gender balance is stronger than at other levels. Women graduate in equal proportion to men from university and enter the workforce through graduate programs in near equal numbers. However, five to ten years further along the career track, the trend of equality between the genders changes significantly, as clearly shown by the statistics. Many anecdotal explanations are given for women’s disinclination to enter the higher levels of corporate life in the first place, or the inclination to leave it. Some are that they want more flexibility than corporate structures allow; they lack the networks and role models; they dislike and are not good at power politics; or they prefer careers that serve a clear civic or societal purpose.

Announcing the results, EOWA Director Anna McPhee, said the fact that the figures have remained relatively constant across the three years of the census shows that there are still significant barriers to women achieving senior positions. “The results of the 2004 EOWA Census are confronting for anyone who believes that Australia is at the forefront of international business competitiveness. As corporate leaders face issues surrounding access to a skilled workforce, retention and sustainability, they need to look closely at culture, job design and workplace flexibility if they are going to win the global talent war,” she said.

Ilene Lang, president of US-based research group Catalyst, which provided the methodology for the census, made a crucial point when she was in Australia recently. She told audiences that recent research shows “companies with a higher representation of women in senior management positions financially outperform companies with proportionally fewer women at the top – doing 35 per cent better in return on equity.”

So there is a real business case to look for solutions. What can be done?

Business-oriented leadership

The solution starts with the decision-makers. The examples being set by some CEOs show that positive leadership can make a difference. When the executive group signals that diversity is a strategic goal, it makes a strong impression. Driven by the benefits of increased business opportunities and inclusive cultures, these executives may also be influenced by their daughters’ experiences when they enter the world of work, and struggle with acceptance or encounter discrimination.¹ They also may seek out and listen to the views of their female clients or team members.

With women representing nearly half the workforce and half the buying power, they are a segment that cannot be ignored. A good place to begin is to develop a business case that links diversity to revenue or client development. Perform a reality check on your diversity profile, and measure how this relates to your current and prospective clients. There is a business benefit in trying to attract the best talent. It’s also good business to build a workforce as broad and as diversified as your customer base and the broader marketplace.

Practices for flexibility

Then, rethink other management attitudes and practices. It’s going beyond compliance with legislation, and more than policies around parental leave. It’s being able to accommodate a dual-centric approach to life, where both career and family have comparable meaning and importance.

Yes, it’s still a challenge for some senior women to balance the demands of an executive role and those of their family. Some do it, and do it very well. Others opt out, making alternate life or career choices. It may be for family reasons, but don’t assume that it is always the case.

Women who leave corporate roles do continue to have active careers as they set up their own businesses, go into smaller firms or take up non-executive director roles. It’s more often about gaining greater control, flexibility and balance. This is supported by a recent survey of women in business, produced by Aspire4 a UK firm that coaches executive women. This survey highlighted that the number one priority for many women is ‘to make a difference’. They also want to do challenging work in a flexible environment, and to be able to believe in the company’s direction. Asked what they think companies can do better to attract and retain women, the respondents clearly mentioned flexibility along with culture and leadership style.

Corporate cultures of working long and hard, constant availability, instant response and face-time are not unusual. This creates an either/or feeling for many people. Either you can have a successful career here, or you can have a balanced life. In this climate, people who take up flexible work options struggle to limit the damage they sense this is doing to the way their commitment and performance are assessed. It affects how other people treat them.

Can you promote and reward your talented women if they need to work part-time? Can you promote them while they are on maternity leave, protect their client relationships while they are away and make it easy for them to return and stay? Don’t unconsciously set them up for a fall.

Therefore, it’s important to resolve constructively the conflict between the flexibility principle and the dominant culture. Make the time to discuss and model personal and family priorities. And it is not a ‘women only’ issue. Flexibility is an issue for all executives. The changes will benefit everyone.

Inclusive culture

Women do have a different style and approach, however, this doesn’t mean they are not committed, not capable or lack ambition. Women don’t naturally self-promote and assume that hard work plus the quality of their efforts will speak for itself. The executive group needs to value these differences and provide support, networking and mentoring. It also needs to actively ensure women are included, are visible at key client and important corporate events, are heard and not left out of the information loop.

Giam Swiegers, CEO of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Australia, believes that “for too long the ‘blokey’ environment in Australian business has resulted in female talent being overlooked. By being flexible, creative and listening to the demands of the workforce we can solve the short to medium-term problems by encouraging our talented women back into the workforce.”²

The process for change

Engage a diversity consultant to help you think through the issues, examine your data and guide you to understand what really is happening at a deeper level and how the culture of the dominant majority is influencing attitudes and decisions.

Below the surface, there may be gender bias that creates non-inclusive and alienating environments that are often so subtle, that even the women themselves cannot articulate why they feel there is unfairness. Each person often acts out the gender roles and stereotypes they believe they are expected to play. Each person develops, from significant early relationships, an idealised view of authority and leadership, plus how we confer success.

Look at the overall diversity of people in leadership roles, line roles and in front office client-facing roles. Think about who succeeds in the organisation and who doesn’t? Analyse what is happening in your company. When women are in the talent pipeline does the pipeline leak? Are you sure that your company is really supportive to and inclusive for women? Is the glass ceiling for some women the floor that those on the fast track walk on?

Line experience and mentors

This stereotyping and misinterpretation of styles often leads to the lack of women in line roles, both early in their careers and at executive levels. As the EOWA census shows, senior executive women hold only 6.5 per cent of senior executive line positions and considering women as a group, 37.9 per cent are in line positions and 62.1 per cent are in support roles. It’s critical to encourage more women at each stage of the line management pipeline.

Heather Ridout, CEO of the Australian Industry Group agrees. “It’s very important that women take every opportunity to stretch themselves professionally. They should move into work areas where they may not be entirely comfortable, because they won’t get to the top in support positions,” she says.

Women often perceive that they need to prove themselves before they’re promoted while their male cohorts are more readily promoted based on potential. The talent mapping and succession processes provide the opportunity to check the diversity profile of your talent pool, plus plan the right development, experience, mentoring and feedback to assist build leadership capability or transition into line management roles.

Mentors and networks also play an important role. Margaret Jackson, chairman of Qantas, commented that she “had a variety of mentors”. Catherine Walter, board director for ASX, AFIC and Orica, added that she drew on the best around her “to look at different ways of doing things and pick out people who had approaches to things, people-handling skills, problem-solving styles, conflict resolution manner, different skills that resonated somewhere with me”.

Taking the importance of mentoring even further, a groundbreaking UK program called ‘Women Directors on Boards’ aims at increasing female representation in the boardroom. It recognises the value to be gained from more diverse boards. The chairmen and chief executives of 20 of Britain’s largest businesses have agreed to mentor senior women from other non-competing companies.

Participating companies have identified a dozen high-potential women, one or two levels below the main board who could benefit. Not only will it help the chairmen and chief executives understand some of the issues faced as women come up through the ranks, but it will also bring different people to their attention who they then can introduce to others.

“It’s vital that women can feel confident that if they have the ability and drive there is a clear route to the top,” said Sir Roy Gardner, chief executive of Centrica, and one of the program’s mentors. “If I can help someone to manage their career to achieve this, it will be well worth the effort.”³

Retention as an economic benefit

Retaining talented women is something that senior executives need to continue to champion. Above all, look after your best and brightest, including your best women. Think through your strategies for retaining capable women and how this connects to the social and macro-economic imperatives of demographic change.

When the Business Council of Australia launched its Balancing Work and Family survey last year, chief executive Katie Lahey made the point that, based on current trends, the pool of employees is expected to shrink drastically in the future, and this will have a major impact on economic growth. The challenge is to encourage more Australians to enter or stay in the workforce. “The increasing participation of women in the workforce adds to the pool of potential employees and increases the diversity of skills and experience available to employers,” she said.

If you do not have the right practices, culture and leadership style in place, the surveys and the statistics keep pointing out that many women will eventually vote with their feet.

Action steps to gain the benefits of diversity

Signal that leaders are committed. The leadership team needs to signal that diversity is a strategic goal, model the diversity message and be committed to achieve real outcomes for both women and men.

Set business-oriented strategies. Develop a business plan that sets out your vision, goals, strategies and tactics – a plan which clarifies the business case for improved talent attraction and retention plus client development opportunities. The strategy needs to be sustainable over time.

Assess culture and practices. Continue to examine policies and practices for recruitment, succession, pay and promotion and make sure diversity efforts are embedded in your day-to-day management. Review how clients or key projects are allocated. A diversity consultant can help you understand your explicit and implicit culture plus overcome resistance, barriers and indifference.

Analyse retention rates. Examine the real reasons why women exit and at which stage of the career track. Look at who succeeds and who does not and think through what this tells you.

Coach, educate and engage. Diversity education helps people become more aware, understand how they can provide support both on an individual and team level, plus guide the development of the business case. Task forces engage employees in driving the initiatives, keep the operational focus active and facilitate learning.

Communicate and seek feedback. An ongoing and comprehensive communication strategy keeps people informed of your business case, goals and progress. Employee surveys and focus groups can help you hear what is being said in your workplace.

Give line experience and visibility. Based on merit provide the right development, experience, mentoring and feedback to assist an enhanced capability. Cross-training should be provided to help the transition into line management or business critical roles. Ensure visibility.

Reward, monitor and track. Monitor, measure and reality check, to ensure that you continue to meet your business plan. Institute awards for your diversity champions.

Dianne Jacobs is principal of Human Resources for Goldman Sachs JBWere. Email: [email protected].

1 Trials at the Top: Chief Executives talk about Men, Women and the Australian Executive Culture,by A. Sinclair. 1994, The Australian Centre, The University of Melbourne

2 Meeting the Skills Shortage Head On – BCA Quarterly 1st edition 2004-5 www.bca.com.au.

3 Mentors to Help Women on Boards by Alison Maitland Financial Times 21 October 2004.