WOMEN ARE GREAT, BUT THEY DO NEED HELPING INTO TOP JOBS
Greetings from a lovely, warm Tel Aviv where I’m attending my son’s wedding. I know it’s freezing in the UK and across Europe and I feel sorry for you – well not really.
However, I do want you to know that I’m still keeping an eye on my emails and the news. And one thing that struck me was the Prime Minister’s comment that Britain’s economy will fail unless more women are promoted into boardrooms.
I allowed myself a moment of pride at this point because thebigword is one of the few PLCs where we have a perfect gender split on the board: 50 per cent men and 50 per cent women, and we have slightly more women than men in senior management.
But putting my pride aside, I do think, as David Cameron says, that business leaders have to do their bit to help women get top jobs. That’s not because women are incapable – quite the opposite. It’s because they reach a certain stage and then don’t push further. Effectively they make what the Japanese call a ‘happy exit’.
Recently, I attended a dinner organised by the The Two Percent Club, the club that was formed to improve business competitiveness by changing the proportion of women operating at the highest levels in business. What’s frustrating is that women do better than boys at school, at university, and in their early years at work. Then, around the ages of 30-35 they lose the plot, and it’s not because of family commitments because many of this age group don’t have children.
The problem isn’t outside influences, it’s women themselves who lack the confidence to push higher. So what can we employers do? It’s no good telling women to ‘be confident’, that’s like telling a victim of bullying to hit the bullies back, or telling an alcoholic to stop drinking. It’s a pointless platitude that won’t deliver results.
As I walk around my business I realise that we have immense talent in both men and women but their expectations are different. We have to raise those expectations and then help women fulfil them.
At thebigword we’re going to be investing in our female workforce, not because I want to patronise them, but because I’m passionate about the impact they can have on the success of our business. It’s a rare occasion when I agree with a politician.
So if you have any ideas or suggestions of how we can help each other in this way I’d really appreciate hearing from you.
In the meantime thebigword is going to work with The Two Percent Club and provide mentoring for some of our female stars.
Catch up with you all next week.
Larry
However, I do want you to know that I’m still keeping an eye on my emails and the news. And one thing that struck me was the Prime Minister’s comment that Britain’s economy will fail unless more women are promoted into boardrooms.
I allowed myself a moment of pride at this point because thebigword is one of the few PLCs where we have a perfect gender split on the board: 50 per cent men and 50 per cent women, and we have slightly more women than men in senior management.
But putting my pride aside, I do think, as David Cameron says, that business leaders have to do their bit to help women get top jobs. That’s not because women are incapable – quite the opposite. It’s because they reach a certain stage and then don’t push further. Effectively they make what the Japanese call a ‘happy exit’.
Recently, I attended a dinner organised by the The Two Percent Club, the club that was formed to improve business competitiveness by changing the proportion of women operating at the highest levels in business. What’s frustrating is that women do better than boys at school, at university, and in their early years at work. Then, around the ages of 30-35 they lose the plot, and it’s not because of family commitments because many of this age group don’t have children.
The problem isn’t outside influences, it’s women themselves who lack the confidence to push higher. So what can we employers do? It’s no good telling women to ‘be confident’, that’s like telling a victim of bullying to hit the bullies back, or telling an alcoholic to stop drinking. It’s a pointless platitude that won’t deliver results.
As I walk around my business I realise that we have immense talent in both men and women but their expectations are different. We have to raise those expectations and then help women fulfil them.
At thebigword we’re going to be investing in our female workforce, not because I want to patronise them, but because I’m passionate about the impact they can have on the success of our business. It’s a rare occasion when I agree with a politician.
So if you have any ideas or suggestions of how we can help each other in this way I’d really appreciate hearing from you.
In the meantime thebigword is going to work with The Two Percent Club and provide mentoring for some of our female stars.
Catch up with you all next week.
Larry
