http://www.nwda.co.uk/docs/Culturalchange

WOMEN AND WORK TASK FORCE

NORTHWEST WOMEN AND WORK TASKFORCE

WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP: THE INFLUENCE OF ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE

1 INTRODUCTION The Task Force considered at its first meeting how organisational culture is the most intractable factor influencing women’s ability to exercise their leadership potential.

Respondents to the current Task Force survey1 on Women in Leadership have identified ‘male dominated workplace culture’ as the second biggest barrier facing women in the workplace, second only to the impact of family/caring responsibilities. Addressing workplace culture was also a key recommendation from the Equal Opportunities Commission’s investigation in 2007 into ethnic minority women in the workplace2.

This paper assesses the impact of stereotype and tradition in influencing women’s ability and desire to meet the demands of senior roles. Many of the changes suggested will apply to males and females, and indeed action to remove barriers can be put in place by either gender. But the over-riding purpose of pursuing this line of action is to increase the numbers of women in senior positions in the Northwest, and the Task Force is asked to consider what they would view as success in this regard.

Paragraph 4 summarises generic solutions to improving organisational cultures for women, and Paragraphs 5 and 6 outline draft recommendations and action points. A potential good practice model which the Task Force may wish to adopt and promote is produced on page 10.

2 THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP Current research shows that women are in the minority in leadership positions in the Northwest in nearly every sector. There are no women university vice-chancellors or chief constables, and just three female council leaders. Women constitute around a third of top civil servants, local authority chief executives and NHS chief executives and board members. A quarter of senior police officers, members of parliament and directors of small companies are female. It is only in the further education and voluntary sector that women

1 http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SZGNXKJ 2 Equal Opportunities Commission, Moving on up?, 2007

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approach nearly half of top leaders. Further figures are being sought from large companies which have a significant presence in the Northwest.3

3 THE UNWRITTEN RULES The Task Force heard at its last meeting how women, or anyone else who does not fit into a dominant organisational culture, can feel like they are ‘swimming in someone else’s water’ 4.

A study of ethnic minority women’s experience of working in the criminal justice system found that the unwritten rules can be exacerbated by other factors such as a lack of ‘cultural intelligence’5 that can lead to an atmosphere of ‘quiet discouragement’ 6. Research by the University of Salford into women’s involvement in the information communication technology industry (ICT) in the Northwest coined the phrase ‘chilly workplaces’ to refer to many women’s experience of the male-domination of the industry.7 A review of research into organisation culture across different sectors reveals a range of issues that have a negative effect of achieving and maintaining a significant representation of women in senior roles, covering recruitment and retention; flexible working; long hours culture; stereotypes, assumptions and outdated attitudes; harassment and lack of dignity at work.

3.1 Recruitment and retention Women’s representation in the workforce tapers as they rise through the organisational hierarchy, whether the workforce is predominantly male or female. Women who do not conform to the strict stereotype of a professional woman experience a double or triple penalty in achieving acceptance as a current or future business leader. Research into the leadership paths of black and ethnic minority (BME) teachers by the teachers’ union NASUWT and the University of Manchester found that ‘discrimination on grounds of gender was significantly more prevalent amongst senior leaders’, disproportionately affecting BME women’s progression to leadership roles.8 The union suggests cultural changes to challenge bias in selection and promotion processes, as well as promoting an inclusive profession where BME teachers are acknowledged to make good leaders.

Gendered age discrimination in the information technology industry makes it hard for older women to get contracts; and young women are often seen as less credible than young men.

In addition, women ‘of a certain age’ are perceived as a risk to the employer due to potential pregnancy.9 3 NW Sex and Power report – in process, to be presented to Task Force in April 2010 4 Judith Nicol, Athene Leadership Coaching 5 Equal Opportunities Commission, Moving On Up, 2007 6 Fawcett Society, Realising rights: increasing ethnic minority women’s access to justice, January 2010 7 University of Salford, The Disappearing Women, NW Women in ICT Project Final Report, 2007 8 NASUWT, Supporting the Leadership Aspirations and Careers of Black and Minority Ethnic Teachers, November 2009 9 Interview with Helen Richardson and Angela Tattersall, Information Systems Group, University of Salford, 29 th January 2010, exploring the findings of the university’s two reports, Women in NW Information Technology (2004) and The Disappearing Women: NW ICT Project Final Report (2007)

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Whilst Cranfield University’s FTSE female index10 points out that there are over 2,000 boardready women ‘in the pipeline’, other commentators refer to it as a ‘leaky pipeline’, since many women choose to opt out of what they see as the unreasonable demands of top jobs.

The 2009 Delta report on Women’s Enterprise and SET (science, engineering and technology) refers to findings that success often involves ‘coping with the inherent masculinity of SET rather than challenging it.’ 11 As a result, more women are lost to SET than men (76% of women with SET training are not working in SET sectors compared with 51% of men). A similar pattern exists within ICT, where the attrition rate of women leaving the industry is greater than those entering – a figure that has not changed in recent years.

3.2 Flexible working The availability of options for flexible working that allow senior employees to meet business needs in a variety of ways is both promoted and hotly debated. A meeting of women in the engineering profession employed by AMEC at their Northwest-based energy processing division who were at various stages of their careers12 identified the importance of having a positive ethos to flexibility at work that allowed women to progress professionally within a male-dominated profession.

The view was recently expressed in Director magazine that the shortage of female directors is a symptom of a much bigger question – the nature of the modern corporation.’ The author asserts that ‘working part-time and being at the forefront of your field aren’t incompatible, but most organisational structures, processes and attitudes are designed in such a way to perpetuate the myth’.13 Two contrary views were presented by senior women in the finance sector to the Treasury Select Committee on Women in the City, with Dr Ros Altmann, former investment banker in US and UK asset management companies expressing the view that ‘There is far too much emphasis on the idea that you have to be available 24 hours a day……It is just that the work practices are not organised in that collaborative team manner. Therefore there is this star mentality where only one person can do this particular job which I think it would be healthy to get away from’. In contrast, Nichola Pease, former chief executive of J O Hambro, referred to commercial realities that ‘certain jobs require full time….a lot of travel….unsociable conference calls to cope with global time change’.14

3.3 Long hours culture

10 2009 FTSE female index, Cranfield University School of Management, 2009 11 National Policy Centre for Women’s Enterprise, Women’s Enterprise and SET, Dr Rebecca Harding, Delta Economics, March 2009. Harding refers to UKRC, Researching Cultures in SET, 2008.

12 Task Force focus group 10th March 2010 13 Glass ceiling? Give us all a break, Jane Simms, Director, January 2010

14 Treasury Committee: Inquiry into Women in the City. Uncorrected transcript of the meeting on 14th October 2009. Neither witnesses nor Members have had the opportunity to correct the record. The transcript is not yet an approved formal record of these proceedings.

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We have found overwhelmingly in our investigations that the long hours culture is entrenched amongst senior men and women. However, this should not be confused with ‘presenteeism’. The Task Force recognises that many women put in their ‘long hours’ in a variety of ways – both at the workplace and outside it. Whilst this is also true for men, it is accentuated for mothers- whether in couples or single parents, who predominate in undertaking primary caring responsibilities and are therefore absent from the workplace when others are still there – whether it is during the day, working late, or evening social/networking occasions.

3.4 Stereotypes, assumptions and outdated attitudes including harassment and lack of dignity at work Within industries, there are companies which maintain an outdated stereotype of a thrusting, aggressive ‘corporate leader’, whereas others attempt to promote their organisation as being led by values and as an employer of choice. Within the engineering profession, the group from AMEC identified some defence-based organisations as encapsulating the former model, whilst their own organisation (previously the National Nuclear Corporation) had much more of the latter characteristics.

A workplace culture which undermines women’s dignity at work has direct consequences: women leave, are less likely to perform well because of stress and either leave or are sidelined. Positive action policies and campaigns to attract more women into male dominated industries like engineering and ICT have failed, according to the Salford ICT research, because sufficient action was not taken to tackle organisational culture. Our research has found that only those women who are thick skinned and have strong determination will survive in a male dominated industry.

The women at AMEC valued the demise of traditional attitudes and practices – several described how difficult it had been as a young engineer to be confronted by nude and even pornographic images of women on the shop floor. However, negative connotations and speculation about ‘women of a certain age’ prevail, and should be replaced by support for the dignity of women in making career choices around starting a family.

Finally, there should be no room for the sort of practices reported in the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s Financial Services Inquiry in September 2009, with client networking activities that exclude women (such as a focus on male-dominated sports) or even demean women (such as socialising at lap-dancing clubs or hostess bars).15

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SOLUTIONS

A range of good practice exists within Northwest organisations, and some have been identified by campaigns such as Opportunity Now. In the Northwest, two such exemplar 15 Equality and Human Rights Commission, Financial Services Inquiry, September 2009

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organisations are the Co-operative group and United Utilities, and the Task Force Women’s Leadership Survey is identifying a host of other examples. There is no doubt that further pockets of good practice exist amongst some local authorities, third sector organisations and companies of all sizes. However, these remain ad hoc, and the Task Force may wish to consider a way of giving recognition to such practices in the region through an awards and / or charter scheme. This would enable dissemination of positive learning throughout the Northwest, leading to a raising of standards in female-friendly workplace culture in the region, and a consequent rise in the proportion of women occupying leadership positions.

4.1 Critical mass One thing that has been identified in the literature16 is that the environment for women in senior roles improves once about a third of leaders at that level are female, with the optimal gender mix was about 50% men and 50% women. It is only at this stage that boardroom culture starts to change, and the balance between transactional and transformational leadership changes17. It is at this stage that the meaning of full-time responsibility at senior level can take on a ‘female-friendly’ flavour – whether it is by 4-days per week presence in the office18; managed step-down during maternity leave; changed views of commitment by other senior managers.

4.2 Recognition of women’s leadership skills The Task Force heard from the Wigan-based manufacturing company, C-TEC Ltd 19 about valuing women’s skills as team leaders. Understanding that women often achieve seniorlevel skills through different routes than men, and that many women practice their leadership through exercising soft power rather than hard power 20 (as presented to previous Task Force meetings) would have a transformative effect on recruitment processes. Competency specifications should therefore acknowledge transferability between sectors and acknowledge the spectrum of hard and soft skills which make a modern leader.

4.3 Networking Consideration also needs to be given to women gaining access to networks from which candidates are drawn. Networks of senior women leaders do exist in the Northwest, both informally within a discipline such as human resources directors, and more formally, such as one organised by Deloittes. However, these networks, while valuable and stimulating, do not

16The figure of 30% was quoted in “How many women do boards need?” Harvard Business Review, December 2006; the 50% figure was a finding of “Innovative Business Potential: Men and Women in Teams”, London Business School, 2007.

17 A Woman’s Place is in the Boardroom: The Roadmap, Thomson, Graham and Lloyd, Palgrave Macmillan, 2008 18 Instituted by some professional services organisations in response to the recession 19 Task Force meeting 13th January 2010 20 Athene Integrated Power Model™ , authored byJudith Nicol of Athene Leadership Coaching

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give women access to the networks from which (male) business leaders draw their future senior people.

In order to transform the male-dominated culture of business networks, the Task Force could consider setting a challenge to key Northwest networks to increase their female membership and participation at events. This would include the ‘obvious suspects’ – Institute of Directors, Confederation of British Industry, Chambers of Commerce – and Task Force members will probably have others to add. In addition, specific professional bodies or institutions could be offered the same challenge – Task Force members and contacts have suggested the NW branches of the Institute of Engineering and Technology, and the Royal Colleges of various medical professions for example.

4.4 Different solutions for different women Acknowledgement of the diversity of women, and that differential action may be needed by employers to address the specific development needs of women who are older, from black or minority ethnic communities, with lower educational qualifications or disabled women in order to ensure that their diverse top team does not move from being one-dimensional to two-dimensional For example, the successful approach developed over the last three years by BusinessLink NW has been to make available a variety of routes whereby women can access business support services, with the maxim ‘targeted marketing, same services’.

This multi-faceted approach is vital for girls and young women at the formative stage of looking at career options. Employers, government and parents all have a part to play in creating a public culture that encourages girls and women to do what they have never considered, or have never seen women like them doing. The current national project, Our Choices: New Careers for Muslim women, with regional roadshows showcasing role models of Muslim women in non-traditional roles is a good practical example. The Manchester event was attended by 160 Muslim schoolgirls / college students on 11th March 2010.21

4.5 Visibility Whilst increased visibility is a natural outcome of seniority, there are many ways in which women can be visibly promoted in leadership positions, through speaking at conferences, joining editorial boards of professional journals, and management of professional institutions.

Employers can increase the visibility of talented women by giving high profile assignments; and recognition of women’s skills gained from community leadership is a key demand in recognising the contribution of women from minority ethnic communities22.

21 National Muslim Women’s Advisory Group www.ourchoices.org.uk 22 Different women, different places, Diversity Practice 2007

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Mentoring by senior women within a male dominated industry has been shown to have an impact in helping women to deal with the isolation and frustrations of organisational culture and to develop their resilience and coping strategies. The Task Force may want to recommend extending the scope of existing mentoring schemes, and their impact in the Northwest, such as those run by the UK Resource Centre for women in SET and the Women’s Engineering Society.

Visible women in leadership roles are themselves role models for those who perceive barriers to achieving their own leadership potential. Indeed, the most powerful role models are those who have overcome adversity in order to achieve their present-day success 23. The sort of adversity that was described by the seven role models at the Task Force’s session for young women on International Women’s Day 2010 24 included: leaving school with no qualifications; growing up against the backdrop of the Troubles in Northern Ireland; being the first in the family to go to university; being discouraged by school and careers staff; dealing with the death of a parent; experiencing bullying and harassment; receiving multiple rejections in early job applications.

4.6 Objective standard of good practice In much the same way that Investors in People (IiP) measures an organisation’s people practices, the Institute of Physics has developed its Juno Good Practice Checklist for universities to demonstrate compliance with five principles (broken down to 30 indicators) to support women’s progression in academia. The checklist is based on a similar initiative mounted by the Royal Society of Chemistry. In a similar way, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) awards the Two Ticks symbol to organisations which are positive about employing disabled people, and the Stonewall Equality Index measures the top 100 organisations which are supportive of lesbian, gay and bisexual staff. The Task Force may wish to recommend a checklist approach which awards Northwest organisations ‘positive about women at the top’ status. The main caveat to be aware of here is that this is not just a tick-box exercise, and that organisations both demonstrate real achievement and act as champions to inspire and lead other organisations towards improving their female leadership.

4.7 Awards schemes Two schemes which have a bearing on organisational culture are the Times annual Top 50 organisations where women want to work; and Crains Manchester Best Places to Work, covering small, medium and large enterprises. The Task Force may decide to recommend a combination of the two, which identifies the best places in the NW for women, which could incorporate an element of the objective standard mentioned above.

5 TASK FORCE ACTION Bearing in mind the evidence collated in this report, the Task Force is asked to take a view on the following principles for action: 23 This approach was recommended by a meeting of the government-backed Women and Enterprise Group held on 11th March 2010 discussing The future contribution of women in business and the workplace.

24 Session for 25 young women held at International Women’s Day event, The Monastery, Manchester, 8 th March 2010

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5.1 Targets These have been used, particularly in the public sector, as a mechanism to ‘focus the collective mind’ on increasing diversity at senior levels. For example, Eversheds has set a target for 25% of partners to be female. The argument is that once diversity targets are set as business objectives, change is more likely to be achieved since ‘what gets measured gets done’.

5.2 Boardroom quotas Norway, Spain and France are at varying stages of legislating for female representation on boards. The resulting rapid change can have variable results in business performance, but women have definitely become a significant force in business leadership as a result.

Germany and the Netherlands are considering a softer, voluntary approach, which mirrors the UK position – although there are strong advocates in the UK for quotas. The Task Force is asked to decide whether, based on the current rate of change, it supports a mandatory or voluntary approach to increasing the numbers of women at director level in the Northwest.

5.3 Shared maternity / paternity leave The government is currently consulting on proposals to allow fathers to take a period of extended leave in their child’s first year, once their partner has returned to work from maternity leave. This would begin to equalise responsibility for childcare. The Task Force is asked whether it supports this in principle.

5.4 Elimination of forums that exclude or demean women The Task Force is asked to indicate what level and strength of measures are appropriate in the Northwest to ensure that women are welcome at all senior level events within the business and wider communities. This may include regional initiatives to deal with discrimination, harassment or bullying by an organisation such as ACAS, in partnership with trade unions.

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Specific actions

The Task Force is asked to indicate which of the following specific actions it would recommend for inclusion in the Regional Strategy Action Plan: 6.1 Achieving 50% male / female participation in the energy (including low carbon), advanced manufacturing, digital and media industries, and the knowledge sector; and setting up a mechanism to monitor disaggregated data (gender, race, age) and measure progress towards this during the life of the regional strategy.

6.2 A Charter for Women Leaders which sets the tone for the region, signed by the regional agencies (NWDA, Regional Leaders Board (4NW), Government Office NW, CBI, Institute of Directors, TUC) 8 W+W Culture (March) FINAL

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6.3 A champions scheme which recruits employers25. This could be put in place alongside an awards scheme, and a standard that exemplifies a model organisation (see box below).

6.4 A bank of role models to guide young women and provide access to the NW’s future leaders – investing in growing Northwest leadership over the lifetime of the Regional Strategy 6.5 Challenge selected business networks to develop strategies and targets for more visible female participation 6.6 Public agencies such as NWDA, local authorities, and the NHS to use procurement as a lever to incentivise companies which have the female leaders charter mark or can demonstrate that they have taken action to address male-dominated workplace cultures.

20 characteristics of a model organisation in which women lead and thrive 1. Board members at least 30 percent female; operational management with significant numbers of women at all levels, averaging at least 40% overall.

2. Women from different backgrounds, ages and communities visible at all levels in the organisation 3. A wide variety of working arrangements taken up by men and women at all levels in the organisation, supported by flexible working policies with local managerial power to apply in an individualised manner 4. Emphasis on outputs rather than culture of ‘presenteeism’ and long hours 5. Visible movement between ‘fast lane’ and ‘slow lane’ by both male and female senior managers over a number of years – enabling individuals to ‘power up’ and ‘power down’ their career and level of responsibility as family circumstances change 6. Recruitment of senior women at least matches attrition rates of those leaving the organisation 7. Value given to ‘spending time with the kids’ – for parents of both genders – eg. holidays, school drop-offs, attendance at school assembly or parents evening, shared care of sick children 8. Unequivocal and regular messages from the organisation’s leadership that values and highlights the contribution of women to the organisation’s business objectives, within a wider appraisal of progress towards business objectives 9. High levels of satisfaction recorded from all staff groups evidenced by employee surveys 10. A mentoring scheme that grows future leaders of men and women in equal numbers, with closely focused matching of mentor/mentee pairs to meet the unique development needs of each individual 25Various NW Employers implementing good practice have been identified during research for this paper. In addition, the Task Force’s current Women’s Leadership Survey is amassing a bank of organisations that could be champions to promote female-friendly cultural practices

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11. Clear enforcement of company policies on dignity at work, harassment and bullying 12. Role models within the company of women leaders from different backgrounds and disciplines who have overcome adversity, and who share their experience with younger employees and young people outside the company 13. Social activities do not revolve exclusively around alcohol or male dominated sporting activities 14. A track record of working in partnership with diverse communities and customers 15. Recognition in diversity schemes, awards and “best places to work” surveys 16. Recognition for innovation, creativity and responsiveness to customers from different cultures 17. Staff rewarded for innovation, creativity and capturing new markets 18. Employee diversity monitoring disaggregated by multiple diversity strands integral to HR strategy and reported to senior leaders.

19. Employers of choice for top talent 20. Market leaders in their sector

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