Careers Women are beginning to make progess into the boardroom; some more career advice from Hays’ Karen Young; and our book review

Ask PQ’s very own agony aunt Karen Young when you need advice from a real expert. Email your dilemma to graham@pqmagazine.com, and he will pass on the best ones to Karen

THE DILEMMA I’m looking for a new job but haven’t had much luck so far. I keep hearing that LinkedIn is important when looking for new opportunities, but how true is this?

KAREN’S RESPONSE It is true. LinkedIn should be a crucial part of any job search – there are millions of jobs posted on LinkedIn. Here are a couple of tips on how to take your account to the next level. Profile picture: If you haven’t already, upload a picture. It personalises your profile which, in turn, makes it more memorable. Open to work: Another quick win is to let recruiters and employers know that you’re open to new job opportunities. All you need to do is download a green photo frame which sits over your profile picture. You’re more likely to stand out to those who are actively hiring. Pitch yourself: Not enough people use the summary section on their LinkedIn, but it’s like your personal elevator pitch. It is a great place for you to summarise who you are and an opportunity to stand out from others. Skills and experience: Make good use of the experience and skills sections. Highlight your roles and what you were responsible for and include your key strengths and accomplishments. Include relevant education, side projects and volunteering experience.

• Karen Young is a director at Hays. She is passionate about helping people to find the right job, and companies to find the right person

Women making waves

Women hold nearly 40% of board positions at the UK’s biggest firms, well ahead of the original 33% target

Women now hold four in every 10 executive roles at FTSE 100 companies, according to the latest annual FTSE Women Leaders Review.

Women’s board representation stands at 39.1%, up from 36.2% at the start of 2021. The figure 10 years ago was just 12.5%!

However, if you drill down the figures there were still just eight CEOs and 16 women holding the position of chair.

The number of all-male executive committees in the FTSE 350 is down this year to just 16, down from 54 in 2017. Almost half of all FTSE 350 boards now have a woman in either chair, or senior independent roles.

UK business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said rather than mandating gender parity, the government supported the idea that neither gender should be over-represented (more than 60%) nor under-represented (less than 40%) at board and senior leadership level.

KPMG’s chair, Bina Mehta (pictured), said while companies have made great progress towards creating inclusive workplaces where everyone can thrive, the job is far from complete. She explained: “Structural and cultural barriers still exist for women and other historically underrepresented groups. This will require a sharp and deliberate focus on how businesses recruit, retain and progress their people at all levels.”

In brief

Pap Stronger regs needed

Intrusive worker surveillance tech and AI risks “spiralling out of control” without stronger regulation to protect workers, the TUC has warned. Left unchecked, the union body says that these technologies could lead to widespread discrimination, work intensification and unfair treatment. The warning comes as the TUC publishes new polling, conducted by Britain Thinks, which shows 60% of workers believe they have been subject to some form of surveillance and monitoring at their current or most recent job. Three in 10 (28%) agree monitoring and surveillance at work has increased since Covid – and young workers are particularly likely to agree (36% of 18–34 year olds).

Pap Women start it up

A record proportion of start-ups are being created by women, say new figures from the UK government.

The 2022 Rose Review found that for the growth of new female-led businesses is outstripping male-led companies for the first time. Just over 140,000 firms were founded by all-women teams in 2021, and that figure is growing by a third each year. Female-led start ups are particularly strong among those aged 16-25. The review is promising to launch new measures to support and guide female entrepreneurs. This will include expanding networks and mentoring groups, along with a ‘women backing women’ scheme and encouragement for businesses to sign up to the Investing in Women code.

Pap Only in Belgium

Belgians have become the first Europeans entitled to ask for a four-day working week from their private sector employers. The only down side is that they cannot ask for reduced hours at the same time. The onus will be on Belgian employers to provide ‘solid reasons for any refusal’. Unions have not given the move their 100% backing because some of those four days will be 10 hours long.

The PQ Book Club: books you should read

The Great Lockdown: Lessons learned during the pandemic from organizations around the world, by Shivaji Das, Aroop Zutshi and Janesh Janardhanan (Wiley, £21.99) Covid-19 had an unprecedented impact on businesses and daily life. In 2020 alone the equivalent of 255 million fulltime jobs were lost. Industries such as aviation and tourism saw massive declines. Countries, cities and even neighbourhoods imposed strict controls on movement.

Organisations also faced unforeseen challenges as factories shut down, supply chains were disrupted and receivables went unpaid.

This book documents the fortunes of a diverse group of organisations during this tumultuous period – Bangalore International Airport (airport), beCurio (travel) and Tapsi (ridehailing). Also featured are Terumo and Abacus Pharma (healthcare) and SAP (IT).

The authors conclude that organisations with a culture of transparency, openness, innovation and empowerment did much better. They communicated the financial stress to employees frequently and early; explained possible scenarios for pay cuts, furloughs and layoffs; and obtained buy-in for such measures.

The pandemic also taught the importance of rapidly achieving a level of digital maturity. This allowed staff to work remotely and effectively while interacting with their stakeholders. PQ rating: 4/5 This book proves that those with leadership, innovation and digitalization will be the ones that succeed no matter what.