Women and equality magazine

Women Equality CELEBRATING INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

Women SET for a more equal future

In science, engineering & technology

WORKLIFE BALANCE The benefits of flexible working

WOMEN’S ENTERPRISE ATTRACTION & RETENTION

Innovating out of recession

Attracting top female talent

GET ACTIVE GO PUBLIC: Become active in public life and why female representation is so important to this sector. BREAKING THROUGH THE BARRIERS: Britain’s aviation, aerospace and defence sectors offer tremendous career opportunities to women. THE EQUALITY BILL: A fairer future for all

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contents 58

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26 8 Equality Bill Groundbreaking new laws

42 The billion pound challenge Attracting and keeping female talent

16 Breaking down the barriers for women American Express fosters a working environment that encourages different backgrounds, talents and perspectives

46 Get active go public Join a public board and influence decisions that affect everyone’s lives

18 Women SET for a more equal future Science, engineering and technology (SET) for women

50 get on board The Appointments Commission believes that many women have skills and expertise to be a successful board member

26 Women’s Enterprise Innovating out of recession

52 Aviation and aerospace Setting out to attract more women into exciting careers

30 Nomura now Leonie Ryan – one of Nomura’s high performers 32 Inspiring women at Eversheds Ismat Abidi and Mary Anne Roff – two women who have made a difference

58 The world will not end if...

Nikki King OBE, Managing Director, Isuzu Trucks UK

35 Flexible working and business benefits Dr Clare Kelliher and Dr Deirdre Anderson of Cranfield School of Management ask: What helps employers maximise advantage?

64 bowled over A sensational year for England women’s cricket

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Published By: Stella Publishing, 79 College Road, Harrow, HA1 1BD T: 020 3170 7235 F: 020 3170 7236 E: info@stellapublishing.com W: www.stellapublishing.com Publishers: Stefan Taylor, Jim Gethin Sales Director: Marc James Sales: Rebecca Knowles, Kenneth Davis, Chris McDonald Contributors: Erika Watson, Dr. Clare Kelliher, Kate Grussing, Clare Walker, Government Equalities Office, Cabinet Office Head of Production: Lisa Parker Design: Icon Graphics – E: icon.graphics@btinternet.com Disclaimer: Editorial opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of Stella Publishing and the company does not accept responsibility for advertising content. The Publishers cannot accept any responsibility for errors or omissions. All prices are correct at time of going to press and are subject to change. The contents of this magazine are fully protected by copyright and may not be reproduced without written permission.

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THE

Equality BILL

The Equality Bill sets out groundbreaking new laws that will help narrow the gap between rich and poor; require business to report on gender pay; outlaw age discrimination; and will significantly strengthen Britain’s anti-discrimination legislation...

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T

he Bill will simplify the law which, over the last four decades, has become complex and difficult to navigate. Nine major pieces of legislation and around 100 other measures will be replaced by a single Act to make it easier for individuals and employers to understand their legal rights and obligations.

WHO THE EQUALITY BILL WILL BENEFIT omen. By shining a spotlight W on gender pay discrimination, workplace by workplace, so problems can be identified and action taken. ● Older People. By banning age discrimination outside the workplace as well as at work and placing a duty on public bodies to take account of the needs of older as well as younger people.

With the number of people over 85 set to double in the next 20 years, it is essential that older people are not written off because of their age. ● Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Groups. By allowing employers to choose to take positive action to appoint a person from an underrepresented group, provided candidates are equally suitable, and so balance things out if they want to, as well as using procurement and reporting to improve equality. ●

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●

isabled People. The Equality D Bill will, amongst other things, make life fairer for disabled people by protecting people who, for example, care for a disabled child or relative.

It will make explicit that treating a disabled person more favourably than a non-disabled person is not discrimination against the latter. It will deter employers from inappropriate use of pre-recruitment questions about disability/ health. It will give a right to disabled people in residential premises to have disability-

related improvements made, if reasonable. ● Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transsexual People. By placing a duty on public bodies to consider the needs of LGBT people when designing and delivering public services. ● Religionand Belief. By placing a duty on public bodies to consider the needs of people who use their services or works for them, regardless of their religion or belief. ● Business. By streamlining the law, distilling nine pieces of legislation and around 100

other measures will be replaced by a single Act to make it easier for individuals and employers to understand their legal rights and obligations. ● The economy. To sustain our progress towards a strong economic recovery it is imperative that businesses draw on the widest possible talent pool and not be blinkered by prejudice.

WHAT THE EQUALITY BILL WILL DO Socio-economic duty Inequality is not just about your

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The Equality Bill will strengthen our equality law by: ●

I ntroducing a new public sector duty to consider reducing socio-economic inequalities;

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utting a new Equality P Duty on public bodies;

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sing public procurement U to improve equality;

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anning age discrimination B outside the workplace;

gender, race, disability, age, or sexual orientation. It is also about social class – your family background or where you were born.

By the age of six, bright children from poor families are overtaken by less able children from wealthier families.

The Equality Bill will put a new duty on Government Ministers, departments and key public bodies (such as Local Authorities, Primary Care Trusts, Police or Education Authorities) to consider what action they can take to reduce the socio-economic

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I ntroducing gender pay reports for employers with 250 or more employees;

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ffering new mothers O stronger protection when breastfeeding;

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Extending the scope to use positive action;

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anning discrimination in B private clubs; and

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trengthening the powers of S employment tribunals;

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rotecting carers from P discrimination;

trengthening protection S from discrimination for disabled people.

inequality people face when making strategic decisions about spending and services. It would not affect front line decisions about individuals.

For example, poorer people tend to suffer greater ill health, so a Strategic Health Authority may target health advice or smoking cessation services at deprived areas. However a hospital would not for example have to prioritise an operation on a person from a deprived area.

Many public bodies already do this; this duty will mean the others will now have to catch-up.

Inspectorates (such as Audit Commission) will check for compliance.

Gender pay reports Inequality cannot be tackled if it is hidden. The Equality Bill will shine a spotlight on gender pay discrimination, workplace by workplace, so problems can be identified and action taken.

The Bill will contain a power to require reporting on the gender pay gap by employers with 250 or more employees. However the Government has committed not to use this power before 2013 and

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it will only be used if sufficient progress on reporting has not been made. The Equality and Human Rights Commission will monitor progress on reporting within the private sector annually.

Public bodies (such as Local Councils, hospitals and police forces) with more than 150 employees will be required to report on gender pay, as well as other equality data such as number of disabled or Black, Asian and minority ethnic employees. This will allow similar authorities to be compared so we can see where progress has been made and share best practice.

Nearly a quarter of employers ban their staff talking about their wages, with women more likely

to be in the dark about colleagues’ pay than men. The Equality Bill will ban ‘secrecy clauses’ so that work colleagues can compare wages if they want, and challenge employers who unlawfully pay them less.

Banning age discrimination Older people must not be written off or denied access to medical treatment, financial insurance, or other goods and services merely because of their age. It’s important that they play a full role in society and are treated fairly.

The Equality Bill will ban age discrimination against people aged 18 and over outside the workplace, where goods are bought, and services provided, such as in shops, hospitals, and when buying financial products

(it is already banned in the workplace).

Things that are beneficial, such as free bus passes, will still be allowed.

The ban could mean that an older person is offered lifestyle advice after suffering a heart attack, which may currently only be offered to younger people, or that the price an older lady pays for travel insurance is based on actual risk she faces, rather than an arbitrary age-based fixed cost.

Positive action The Equality Bill will allow employers to choose to take positive action to appoint a person from an under-represented group, provided candidates are equally suitable, and so balance things out if they want to.

Evidence shows that people from some groups, for whatever

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reason, do not get the same opportunities as others – despite having similar qualifications.

For example: ● Only three High Court Judges are from an ethnic minority; ● Less than a fifth of University Vice Chancellors are women; ● Less than 12 per cent of board directors in the UK’s top 100 companies are women; and ● Not a single elected Member of Parliament is an Asian woman.

It makes sense for local organisations and public bodies to reflect and so better understand the communities they serve. The most suitable person must still get the job – the merit principle still applies.

Positive action will be entirely optional, and is absolutely not about quotas.

Business benefits of a diverse workforce include increased efficiency and productivity, attracting new business, increased understanding of customers’ needs, and filling skills gaps.

The Equality Bill will allow political parties to continue to use All Women Shortlists to select parliamentary candidates until 2030 - at least another five general elections.

Positive discrimination (employing someone because of a characteristic regardless of merit) will remain illegal.

The CBI, TUC, and the Equality and Human Rights Commission support positive action.

Private members’ clubs Nobody should be treated as a

second class citizen – whether a women, disabled, black or Asian, or gay.

So the Equality Bill will ban private members’ clubs from discriminating against members or their guests, for example a golf club cannot bar a women from playing on certain days, while allowing male members to play whenever they like.

People would be outraged if disabled or Black people were only allowed to play in their local golf club on certain days, so why should women be restricted?

We recognise that there are benefits to clubs with ‘shared

characteristic’ so same-sex clubs, gay associations, clubs for people of a particular religion, etc, will still be allowed.

New equality duty on the public sector Public bodies already have duties to consider how their spending decisions, employment practices, and services they provide affect people according to their race, disability, or gender.

The Equality Bill will replace these with a new streamlined and strengthened Equality Duty, which will be extended to also cover sexual orientation, gender

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commissioning a construction project for a social regeneration scheme could require the contractor to run a positive action programme to train women in under-represented areas such as plumbing or carpentry, or pre-qualification criteria could be stated.

Strengthening employment tribunals Employment Tribunals can currently make recommendations to organisations to improve work practices – but only in relation to the individual who brought a case, who often ends up leaving anyway.

The Equality Bill will allow tribunals to make wider recommendations to firms, which can benefit everybody in the workforce and help prevent similar types of discrimination happening again.

reassignment, age, and religion or belief, so that people get fairer opportunities and better public services.

For example, a town planner might use drop-down kerbs and accessible public toilets for wheelchair users, or the council provide extra park benches in local parks, so that older people can benefit from public spaces as well as younger people.

Procurement Around £220 billion was spent last year by the public

sector on goods and services.

We think it is right that public procurement should be used to support equality as a social policy objective.

The Equality Duty will contain a power to require certain public bodies to think about how to tackle discrimination and promote equality through their purchasing functions.

We will use this purchasing power to help us deliver our public policy objectives of greater equality.

For example, a council

Protecting carers from discrimination It is currently unlawful to discriminate against or harass someone because they are ‘linked to’ or ‘associated with’ a person who is of another sexual orientation, race, or religion or belief (e.g. if an employer discriminates against an employee because she is married to an Asian man that will be unlawful).

The Equality Bill will extend this to age, disability, sex, or gender reassignment (e.g. protecting the carer of a disabled person). An employer could not refuse to promote a member of staff just because he cares for an older relative.

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A ‘brighter future’ for women at npower

RWE npower, a leading integrated UK energy company, take a lead when it comes to promoting opportunities for women in an industry traditionally felt to be male dominated...

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ick Smith, npower’s Head of Diversity & Inclusion, has championed a highly inclusive attitude at the company which now sees them promoting their industry to young people at all stages of education.

Nick comments that “although historically men have dominated engineering businesses we are seeing a small but growing number of talented women joining us on merit and making their mark. We now have several women in very senior positions across npower so women looking to join us can rest assured that, providing they have the ability, there is nothing to prevent them reaching senior levels.”

The ‘npower brighter futures’ programme aims to inspire young people from their first

day at school to their first day at work. A range of activities designed to excite youngsters about STEM subjects and bring to life the ‘world of work’ includes power station tours and npower enthuse days at schools.

Few women study engineering at university and as Nick says “in common with many engineering led companies we need to attract talented engineers from all backgrounds, including women, so it has been gratifying that we have seen an increase in women graduates applying to us. Indeed several have been appointed following our selection process and we are succeeding in explaining that we provide excellent career opportunities.”

A unique feature of npower’s attraction campaign is their annual ‘energy challenge’, a UK wide inter-university competition where teams from leading universities look at how power companies should respond to climate change. With last year’s final at Wembley Stadium this has become a highlight for engineering departments.

Bob Athwal, Head of Graduate Recruitment, confirms “it has been a great success and we have noted with pleasure that many of

Top: Chloe Bevan. Bottom: Dee Nunn

the teams have been extremely diverse. There are talented women out there and we have opportunities for the right ones.”

If you have been inspired by the work RWE npower do to offer a ‘brighter future’ for women please visit our recruitment website brightergraduates.com. We are particularly keen to hear from those who may be interested in either summer or year long internships.

Application details and further information will appear on this site from the 15th March. For other opportunities within the RWE npower business please visit npowerjobs.com

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BREAKING DOWN THE With over 60,000 employees across the globe, 5,500 in the UK, American Express takes great pride in fostering a working environment that encourages different backgrounds, talents and perspectives to thrive. This forms the cornerstone of our business – to become the world’s most respected service brand – and strengthens our bond between our customers and employees.

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very year we celebrate International Women’s Day worldwide using speaker events, development seminars, community projects and communication campaigns that are supported by our Women’s Interest Networks (WIN). Our female representation is strong at 60% across all job roles, and with more than 1 in 3 of our executive leadership roles occupied by a woman. We offer policies that support flexible working, leave for parents and carers and a 24/7 Child-care Helpline, as well as an Employee Assistance Programme, available 365 days a year, that supports those who have children or who care for dependants.

Over a third of women working at American Express have a flexible working arrangement including parttime working, home working, compressed working hours and job shares. The organisation provides enhanced pay for maternity and adoption leave and has achieved a return-to-work rate of over 85%. A recently

re-launched Healthy Living Programme provides lifestyle options and practices supporting changing lifestyle needs.

We are not complacent and have implemented targeted initiatives aimed at breaking down potential barriers for women to progress into leadership roles, especially at mid-senior manager levels and above. Last year, we instigated both global and local projects called ‘Women in the Pipeline & at the Top’. We’ve found that increasing the involvement of our Executive Teams and male employees in identifying solutions for overcoming potential barriers is

achieving a step change in how our organisation can build its reputation as an Employer of Choice.

All of this is underpinned by strong foundations for talent management and leadership development. In 2009, despite the turbulent economic environment, we launched a new global Leadership Insights programme that involves different leaders each month sharing their insights and experiences on behavioural topics such as ‘motivating through change’, and ‘inclusive leadership’.

We firmly believe that this will, in turn, deliver enhanced products and services for our customers.

Our work and our success are being recognised by many of the top external organisations: • • • •

Working Mother Top 100 Working Mother Top Company For Multicultural Women Working Mother Top Company For Female Executives NAFEs Ranked No.3 in the 2009 Sunday Times Top 20 Best Big Companies to Work For • Winner of ‘Special Award for Employee Wellbeing’ in 2008 by The Times Best Companies to Work For • Awarded Silver Standard by Race for Opportunity in 2009 • Recognised as a Top 100 Employer in the Stonewall Equality Index in 2010

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Women set for a more equal future Fifty or so years ago not many young girls would have put ‘engineer’ or ‘scientist’ at the top of their career wish list – if indeed they were even thinking of planning a career. How times have changed, and in the enlightened age in which we now live women – whatever their age – can be whatever they want to be if they have the will and aptitude to succeed... and yet, is that really the case?

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n spite of the fact that many thousands of women choose to study for a science, engineering and technology (SET) focused degree, an estimated 350,000 of women with these degrees are not currently working in SET fields and only 14% of the UK

SET workforce is female. This is surprising given the government’s commitment to support diversity in SET industries.

Tellingly, the UK Resource Centre for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology (UKRC), the government’s lead

organisation working to increase the participation of women in SET industries, predicts that the proportion of women to men in SET employment will not reach 50% in the 21st century if there is no change in current trends.

Few would doubt that SET

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disciplines are vital to the future economic success of the UK, or, as evidenced by the McKinsey Report, that women at board level have a positive effect on business performance. Why then, are there huge skills gaps and, in certain professions such as chemical

engineering, uncertainty as to where the next generation of workers will come from?

THE ISSUES Women need support when they are starting out in SET industries, as they progress in their careers,

and when they return to work after career breaks.

Employers need to fully integrate women as part of their SET workforce, see the potential of their SET employees and be encouraging and flexible.

The UKRC offers support to both women currently working in SET industries and those looking to enter, and to businesses to help them create an environment that includes, rather than excludes women.

Work in SET industries can be inspirational, but women need to be inspired to enter these industries and, with some notable exceptions, there is generally a lack of female role models to inspire and engage other women. Add to that the classic perception that this is a male dominated environment and culture and you have a major issue which needs to be tackled.

It’s especially the case that women who take a break from their SET careers often find it difficult to break back into employment – the lack of flexible or part time work often being a barrier. Clearly this could be a contributing factor to the low figures.

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Charlotte Hatto has recently been supported by the UKRC to return to work. With a physics degree and research experience from the University of Manchester (UMIST), Charlotte had a lot to offer potential employers, yet she had virtually given up hope of ever finding a job to suit her lifestyle or interests.

Looking after her children and living in a rural location had limited Charlotte’s career choices.

Charlotte started teaching physics in a school in Durham, later doing a PGCE through the Open University. She taught mathematics and physics in secondary schools and delivered adult basic skills training but felt that teaching was not for her. Whilst searching for ways to use her physics degree and interest in environmental matters, Charlotte found out about the UKRC’s Open University course: Return to Science, Engineering and Technology (T161).

“I almost didn’t apply,” Charlotte reflected. “The case studies I found of people who had taken the course were so far from my situation. However, after

completing the course, I received one to one support with my CV, mentoring support and I attended networking workshops.”

Charlotte also enrolled on the UKRC Built Environment Returners’ course at Sheffield Hallam University. “This included a work placement which was what I really needed.”

The placement was with North Energy Associates which was conveniently near to Charlotte’s home. “My new colleagues were incredibly welcoming,” says Charlotte.

“North Energy Associates pride themselves on being very flexible. I kept in touch after my work placement and an opportunity arose to undertake lifecycle analysis work which I took up and now work four days a week with them on this and other renewable energy related projects.”

SIGN UP TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE In response to this the UKRC recently launched its SET Fair Standard which recognises good practice in gender equality. The Standard assesses continuous improvement, charts progress and celebrates achievement across a number of criteria including leadership and management; organisational and workplace culture; participation and progression and reputation and social responsibility.

In addition, the UKRC’s CEO Charter was introduced as a visible commitment by organisations – whether a22

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THE BUSINESS CASE A briefing from UKRC earlier this year highlighted that gender equality among directors of FTSE 100 SET companies will not be achieved until 2073.

Now more than ever there is a strong business case for a diverse workforce – there increasing evidence that gender equality can improve productivity and commitment to an organisation, with better retention of staff, improved morale, and reduced absenteeism.

Annette Williams, Director of the UKRC, says: “SET employers need to create modern, flexible working environments for both men and women. More part-time and adaptable positions are needed if the industry is to engage with the qualified women who are not currently working in the field. Our service supports employers who need skilled staff and help talented, highly-qualified women to use their specialist skills and experience.”

Annette adds: “Gender equality values and nurtures talent, builds a diverse workforce and helps build better business performance.

Science, engineering and technology are at the forefront of taking the UK out of recession, and women will play a key role.”

large, medium or small – to implement positive culture change and increase the participation and progression of women in the workplace.

Sony Professionals, the European division of global electronic and media company, Sony Corporation, has recently been announced as the 100th sign up to the Charter, committing to developing gender equality across its workforce.

Naomi Climer, Vice President of Sony Europe, recently signed the Charter on behalf of Sony Professional. She said: “Signing the CEO Charter is an important commitment for us to visibly declare our intention to improve the gender diversity in our company. I’m absolutely convinced that improved diversity and equality of opportunity will have direct business benefits as well as improving the working lives of all our staff. I feel that the support and encouragement offered by the UKRC will help us to achieve our goal.”

Details of the support and advice services available to women working in or interested in a career in SET or employers within the industries can be found through the UKRC:

www.ukrc4setwomen.org or alternatively, through the helpline: 01274 436485. There are tried and tested ways in which set employers can successfully enable women at all career stages to be part of the SET workforce.

In the long run, innovation and economic recovery are likely to depend on the recruitment of skilled, talented and diverse men and women.

The UKRC is the specialist organisation helping this to happen in SET.

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Inclusive culture

at npower Like many companies npower awaited the publication of the proposed Equalities Bill with interest...

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ead of Diversity & Inclusion Nick Smith says “As a company that believes in the benefits of a diverse and inclusive workforce we hoped that the Bill would provide further encouragement to keep these areas at the forefront of our thinking. In many ways it does and it is certainly useful to wrap up the various acts into a single piece of legislation”.

Npower has worked hard to ensure that its 12,500 employees are aware of the importance of Diversity & Inclusion. A statement of principles signed by the CEO and Board is supported by a purpose built online elearning tool, training for line managers and regular internal communications. “We are trying to create a culture where respect for the differences between us all becomes second nature” comments Nick.

The nature of npower’s business means that they will continue to see significant change as they gear up for future challenges. Already they have made great strides and are

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recognised as one of the Times Top 50 companies where women want to work and were shortlisted in the 2009 women of the future corporate category. However they are not complacent as Nick explains, “recognition is very welcome and it might be easy to think ‘we’ve done enough’. That’s not so and as our communities become increasingly diverse we must look beyond obvious differences towards those that are more subtle and therefore harder to manage.

We want our people to be ‘fans’ of npower and to be fully engaged with our plans, aspirations and values. That doesn’t happen overnight and legislation should encourage us and others to tackle such matters in a manner that is right for our organisations. Government needs to acknowledge where companies like us are taking actions to be inclusive in providing opportunities to people from all backgrounds. It is an attitude of mind that the best employers will work towards and will largely be driven by business benefits.”

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Women’s Enterprise:

innovating out of recession Recession is one of the best times to start a business. As the whole country undergoes an immense shake-out, businesses and households have no option but to tighten up and review their suppliers. Business as usual isn’t an option and sharper, smarter new businesses can have opportunities that wouldn’t be available in the normal economic cycle.

By Erika Watson

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omen entrepreneurs have a number of advantages.

Their businesses are more resilient in tough economic times; lower levels of debt are enabling many to retrench while heavily geared competitors go

Deborah Leary, CEO of Forensic Pathways

under. They are more innovative, more likely to be using new technology and introducing new products. And women have greater long-term social or ethical aspirations for their business, which provide strong foundations of brand integrity and strategic focus.

The number of women starting businesses has increased by almost a fifth in the last decade. Well over one million now work for themselves, contributing £130 billion to the UK economy. While still less than half as likely as men to run their own business, women are gradually closing the enterprise gap. This is happening at breakneck speed in rural areas, where women are taking the lead in developing new innovations to fill growing gaps in agricultural incomes.

Women come into their own in times of change. While men’s level of entrenchment and identity in their work can

keep them holding on to old industries until the bitter end; women, who on the whole have lower paid and marginal roles within mainstream industries, are more likely to have the emotional and practical flexibility to innovate when times are toughest. Post recessionary Britain faces a lag of continuing economic turmoil and unemployment: one outcome is sure to be many more entrepreneurial women.

Getting started For many types of business, the practicalities of startingup couldn’t be easier. The UK has one of the lowest levels of business bureaucracy in the world and many businesses can register and begin in just a day. HMRC and Business Link provide helpful information and advice on their websites, information lines and training sessions. And the proliferation of broadband and tumbling price of computers

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and technology mean it’s easier than ever to start as a homebased business, with unlimited aspirations.

Raising finance and maintaining the high levels of self-belief and motivation needed can be much more difficult. You don’t need to be alone: there has been an explosion in business networking, with groups out there to support every kind of need: www.everywoman.com provides links to many.

Just as important is a skilled adviser, coach or mentor. For women this is particularly important: we generally start businesses more gradually, taking time to do thorough research and market testing.

Much business support consists of short-sharp often virtual interventions, but there is also excellent relational business support to be found, providing a trusted professional friend who stays with you while you build a solid business and self-belief.

It’s the kind of support you can be assured of at an approved women’s business centre www. wbcinternational.org and from many enterprise agencies.

Above: Community Filmmaker, Shelly Telly Below: Sarah Steel, founder of the The Old Station Nursery

Going for growth Women’s businesses are just as successful as those run by men, if they make it through the early years. But the drop-out rate is a bit higher, due to a mix of issues which can include lower levels of financing and access

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Kate Elliott, Active Marketing & Design

to procurement opportunities and patchy business support. In many cases it’s simply a positive life-stage change back into employment.

Those women who do establish their businesses have no shortage of ambition and are a generous source of advice about growing and innovating through recession.

Sarah Daniels launched health and Safety consultancy, The RedCat Partnership, 10 years ago. It’s been steadily growing since and Sarah’s advice is to

“develop a strategic board of trusted critical friends to act as a sounding board for major decisions; mine get paid with dinner and wine!”

Community Filmmaker, Shelly Telly has also notched up 10 years in business. “Don’t panic!” she says, “The key thing is pricing and costing your services realistically so that if you have quiet times, you’ve got some reserves to keep you going.

This makes good business sense for your clients too because the quiet times are ones when you

can step back from your business and think about what you do in new ways.” Like Kate Elliott of Active Marketing & Design, Shelly has managed growth by using a network of freelancers.

For Kate “using freelancers and part-time staff gives flexibility and dynamism and creates the impression of growth which is a bridge to further growth.”

Quality is key for Sarah Steel, who started The Old Station Nursery in 2002. Since then the company has grown to 12 awardwinning sites around the UK. Sarah says “During a recession it is important to concentrate on quality and ensure that you are really giving your customer what they need, or someone else certainly will! We have invested more than ever this year in staff training and new resources, to demonstrate to parents that we want to stay at the top of our game”.

Deborah Leary agrees “it is all about people.” Deborah is CEO of Forensic Pathways a leading developer of crime scene products and services. Her advice is to get out there and make it happen: “You have to take massive positive action. You have to demonstrate that there are no barriers only challenges. Spot opportunities and act on them, innovate, diversify, partner, contribute and always do so with integrity”.

Erika Watson is Director of Greenwell Consulting. Her new book ‘Feminomics’ is due out later this year.

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NOMURA NOW “During the last 18 months, Nomura has embarked on an incredible journey. We have worked hard to build our platforms, financial resources and client base. Another crucial part of this growth story has been the development and transformation of our people, culture and values. As a true global investment bank, we are now competing with the best in the market so our approach to Diversity and Inclusion must be world class. We want to build a true meritocracy where bias and barriers do not exist and where all our people can, and do, perform at their best.” Sadeq Sayeed, CEO, EMEA CASE STUDY...

LEONIE RYAN Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer, Liquid Markets EMEA

H

ighly motivated with over 14 years investment banking experience, Leonie, 35, is one of Nomura’s high performers, with successful business and product launches under her belt.

Not only has Leonie progressed in an environment known for its male-dominated attitude but over the past 18 months she has also shaped the new Nomura culture through her involvement with Women In Nomura (W.I.N) – Nomura’s new women’s network.

As Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of Liquid Markets EMEA at Nomura, Leonie’s role consists of business management, planning and strategy definition for a department of approximately 270 people, comprising 12 trading desks.

The acquisition of Lehman Brothers Europe catapulted Nomura into the bulge bracket sector, giving Leonie the opportunity to lead the successful integration for Liquid Markets EMEA, and as proof of her success is now helping do the same in the US. Leonie uses a running analogy to describe working in the City, ‘it’s not a sprint but a marathon – you need to put in the hard work and have resilience and stamina’.

With this attitude, Leonie has led a number of key strategic initiatives at Nomura including the LSE no 1 market share strategy. Through Leonie’s clear direction this is a momentous success, Nomura has held the LSE number 1 ranking for seven consecutive months (July 09

– January 10). Leonie has also recently been appointed to represent Nomura on the board of Source, an ETF issuer.

Leonie’s talent is constantly in demand, evidenced by her involvement in nine of Nomura’s strategy committees, three of which she chairs.

She has also been passionate about inclusion and diversity throughout her career. She sits on the W.I.N Network Steering Committee, a role she sees as exceptionally important.

“Our aim is to spell out clearly that women in business can have a positive effect on the bottom line and that an inclusive and diverse organisation is important not only to Nomura’s people but also to our clients, shareholders and the wider community.”

Leonie is confident she will continue to be challenged and tested at Nomura. “It is an exceptionally exciting time to be working at Nomura as we transform into a truly global investment bank. We all have immense opportunities to achieve and make a real impact on our business.”

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Inspiring women at Eversheds Two women who have made a difference

Ismat Abidi

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n 12th February, the Abu Dhabi office of international law firm Eversheds made a trip to the beach. They took not towels and swimsuits but binbags and spades. Their mission? To spring-clean the sand; clearing away the waste to make a pleasant environment for people and wildlife.

Whilst the Emirate has nurtured a steep rise in wealth and commerciality in the half century since the discovery of oil, it is only since the 2004 incorporation of the Environment Agency that environmental issues have

begun to gain prominence with large corporations. Charitable work is also not widespread , but Ismat Abidi is on a onewoman mission to drive the development of community action through her own passion and dedication. A paralegal who has taken on the new role of CSR manager for the Eversheds office, Ismat has tapped into a group enthusiasm to ‘give something back’.

Her can-do attitude is partly a legacy of a life-changing trip to the Spiti Valley on the IndiaTibet borders. Inspired to take a ‘holiday with a difference’, she and a friend joined a charity building a greenhouse to enable locals to grow vegetables yearround in the harsh Himalayan climate. For Ismat this meant a fortnight of hard manual labour at high altitude without electricity or running water.

For the community, the effects of this one action have been many and long-lasting – chiefly increased self-sufficiency and improved nutrition for this generation and the next.

The trip may have been the catalyst for the development of a whole calendar of CSR

activities at the office, but it has left Ismat a calmer person.

Deeply impressed by the local Buddhist community’s peaceable approach to life and contentment with their minimalistic lifestyle, she says “the trip has benefited me by giving me a different perspective and drive to help others, enhancing aspects of my professional and personal life.

Full support and encouragement from Eversheds has made it easier to combine my personal commitment to charitable work with my developing career.”

Ismat will soon be moving to Eversheds in Manchester in preparation for starting a training contract in September 2010 when she intends to fit in as much pro bono work as possible. Before that she plans to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. The climb will be in support of a local Tanzanian charity, probably related to better provision of education to young women.

Ismat Abidi won’t be there for future beach-cleaning activities. But, thanks to her, the Abu Dhabi office will be.

And next time, they’re taking along their clients.

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At law firm Eversheds, they believe in encouraging all their people to get involved in projects that benefit the communities in which they live and work. As an international law firm, Eversheds has women around the world who are doing amazing things in their communities and inspiring others to follow their lead. Here Ismat Abidi and Mary Anne Roff of Eversheds share their stories...

Mary Anne Roff

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hen Eversheds senior associate Mary Anne Roff heard the prison doors locking behind her, she had the comfort of knowing that they would be unlocked for her at the end of the day. Not so the prisoners at Low Newton women’s prison near Durham.

Combining a market-leading practice in construction and engineering law with a broad spread of community work based both in her own village community and associated with her professional life, Mary Anne still somehow finds time to be a mother to two primary age

children and to sing (for charity) in her office choir.

Mary Anne Roff views legal work and community work as two sides of the same coin. “My professional work is about advising clients and helping them achieve business objectives. Successful businesses benefit the community in which they are based. The skills are the same as those I use in my community work.”

With a group from Business in the Community led by Ken McMeikan, CEO of client Greggs plc, Mary Anne visited the prison in summer 2009 to be challenged and put outside her comfort zone. The group had been invited as part of the ‘Seeing is Believing’ programme to encourage business leaders to view, and hopefully help tackle, pressing social issues.

Women prisoners often suffer from chronically low self-esteem, have low rates of literacy and numeracy, and have been separated from their children. They are at high risk of self-harm. On leaving the prison as ex-offenders, their chance of re-employment is already low; add to that poor self-image and

low skills and the likelihood of recidivism is high.

Along with fellow business leaders, Mary Anne was moved to take action. She identified Eversheds as having the skills and the resources to help these women. As one of the largest international law firms in the world, with a wealth of talented people and substantial training facilities, Eversheds is a repository of transferable skills and knowhow. Since the visit, Mary Anne and the BiTC group have worked closely with the prison to devise a plan of action for the prisoners.

This ‘12-step programme’ entails employees from the different organisations preparing and giving workshops to build up the confidence and skills of prisoners – and of themselves. Each prisoner is given a certificate at the end – positive recognition of her achievements.

“These women often find themselves in prison because of social, environmental and familial circumstances. I am very aware that I’ve been dealt a good hand in life” says MaryAnne – but she has certainly made the most of every card dealt to her.

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ECEN790 Eversheds unlocked ad AW C:Layout 1

26/2/10

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Page 1

The Eversheds Unlocked Award

Inspire us and win £1,000 towards your legal career At Eversheds we focus on unlocking talent, encouraging people from all parts of society to take up a career in the law. However, this can be an expensive route to take.

This special competition is offering £1,000 each to five people who can inspire us with their legal ambitions and explain how the money will help them to achieve their goals.

Open to everyone of any age, using no more than 600 words you simply have to tell us: • why you want a legal career • who or what inspires you • the challenges you face • the time involved, when you intend to start and what actions you have taken already.

Please feel free to include reference to an individual who is able to verify your intentions. If you are under 18 years of age you will need to obtain the permission of your parent or guardian to enter.

The judging panel will consist of: • Bob Heslett, President of The Law Society

• Mary Anne Roff, Eversheds LLP

• Allison Seidlar, Director, Opportunity Now

• Ismat Abidi, Eversheds LLP

• Helen Power, The Times

• Alan Jenkins, Eversheds LLP

The closing date for the Award will be 23:59 GMT on Wednesday 7 April 2010 and the Awards will be announced on www.eversheds.com on Friday 7 May. All entries should be in English and can be e-mailed to internationalwomensday@eversheds.com or posted to International Women’s Day Award, Eversheds LLP, One Wood Street, London EC2V 7WS.

For the terms and conditions which apply to the competition, please visit: www.eversheds.com ©Eversheds LLP 2010. Eversheds LLP is a limited liability partnership.

Flexible working and business benefits

what helps employers maximise advantage?

By Dr Clare Kelliher (a Reader in Work and Organisation) and Dr Deirdre Anderson (a Teaching Fellow) from Cranfield School of Management

O

ver the past decade we have seen significant growth in the number of organisations that offer their employees some degree of choice over how they carry out their work – where they work, when they work and how much they work in comparison to full-time hours.

The most recent Work-Life Balance (2007) survey carried out by the government found that nearly all employees (90%) reported that some form of

flexible working arrangement was available to them.

The so-called ‘right to request’ legislation introduced in 2003 and extended in 2007 and again in 2009 is clearly responsible for part of this growth. However, many employers go beyond their legislative responsibilities and offer flexible working options to all their employees. This would suggest that they have reasons other than simply complying with the law for doing so. a36 Women & Equality 35

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Our research and that carried out elsewhere shows that for some employers it is part of their diversity initiative, designed primarily to support working parents and enable recruitment from a wider talent pool and the retention of valued employees. Others see flexible working as a means to gain more direct business benefits such as improved employee performance and reduced levels of absenteeism; along with higher levels of job satisfaction and commitment to the organisation.

However, when we look at the evidence from research designed to examine these results in a scientific way, the findings are far from unanimous. Whilst there are many studies which have found significant business benefits, there are also those which have failed to find evidence of tangible, measurable benefits and some have even identified

negative consequences, such as dissatisfaction which may be generated amongst colleagues of flexible workers.

These mixed findings lead us to believe that the benefits are by no means automatic and that the context into which flexible working arrangements are introduced may influence the results that are achieved.

Our research at Cranfield School of Management, carried out in conjunction with Working Families, showed that there were a number of factors which were important in determining the extent to which business benefits were realised.

Our in-depth study of seven major organisations found that in many instances flexible working had a positive impact on employees’ performance and that when compared to those who did not have a flexible working arrangement, flexible workers scored more highly on organisational commitment

and in most of the companies, had higher levels of job satisfaction also. However, we did find differences between the organisations we studied and below we have made a number of observations about how benefits are gained.

First, we observed that the existing organisational culture and how changes to working arrangements were viewed was significant. In some workplaces the notion of a ‘traditional working day’ was prevalent and working was, often subtly, equated with presence in the workplace.

Having a well-written policy including a process by which employees can request a change a38

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to their working arrangements was not sufficient to gain real benefits. Employees needed to believe that these options were truly available to them and that their managers would be supportive of their choices. We found instances of where the organisational policy stated that flexible working was open to all, but in reality it was generally seen as something legitimate only for certain groups of employees, typically mothers of young children.

In other organisations however, flexible working was genuinely experienced as being open to all. In these circumstances men were as likely as women to take advantage of flexible working options and those without caring responsibilities were as likely to participate as those with caring responsibilities.

Higher levels of job satisfaction and organisational commitment were present in these cases, since a greater number of

employees believed they had access to the benefit.

Incidentally employees who either also had flexible working arrangements, or believed they were accessible to them, were less likely to be dissatisfied at having to accommodate colleagues who worked flexibly.

Our research showed evidence of employees, grateful for being given a degree of choice over their working arrangements, responding by increasing their levels of effort at work.

We also observed that to help maximise the benefits gained, employers had to think carefully about how they introduced flexible working options and what might be the implications for how employees are managed.

Policies, designed with ‘standard’ working arrangements in mind, are not always suitable for employees with a different working arrangement and might inadvertently disadvantage a flexible worker. The effect of this might be to discourage

employees from opting for a flexible working arrangement, or it might be seen as the ‘price to be paid’ for a degree of choice and as a result would be less likely to inspire the additional effort described above.

We found that few employers provided support to help employees, their managers or their co-workers in the transition to a flexible working arrangement. For example, although some employers provided equipment to facilitate employees working remotely, usually at home, and sometimes made checks in relation to health and safety and security, few provided any induction into different ways of working.

Working at varying times and in other places can be quite a different experience from a typical day in the office. In some cases we found employees took time to adjust to working in a more flexible way and sometimes the uncertainty over how they should work was quite a stressful experience. For example, should a remote worker respond immediately to emails because the sender can’t come and find them?

Managers of staff working remotely and/or at different times may have to adjust the approach they take to managing on a day-to-day basis. In many cases though, organisations have already introduced solutions for teams that are geographically dispersed or work in different zones. Solutions introduced to manage those situations may also be applicable, or at least informative, to support flexible workers.

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a real

achievement D

Sue Jex Head of HR Service Delivery at HSBC

uring her 21-year career with HSBC, Sue Jex has enjoyed a huge range of experiences, development opportunities and achievements.

She joined the finance function as a fully qualified accountant but soon moved into finance in the commercial area, where she gained exposure to other parts of the business such as operations, IT and quality. Her next move was to the marketing function, which gave her the opportunity to work on the global brand launch, and then on to the HR function to work on the global employee brand.

As Head of HR Service Delivery, Sue looks after a team responsible for payroll, quarterly and annual bonus payments, disciplinaries, grievances and absences, and anyone in the business who is internationally mobile, whether it’s out of or into the UK. The team also looks after the people aspects of any sales or purchases of business or function that HSBC make in the UK. This role has presented Sue with her greatest challenge yet.

She explains: “When I took over the team, it had failed an audit and even though it had some great people in there, we lacked the people with the process skills to ensure not only that we were compliant with all the things we needed to be compliant with, but also that we were able to deliver a great service to our customers. It’s taken us about two years to get all the different systems, people and processes sorted, but we’re now at that point and, I think, everybody feels better and we’re providing a better service.”

Sue thinks that HSBC has done a great job in ensuring a 50/50 managerial split between men and women. The next step, she argues, is to get more women into the really senior roles. “Work-life balance is a big challenge, although I do think technology can help. I also think that women can do an even better job of owning their careers and asking for challenges because I know, when I see women around the organisation, they really can deliver on them.”

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The billion pound challenge:

Attracting and keeping female talent

W

hy do so many companies have such underrepresentation of women at senior levels? It is more important today than ever that firms are able to attract and retain their talented professional women.

The demographics support this view. Over 50% of new graduates coming out of the law schools and top universities are women, and firms will greatly reduce the talent pool available to them – and render themselves less competitive – if they are not attractive to such women.

It is a costly waste of education, training and experience if professional women are lost to firms a few years into their careers or choose not to enter them in the first place because they consider them unappealing places to work.

In our work at Sapphire Partners, a London-based

firm specialising in placing senior women in top jobs, it is quite clear that even the most successful firms need to recruit and develop their staff differently in order to attract and retain the best women.

Doing so will help them, not only in relation to their female staff, but also in attracting and retaining younger men and in serving their customers.

In Generation Y, both men and women show signs of rejecting out-of-date working patterns and embracing a workplace with more flexibility and a better work-life balance. Couples increasingly expect to share domestic and professional roles more equally between them. Both men and women want more choice over where they work, when they work and the types of career tracks open to them.

The results of a survey

conducted by Sapphire in 2009 illustrate that accommodating people’s desire for a good work-life balance is not just a female issue. Of 400 senior high-earning professionals surveyed, over 45% of respondents (male and female) considered flexibility to be ‘very important’, improving ‘home life’, ‘health and well-being’ and ‘job satisfaction’. Firms which do not address these trends risk becoming dinosaurs.

Sapphire Partners works with many businesses. Some

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of the more enlightened are very creative in addressing the issue of female recruitment, promotion and retention, exploring a whole raft of initiatives and policies. Some companies and sectors, however, have a tendency to stick with their traditional approach and are then disappointed by their female statistics or by the reaction of employees to their working environment. If a firm’s approach to recruitment and staff development remains static, it will not leverage its

investment in recruiting and training. This failure can in turn hurt the bottom line.

The most successful firms implement a range of initiatives to help recruit, promote and retain women. Being openminded to opportunities for flexible working and women returning to work are both useful tools, although flexibility will not be appropriate for all types of roles (especially full-on client-facing roles).

Flexibility can take many forms – reduced hours, different

(though not necessarily shorter) hours, working from home, longer holidays – and firms need to think through the practicalities creatively and constructively.

Establishing women’s networks and mentoring systems can also be helpful, while approaches to maternity leaves should be reviewed. The recent trend to longer maternity leaves may be family-friendly but it can wreak havoc with a woman’s career trajectory and can be challenging for employers of all sizes to manage. a44 Women & Equality 43

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Career structures are another area that merit examination: in many City professions, career progressions like making partner in a law firm, consultancy or bank, coincide with the time when many women will be thinking of starting a family.

This can unfairly prejudice women and it is important that there are challenging career tracks for such women within the organisation.

Our work with leading companies illustrates the old adage: you get what you measure. It is important for firms serious about their development of women continually to collate and assess accurate data.

BT is one of the best companies at extensively tracking and reporting information on how women are doing at different stages in their careers.

More companies should measure and report on the women in their executive ranks. It is easier to assess most companies’ carbon footprints than their proportion of women executives. Without tracking accurate information, measuring progress becomes that much harder.

Are there other reasons why firms should bother with such initiatives, especially if natural wastage of women actually helps with their pyramid career hierarchy? Yes. Research has highlighted the enormous power of the female consumer in every sector of today’s economy.

Gender balance has been

shown to be an advantage in boardrooms as women have a different, complementary, approach to risk and style of business than men. As Alison Maitland, co-author of Why Women Mean Business, points out, it is not solely about women on boards, but about achieving a mix of perspectives that would help avoid the pitfalls of ‘group think’ – Lehman Brothers might be a salutary lesson on this issue.

There is an inherent advantage in firms reflecting the gender mix of their clients.

In addition, women whose work needs are accommodated sympathetically tend to be grateful and loyal employees, less inclined to look around for alternative career opportunities than their male counterparts – thereby reducing employers’ recruitment and training costs.

Despite some of the statistics, there is cause for optimism. The recession, during which many companies have scaled down their permanent workforce and have been nervous of committing to new full-time permanent hires, has increased awareness of the benefits of flexible working.

Several professional services firms, including KPMG as one of the more proactive, have asked even the most senior staff to work a reduced working week to avoid the need for redundancies. KPMG have found that such a system has in fact worked remarkably well.

Although there is still a gulf between the acknowledgement of the desirability of recruiting, promoting and retaining senior women professionals and the day-to-day reality, real progress is being made and is inevitable.

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Get active

go public Join a public board and have the opportunity to give something back and contribute your expertise to help the community and influence decisions that affect everyone’s lives

O

nly one in eight people have served on a public body, according to new IPSOS MORI research commissioned by the Government Equalities Office and the Cabinet Office, and of these, the majority are men from white backgrounds.

The research also showed that women are less likely to consider applying for a public appointment than men; disabled

people are less likely to feel that the application process is open and fair; and that while those from BAME backgrounds are more likely to be interested in applying in the future, they are less likely to consider putting themselves forward.

Public bodies make decisions that affect our day-to-day lives, but too few women, people from ethnic minorities and disabled people sit on boards.

A campaign led by the Government Equalities Office and the Cabinet Office aims to encourage a more diverse group of people to apply for public appointments. Tough new crossGovernment targets state that by 2011 women must form 50% of new public appointees, disabled people 14%, and people from ethnic minorities 11%. This will help ensure that Public Bodies better reflect the communities they serve.

As at March 2008 women formed 33% of public appointees, disabled people 5%, and people from ethnic minorities 5.7%.

The research supports the

launch of a new Public Appointments Ambassadors network and two new public appointments mentoring programmes. The programmes will support people from diverse backgrounds in applying for public appointments.

Key findings from the research include: omen are less likely than •W men to consider applying for public appointments • Those from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds are less likely to know somebody who has been on a committee or board of a public body • Those from BAME backgrounds are more likely to claim knowledge about public appointments • Those from BAME backgrounds are more likely to be interested in applying in the future

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What are public bodies?

There are over 1,200 public bodies across the UK delivering important and essential public services. This includes large public bodies managed by boards of directors and small, advisory committees made up of lay members, experts and specialists.

Examples of public bodies include: • health authorities, NHS trusts and primary care trusts •n ational museums and galleries, including the British Museum, the Natural History Museum, the Tate and the National Gallery • k ey regulatory bodies such as the Competition Commission, the Environment Agency, the Equalities and Human Rights Commission and the Health and Safety Executive • e xpert, advisory bodies such as the Low Pay Commission, the Committee on Standards in Public Life and the House of Lords Appointments Commission • a number of specialist scientific and technical committees

•P eople with a disability are more likely to feel it is difficult for them to apply for a public appointment • 89% of the public say they have never considered applying for a national public appointment A reception attended by over 180 Public Appointment Ambassadors from across the country was held on January 14th. The Ambassadors spoke at

A public appointment is an appointment to the board of a public body or to a government committee. The three main functions of a board are: • t o provide direction and leadership – this includes setting the organisation’s strategy, agreeing business plans to deliver the strategy and recruiting key staff • t o hold senior staff to account – this includes holding managers to account on how the body is managed, how business plans are delivered and how the budget is spent • t o represent the work and views of the body – this might be to ministers, Parliament, key stakeholders and the wider public A public appointment gives you a chance to: ive something back and contribute your expertise to help the •g community and influence decisions that affect everyone’s lives eet people from all walks of life who also want to make a •m difference • develop your career, gain board experience and boost your skills • return from a career break or maternity leave

Your public needs you!

events held across the country to help demonstrate how serving on the board of a public body can help to enhance professional and life skills while also making a difference and helping to shape the quality of public services.

The event was chaired by Bonnie Greer, playwright and Deputy Chair of the Board of Trustees of the British Museum and speaker Maria Eagle MP, Deputy Minister for Women and Equality said: “We are a Women & Equality 47

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WHO CAN APPLY FOR PUBLIC APPOINTMENTS? The Seven Principles of Public Life: • selflessness • integrity • objectivity • accountability • openness • honesty • leadership People who hold public appointments come from all backgrounds, every walk of life and every part of the UK. You need to show that you have the ability to carry out the role.

The skills and experience needed will vary from post to post but, in general, you will need to show: • commitment to devote the time to prepare and take part in the work of the body • courage to ask questions that no one else has asked or ask why things are being done a certain way • confidence to speak up and express your point of view • common sense to be able to assess the impact of decisions on all sections of the community and bring an independent view to the debate • committee experience to take part and influence the actions and decision-making of a formal board or committee • clear thinking to assess a situation quickly, accurately and even-handedly

diverse nation and our public bodies should reflect that. It’s only by drawing on the talent and experience of people from all backgrounds that we’ll have public boards that make the best decisions.

“Public bodies carry out a wide range of vital activities that affect the lives of people up and down the country, shaping policy and making key decisions. We all stand to benefit from the improved decision making that can come from a wider range of contributions.

“That’s why our Public Appointments Ambassadors programme is so important.

Nearly 200 inspirational

people from a wide range of backgrounds will give potential candidates the advice and support they need to apply for public appointments, and will ensure that the best people from diverse backgrounds know about, and apply for, the opportunities available.”

Peter Cooke, trustee/vicechair of the Independent Living Fund and Public Appointment Ambassador said: “Holding a public appointment is an important part of my life. Not only does it support the growth of my professional and life skills, it also enables me to shape the quality of the public services for me and my community.

“I believe it’s important

that our public boards should reflect the diversity of our society, and I’m proud to take part in this campaign to help educate and support the right people in applying for public appointments.”

For more information on Public Appointments, please visit: www.direct.gov.uk/ publicappointments For the IPSOS MORI research report, please visit: http:// www.equalities.gov.uk/

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Get on board Fewer than 40% of non-executive directors within the NHS are women, and the number of women on boards has declined over the last five years...

T

he Appointments Commission has found that even women with the right skills and experience often do not apply when they feel they cannot fully meet the selection criteria or discount their experience as not being relevant.

But the Appointments Commission believes that many women not only often have the business skills and expertise required to be a successful board member, but that their presence in the board room will enhance the organisation’s ability to reflect and connect with the communities they serve.

That is why the Appointments Commission rejects suggestions that the price for diversity is quality of candidate, and is working to raise the profile of public appointments and help women to put themselves forward. Running workshops with groups of established and emerging talent has identified

some strong candidates for the Commission’s Talent Pool – both men and women, but it is the quality and quantity of highly skilled women coming through the system that the Commission finds particularly exciting.

A recent success story is Julia Bond, appointed to Central London Healthcare. Julia, who rose to Managing Director in the Global Securities Division at Credit Suisse and had a highly successful career in Investment Banking for over 25 years, is also a board member of City Women’s Network and a trustee of Womankind Worldwide.

Julia first met Appointments Commission staff at an Institute of Directors event to promote public appointments and subsequently joined the Commission’s Talent Pool. The Commission notified Julia of relevant vacancies and she applied, was interviewed and appointed in January 2010.

Julia says, “I was amazed at the

number of public appointment opportunities available, and having now been appointed I am excited about having the chance to really shape the healthcare services delivered to my local community” Jan Nottingham, Head of Candidate Development at the Appointments Commission, comments, “A public appointment is a hugely rewarding role in which an individual can use their talents, skills and experience to directly influence a whole range of public services. It is a real opportunity to get involved, and to ‘give something back’.”

To find out more about public appointment opportunities, or the Appointments Commission, visit www.appointments.org.uk

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Aviation and aerospace

sets out to attract more women into exciting careers...

B

ritain’s aviation, aerospace and defence sectors offer tremendous career opportunities to young people, yet too few young women realise that these careers are also open to them. Part of the problem has been the lack of visible female role models to inspire them

– a situation that the recently formed Royal Aeronautical Society’s Women in Aviation and Aerospace group is determined to address.

It is also undeniable that many parents, teachers and careers advisors, whose views help to determine a young

person’s careers aspirations, have little idea of the wide range of job opportunities on offer in aviation and aerospace.

Although many families these days travel abroad on holiday, their main contact is restricted to check-in and cabin crew staff.

Unfortunately, since the

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Above: Rolls-Royce engineer at work (Photo courtesy of Rolls-Royce) Right: Flt Lt Kirsty Moore, RAF Red Arrows Pilot (Photo courtesy of Royal Air Force)

introduction of locked cockpit doors, pilots are no longer visible to the public or able to welcome children into their ‘office’ to see how an aeroplane flies. Engineers working on the design, manufacture or overhaul of aircraft carry out their jobs behind closed doors in sharp

contrast to the better known careers, such as doctor, lawyer, banker and teacher, whose roles are familiar and well understood.

It is therefore not surprising that while women are well represented in what are known as the ‘softer skills’ jobs, they are still very much in

the minority when it comes to the critical jobs in aviation and aerospace – those of pilot, engineer and senior management/director.

Although it is more common than it used to be to hear a female voice announce over the aircraft’s intercom system a54 Women & Equality 53

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Above: British Airways flight crew led by its female captain (Photo courtesy of British Airways) Right: Jenny Body, Airbus UK (Photo courtesy of Airbus UK)

that she is your captain today, women still account for less than 4% of all commercial pilots. The number of women engineers working in aviation and aerospace is no higher.

This situation is almost exactly replicated in the Royal Air Force which, on taking a closer look at the role of women in the service, discovered that, while plenty of women worked for the RAF, the vast majority were employed in roles they could fulfil in any other industry – administrative, marketing, human resources,

communications and PR. Yet when it comes to the two biggest job functions in the RAF – those of pilot and engineer – women are very poorly represented.

As a result, the RAF has been working closely with the UK Resource Centre for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology (UKRC) and with BAE Systems, Britain’s biggest manufacturer, to attract more women into these underrepresented jobs.

The shortage of women in the critical job functions within aviation and aerospace has become a much more important issue in recent years. Leading aerospace companies such as Airbus UK, Rolls-Royce, GE, and Bombardier all have women’s networks within their businesses to

encourage female staff to network and progress their careers in what is still a heavily male-dominated environment. In addition, many aviation and aerospace companies now have specialist staff employed to tackle the issue of diversity.

Although the recession has had a considerable effect on the aviation and aerospace sector in common with many other industries, the future potential for jobs remains strong. For example, Britain’s aerospace and defence sector ranks second in the world behind the United States of America and is acknowledged to be at the cutting edge of technological development in areas such as blended wing bodies, fly-by-wire and optical fibre technology. a56

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Above: Chris Browne, Managing Director of Thomson Airlines Right: Rolls-Royce engineer at work (Photo courtesy of Rolls-Royce)

Being at the cutting edge of world developments is an exciting place to be and helps make the job of an engineer challenging and fulfilling. In addition, the aerospace and defence engineer has to find ways to make tomorrow’s aircraft more fuel efficient with reduced emissions as well as safer, quieter, faster and more cost-efficient in terms of maintenance.

As Airbus engineer Jenny Body says “It is great fun working on really interesting projects. You can feel the positive buzz such work generates.” Jenny, who is Head of Research & Technology Business Development at Airbus UK, adds: “There is still a perception that women and aeroplanes don’t mix so, whenever I get the opportunity, I will give young women the chance of work experience.

They are always amazed when they see at first hand what engineering can do.”

British Airways Chief Executive Willie Walsh describes the aviation industry as a beguiling mixture of heritage and modern fast-developing technological advances.

“We have a great history in the airline industry and our country has been the source of many fantastic developments.

It offers great opportunities for young people who are interested in an industry that moves at a much faster pace than many others,” he says. “It is a truly global industry with BA operating out of hundreds of airports around the world. This must be attractive to people who want to work abroad and experience other cultures.”

The company also boasts that it has almost double the

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176 women pilots employed by the company, BA is well ahead of its rivals when it comes to women flying its aircraft.

However, last year the Royal Aeronautical Society recognised that the industry still needs to do more to persuade young women that aviation and aerospace offers a wealth of interesting career opportunities.

An Advisory Group was set up to look into the situation

national average of female pilots and is continually exploring new ways of advertising its job opportunities to women. With

regarding women working in all job functions and all sectors of the industry, which produced an in-depth report entitled “The Future of Women in Aviation and Aerospace” (http://www. raes.org.uk/cms/uploaded/files/ Women_in_Aviation_and_ Aerospace.pdf).

In response to the report’s recommendations, the Society established the Women in Aviation and Aerospace Committee with the key remit to encourage more young women to consider aviation and aerospace as a worthwhile career. Clare Walker, Chair of the Committee, said a key part of its strategy is to highlight the achievements of women who are breaking through the barriers “It is women such as Chris Browne, Managing Director of Britain’s third biggest airline, Thomson Airlines, Flt Lt Kirsty Moore, the first female Red Arrows pilot and aeronautical engineer Dame Professor Ann Dowling, Head of Engineering at Cambridge University, who demonstrate most clearly what women can achieve in aviation and aerospace. We are confident there will be many more such inspiring role models in the future.”

For more information on careers in Aviation and Aerospace, contact Royal Aeronautical Society’s Careers department on 01252 701062, careers@aerosociety.com or log on to www.aerosociety.com/careers

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I was really thrilled to be asked to contribute a few words to such a fantastic magazine and to join in celebrating International Women’s Day on 8th March. Nikki King OBE, Managing Director, Isuzu Trucks UK

THE WORLD WILL

NOT END IF...

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I

suzu Truck (UK) Ltd is the UK arm of Isuzu Motors – one of the largest truck manufacturers in the World I began the business from a standing start 15 years ago when working for RAC Plc, at the time one of the UKs major motor comglomerates. In 2004, I led the management team in an MBO so now we are an independent private company.

My career is probably a novel in its own right. I was a secretary until the age of 40 when an unexpected divorce necessitated that I began a career that earned enough money to support myself and my children.

The fight to the top of a male dominated (and latterly Japanese) Industry has been exciting, challenging and fun and I would be delighted to share this with you another time.

However, what I would like

to major on today is the need to change predominantly male employers’ mindset on the need for all employees to work in the office from nine to five.

So, please do me a favour and pass on to all my male colleagues who run companies in the UK: The world will not end if employers open their minds, chuck out their chintz and think outside the box At Isuzu, we have a number of initiatives that have definitely not resulted in the end of the world My PA, Hilary, married with two daughters, has worked from home in the school holidays for years. A PC, a desk and a telephone that diverts calls from the office to her home mean that no-one even realises she is talking to them whilst cuddling a Springer spaniel and possibly even stirring the gravy!

The days when she had to sit by my desk taking dictation have long gone. PCs mean we can all do our own letters, leaving PAs to do a much more vital role – running our lives As her children become older, Hilary spends less and less time at home – they don’t need her so much now but, when it was necessary, it worked well and the world didn’t end.

Sue, our Logistics Controller, works in the office until she picks Harriet up from school. Then, Women & Equality 59

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a transfer of calls to her mobile means she is always on hand to answer queries and do her job moving all Isuzu chassis from Southampton Docks to our 65 dealers and finally to customers – and the world hasn’t ended Louise starts work at 7.00am and leaves at 1.30pm to pick up Lewis from her childminder.

It suits us really well as she opens the post and completes many tasks that mean the staff arriving at 9.00am can get

“

“

Interestingly, none of us, I am sure, thought when we left school “I know, I am going to have a career whilst balancing a family life”

straight into the job. There has never, to my knowledge, been a large clap of thunder and a large bolt of lightening hitting our head office in Hatfield Pat and Ann job share.

They meet for a vital hour at lunchtime and cover each other for holidays. We never have to worry when one of them goes sick, the other covers sickness also – still no Armageddon.

A new problem is now starting to emerge. Years ago, women

didn’t work so the care of an elderly relative was automatically taken care of by them.

Our Joan worked full time, took part time work with us whilst her mother waited to go into a home and returned to full time work as soon as her mother was settled. We all chipped in and the world did not end.

The assistant to our marketing director is very highly qualified having previously been an Account Director of Saatchi and

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Saatchi. She chose to stay home to look after Alice and has been working two days a week for us.

However, the job is growing and she is enjoying it immensely so, from next Monday, Sarah will work an additional two days at home as well as the two in the office with no obvious damage to world peace or the environment.

Isuzu has a huge reputation in the industry for customer care. Our customers, large or small, are given a Customer

Liaison Executive who will stay with them through their time in the Isuzu family. These people are so good I can afford the luxury of giving customers my home telephone number.

What no-one realises is that these highly committed and passionate women are married with children and working from home. From a hard nosed perspective, we have no call centre, no large overhead and use their light and heat.

However, the quality of those women is incredibly high as we are tapping into a highly qualified workforce that no-one else seems to want.

And still the world does not end!

Sometimes my people’s children are off school with an illness that doesn’t necessitate

“

“

It is not unusual at Isuzu to see a three year old sitting quietly drawing or reading a book

full time bed rest. They bring them to work – why not? If they misbehave they would be asked not to come again – but they don’t. It is not unusual at Isuzu to see a three year old sitting quietly drawing or reading a book and we all spoil them to death and, still, the world keeps spinning As we all know, the big problem is not small children – it is the teenagers. They are too big to take to grandma or a childminder and they are too big to order about.

Once they reach the age where we can employ them, they are a fantastic source of cover during the holiday period and, as they have know us all since they were small, they fit in really quickly.

Also, Mum or Dad are really

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focussed on making sure they work hard – they don’t want bad performance rubbing off on them.

So, my call to employers is – the world will not end if you become more flexible and you will open up a workforce that is committed, highly professional and so, so grateful.

It really isn’t easy for women who want a career and a family We all chose to have children but needed to work – we have all agonised about being part time mothers – our children have all heaped guilt on us with spades but we generally have happy, well balanced children who have benefited from our experience and our more laid back approach.

Interestingly, none of us, I am sure, thought when we left school “I know, I am going to have a career whilst balancing a family life.”

I am sure we thought “I will get married, have children and live happily ever after.”

Then, life happened. Many of us do not have high flying educational qualifications.

However, we do have highly defined life skills, most of which we learned by running a family: • Negotiation skills • Anger management • Politics • Time management • Budgetting

• • • •

Strategic planning People motivation Disciplinary issues And most importantly, flexibility and pragmatism We have all suffered from the two in the morning slips in confidence: “I can’t do this job.”

“They’re going to find me out.”

“This is a man’s job.”

But, we have proved beyond doubt, we can do it and so can you.

Never let me hear you say “I can’t”. You can do anything in the world you want if you want it badly enough.

And, if we can persuade employers that the world doesn’t end – the sky is the limit.

Nikki King has won the Lifetime Achievement Award at the First Women Awards in London. The First Women awards recognise women who are pioneers in business and individuals who are helping to remove historical barriers.

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Bowled

OVER 2009 was a sensational year for England women’s cricket with the team firmly established as the dominant force in world cricket. Their achievements, including winning two global titles, have led to national and international acclaim and have helped to ensure that the sport is flourishing at every level.

I

n March Charlotte Edwards led her side to an outstanding four wicket victory over New Zealand in the ICC Women’s World Cup final. Three months later, England lifted their second world cup of the year in front of a home crowd at Lord’s to win the ICC Women’s World Twenty20. The team continued their rich vein of form by retaining the Ashes and defeating Australia 4-0 in the NatWest one day series.

In a ground breaking twelve months for the team it was fitting that Claire Taylor was the first women to be honoured as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year. Claire’s commitment to the sport was celebrated later in the year when she was named the ICC Women’s Player of the Year and, along with Charlotte Edwards, was awarded an MBE in recognition of her outstanding dedication to cricket.

The achievements of the team are a combination of years of commitment and hard work but are also testament to the

strong structure that supports players at every level from clubs and schools right through to the international side.

With annual increases in participation over the last two years, 2009 was no exception with an additional 16% in participation. Club development has increased and more clubs now offer Women’s or Girls’ cricket in local communities.

County Cricket Boards have been instrumental in this increase with improvements in providing competition and

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For further information about women’s cricket in your area please contact the relevant ECB Women’s Regional Development Manager.

National Development Lead – Women’s and Girls Cricket Sue Redfern sue.redfern@ecb.co.uk Mobile: 07920 581408

club support for females. This would not be possible without the support of clubs and schools. Through the Cricket Foundation’s Chance to shine programme, eight of the current England Women’s Cricket Team are employed to work alongside others coaches and volunteers to develop pathways for girls.

Volunteers are integral to the success of the women’s game. Encouraging females to get involved in either playing

ECB Women’s Regional Develoment Managers • Midlands (Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire) Laura Newton Laura.newton@ecb.co.uk Mobile: 07771 344736 • South and West (Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Wiltshire) Liam Brown Liam.brown@ecb.co.uk Mobile: 07747 482238

or helping out in clubs is a big priority for the ECB, as is continuing to develop and celebrate a culture where cricket truly is a game for everyone.

YEAR GROWTH OF WOMEN’S CRICKET

ECB.indd 65

Year

Overall Clubs

Girls Section

Womens Section

Both

2009

505

344

298

137

2008

419

265

269

115

2007

327

192

213

78

2003

93

n/a

n/a

n/a

• London and East (Kent, Middlesex, Essex, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Surrey, Sussex) Michael Kay michael.kay@ecb.co.uk Mobile: 07785 722287 • North (Northumberland, Durham, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cheshire, Cumbria) Pauline Peel pauline.peel@ecb.co.uk Mobile: 07799 477759 • Wales Women’s and Girls’ Cricket Officer Sarah Ginn sarah.ginn@ecb.co.uk Mobile: 07977 674832

7/3/10 15:09:34

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