The Multiple
Roles of Women in Family Businesses
27th April 2013 | Shangri-la Hotel | Dubai
Aboutthe Roundtable
Achieving sustainability beyond the founding generation is one of the main challenges for family-owned businesses. Research shows that sustainability depends on a multitude of factors, both on the family and the business side. Women as mothers, sisters, daughters, as well as managers and owners have an important impact in this area, and occupy various roles that deserve more attention
The “Multiple Roles of Women in Family Businesses” roundtable, organised by the Tharawat Family Business Forum, was a brainstorming session to understand the implications and roles that women play in family businesses. What is it like being a woman in a business owning family? What positions, roles does she have? How does she influence the sustainability of wealth creation and family harmony? The speakers addressed these questions based on their personal experiences as family members and professionals and interacted with the audience to understand the various challenges facing women in different areas and situations.
For Tharawat the main purpose of this event was to start a dialogue about the position of women in family businesses and to provide a platform to pursue this topic in the future. An outcome of the event is the foundation of a “Steering Committee” composed of women, who are part of family businesses and who will work with Tharawat to develop more tailored activities and project to enhance our understanding of the topic.
Farida F. El Agamy General Manager Tharawat Family Business Forum
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The Multiple Roles of Women in Family Businesses
Discussion points
Discussion points During the session the participants shared their thoughts and brought forward further thoughts and reflections on the topic:
Fairness and equal opportunity • Fairness on paper (for example in family constitutions or charters) and real fairness are not the same. Families need to work on equal implementation of rules and regulations. • Women might want to perform for the family business, but if they do not get equal education and development opportunities they cannot showcase their talent. • Women should always be present when family protocols and charters are being made. There is a danger the structures are put in place without female participation, which can have important consequences.
Work vs. Home? • (Why) is there still a clash between being a good wife and mother and being an active professional? • A mother who is not fulfilled in her life will not be able to bring positivity to her children and motivate them to contribute to the sustainability of the business. For some women, being professionally active can be one way to be more balanced and hence be able to give more to their children. • It is hard to balance priorities for working women, you constantly have a bad conscience either towards the business or towards the family. • There still is conditioning of girls, that being a good wife and mother is more important than taking active part in the family business. • A need for better understanding that by supporting the family business, women also fulfill their role of caretaking.
Support systems and Education • Women need to encourage diversity and be less judgmental towards each other. • Women amongst each other are not always supportive – there is a lack of solidarity between women in the workplace, which prevents the creation of strong networks and bonds that help in the professional environment. • Women can lack some of the basic skills to help them understand the family business and what is going at the ownership and corporate level. There is a need for very targeted education to teach basic financial literacy and more understanding of wealth management and corporate strategy.
Enterpreneurship • Giving support for family members who want to set up their own ventures varies from family to family.
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The Multiple Roles of Women in Family Businesses
Speakers
The Multiple Roles of Women in the Family Business Mrs. Hana Al Rostamani Head of Strategic Planning, First Gulf Bank, UAE, Director, Al Rostamani Group, UAE
It is a well-known fact that women play a vital role in growth of any economy - and as research shows they are set play an even bigger role in the future. However, as more and more women seek higher education, there are still lots of areas we need to progress in. Currently 22% of women in the MENA are working and represented on boards in family businesses – this is a very low number. Like men, women interact with their environment in multiple ways. Be it as sisters, mothers, daughters, or aunts and cousins the roles and responsibilities vary a lot. Being part of a family business ads another layer to this, as you are born into a system that comes with additional duties and functions. As business-owning families evolve women engage more and more easily with the business side, as well as raise their children to support the sustainability of the business, it is worth roughly analysing two aspects of women’s roles: The direct role of women in family business …
Today, there are more and more women taking executive leadership roles, making decisions, growing and driving the business forward. And yet, there still is a long way to go, as some women do not see career opportunities in the family business or lack the confidence to enter into a perceived “male world”. Of course, being a director or part of the board is not just a position; it is a big responsibility one has to be willing to face. But women should realize that being part of a decision-making system, whilst it is a lot of work, also gives you an opportunity to influence others to drive development forward. To support more women entering decision-making positions, it is important not only to look at board rules and constitutions but to take into account the actual implementation of those rules. With women now being more highly educated, influencing and negotiation are among the skills we naturally have and knowledge of financial matters and wealth management is paramount. Overall, women need to understand that there is a bigger role for them to play. www.tharawat.org
The Multiple Roles of Women in Family Businesses
Speakers
The indirect role of women in family business …
There is very little research addressing women’s “indirect roles” in their family businesses and yet every family business member knows that the silent, invisible impact is there. In many families, women mainly act on the social side, interacting with society and keeping the family involved in the social environment, as well as in the preparation and education of the next generation. It is one of the central roles and a key duty of women to educate and prepare the next generation to take over and sustain the business. However, in order to do this properly, women need a lot of insight and understanding to develop the entrepreneurial drive, discipline and skills of the young generation. Ways in which women have impact in the family business • Guide children and motivate them with the right input for the sake of the family and family business, and at the same time empowering them to do their own thing if they choose to do so. • Continuity and succession planning is very important and it lies very much in the hands of women to avoid conflict and misunderstanding. • Maintenance of values and culture within a family and therefore within a family business is strongly linked to women’s emotional intelligence and multi-tasking approach, which can work on several levels at the same time. • Role in philanthropic activities of the family and steer its role in the community. There have been efforts to better structure this activity to increase efficiency. With globalization philanthropy will only increase in importance, which will allow women to take over more important responsibilities and even turn it into a career within their family business. Women as the pillars of the house and decision makers behind closed doors are an important part of collective decision-making and therefore play a key role for the sustainability of the family business.
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The Multiple Roles of Women in Family Businesses
Speakers
Taking on succession Zeina Tabari Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Drake and Scull, UAE
Succession planning is one of the major turning points for any family business, and the role of women in this important process needs careful examination. Addressing this topic is always difficult, and in certain cultures it can be seen as rather offensive to talk to your elders about succession. However, the first thing a family can do when starting this discussion is to achieve a better understanding of the roles all family members play in the family and in the businesses. Setting up professional structures, such as trusts and family protocols can also help to address the underlying emotional challenges. In families with women, who are not professionally active in the business, it is essential to make sure that they are informed of the developments with regards to ownership and business organization. Family members feeling left out can gain a negative influence on the family and business and threaten the sustainability. Some learning points in relation to family business succession: • In a family with female members an important question is the relationship of the husbands with the family business. This needs to be addressed early on and in detail. • A family charter can be helpful but needs the involvement of all family members. The document should be strong but flexible at the same time. • As we see more and more women on boards now, a development, which the UAE is actively supporting, the question of skills development and education becomes more and more important. Taking part in the decision making process is great, but comes with requirements and responsibilities. With the right attitude from all generations and a lively dialogue, succession planning can actually be a positive experience with a strengthening outcome, both for the family and the business.
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The Multiple Roles of Women in Family Businesses
Speakers
Family Business and Enterpreneurship Najla Al Suhaimi Executive Manager, Al Suhaimi Design, KSA
The assumption that there is a difference between men and women is wrong. In the workplace women should be treated like men, should go through the same experiences to prove themselves in the world. When choosing a career path, however it is important to carefully reflect in which area a person wants to prove him- or herself. As anyone working with their family knows, the family-owned company offers privileges and at the same time it complicates one’s identity and places high demands on your life. Taking a decision between joining the family business or running your own business asks for a detailed reflection about the advantages and disadvantages in both cases. Challenges in working with your family: • Disagreements and emotional complexity between family members • Blurred work-life boundaries • Magnified financial risks and more stress • More commitment required
Challenges in setting up your own business: • Constant responsibility and self motivation • Losing focus and forgetting your goals • Making and following a budget • Facing the danger of taking too much time off • No support system to help focus on the problems at hand
Advantages of working with your family: • Long-term job security and working in a given set up • Helping to generate family wealth and learning more about your family members • Running sizable business portions and escaping the corporate ladder • Diversifying your business skill set • Attractive remuneration packages and appealing environment.
Advantages of setting up your own business: • No firing or laying off and yet flexible working times • Setting your own deadlines • Facing your fears • Having power and control and being able to follow your intuition One option to combine family business and entrepreneurship is to set up a “value creation office” with a system to support family members, who want to start their own venture. www.tharawat.org
The Multiple Roles of Women in Family Businesses
Speakers
Women of the Next Generation: The Woman Tax? Wafa Elnefeidi Manager, Elnefeidi Group, Sudan
In the United States of America, according to a theory called the “black tax”, the African-American population is more likely to be required to work twice as hard to achieve similar success as a Caucasian American with the same skill set. This theory might be applied to our situation as women in business in our region... For example, if a woman in our country wants to start a new business, right away she will face very blatant prejudice of men refusing to deal with women. Despite the fact that many women are empowered by their families, the environment sometimes does not respond to their drive in a positive way. When observing the education of girls and boys, we often see that boys are forbidden to cry, whilst girls should not fight like boys. This can lead to girls feeling that they should never fight for what they want or believe in. The result of these challenges are that women in our society tend to hold themselves back and start accepting the view that they are weaker and vulnerable. At the same time, women who despite this manage to be professionally active still are expected to fulfill their traditional roles as home-makers and caretakers of the family. Another challenge is the freedom of movement of women: In business, networking is a very important way of finding business opportunities and understanding the business environment one operates in. Often the best networking events are attended largely by men, which makes it difficult for women to comfortably join in. A quote from a children’s book talking about a caterpillar trying to make her way to the top says, “how could she risk the only life she knew, when it seemed so unlikely that she could ever be a glorious creature”. With equal education and the possibility to imagine a future for themselves, ultimately all those obstacles will make women only stronger and more determined to contribute actively in their environments - much like the caterpillar, who risked everything to become a beautiful butterfly.
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The Multiple Roles of Women in Family Businesses
Speakers
Women as the Custodians of Family Harmony Noor Sweid Managing Director Strategy, DEPA, UAE
“Family harmony” is a difficult concept, and maybe does not really exist anywhere. However it seems that the role of women in the family is to constantly try and get closer to that harmony, we all hope for. A woman holds things together, is a peace maker, where men charge ahead. Being in the middle, however, is a stressful position and women need to find their own strength before bein able to support others. In family businesses, the pressure might be even higher, as working with family members you are trying to hold together can pull you in different directions. However, whether a woman works in the business or not is not the primary point: It is often observed that strong men and leaders respect and seek their wives input and feedback, as it gives them a more complete view and assessment of a situation. Respecting women for this role, as much as for more visible roles, is essential. However, women should see that if they want to support their family and strive for harmony in the collective, their personal happiness is paramount. Research shows that women, who went to top schools and stopped working when they had children tended to have higher rates of divorce, depression and their children scored lower in school. This means that women, who had the drive to seek high education and then dropped out of the professional world ended up hurting their families and damaging their marriages. Women with unused skill and talent become overbearing mothers and wives and suffocate their families with their well-meant attention. The family business therefore can be a great option for women to be active whilst adapting their work load to their family’s requirements. Being the “glue” that keeps things together is a stressful and demanding job, which is why selfknowledge and -fulfilment of women is paramount to their success.
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The Multiple Roles of Women in Family Businesses
The Challenges
What challenges do women face in relation to family business? The attendees were asked to name some of the main challenges they see facing women in family businesses in the MENA. After much discussion, the table groups came up with the following points:
• Distinction and Boundaries – keeping the boundaries between the family, emotional matters and the business.
• A lack of opportunity to share your thoughts. Due to the fact that you are professionally tied to the people closest to you, the pool of trustworthy people to share things with is small.
• The challenge of acquiring the right skills. • There is a lack of empowerment from family leaders to next generation of family members. • There is a wooden ceiling for women in some families. It is not glass, because in some families it is obvious from the beginning that women cannot obtain executive positions in the family business.
• Freedom of movement of women is often restricted, business trips and networking opportunities are sometimes challenging.
• Finding a good balance with the family business and the spouse.
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The Multiple Roles of Women in Family Businesses
Action Points
Action Points After an intensive session, the participants agreed on the following action points to continue the dialogue started:
• Creation of a Steering Committee “Women in Family Business” under Tharawat Family Business Forum. • Further discussion of the points raised during the session. • Explore how tailored education opportunities can be organized for women in family businesses.
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