Inaugural Women in Work Summit 2023: A Look Back

Here is a precis of the days events; if you like the sound of it then please do tune in to watch the session in full on our digital channel where all the incredible talks from the Inaugural WiW Summit are available to watch on download until the end of November. ?Find out more HERE.

Opening session and wake-up call - what does a “successful” career path look like for a woman throughout her life trajectory?

In her rousing introduction to the inaugural Women In Work Summit, journalist, broadcaster and co-founder of Menopause Mandate , Mariella Frostrup underlined the economic benefits of female workers to businesses.

She explained that corporates with more than a quarter of women on their executive committee saw a profit margin of 16% - more than 10 times higher than those with no female board members, according to PwC’s 2023 Women in Work Index .

What’s more, she said, there would be a ￡4.6 trillion gain from increasing the female employment rate across the OECD to match that of Sweden’s.

But at it stands, Mariella said: “By the time a woman's first child is 12 years old, her hourly pay is on average 33% behind a man's. The 'motherhood penalty' makes up 80% of the pay gap. That's direct penalisation - or should that be penis-alisation - for not having the 'right' body parts!”

Ministerial Interview - Labour and Conservative Perspectives on Women in the Workplace: Policies, Pitfalls and Hopes for the Future

This session brought together three senior female politicians: The Rt Hon Caroline Nokes MP MP, Chair of the Women and Equalities Committee, Carolyn Harris MP, Deputy Leader of Welsh Labour and Anneliese Dodds MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Women and Equalities, who discussed how government policy needs to progress, with Dodds declaring: “185,000 women between the ages of 50-64 have left the workplace since the pandemic, so we are clearly not getting this right.”

There was resounding applause for our three female representatives of the house, with a rallying cry from Carolyn Harris MP, who said: “Women have been around for a long time, we are 51% of the population – why should we have to sit back? It’s our responsibility to every generation ahead of us to make sure that we have our voice and we are heard.”

KEYNOTE The Economic Argument: Why supporting women in the workplace is not just morally good, but economically essential

Ian Elliott , UK chief people officer at?PwC , delivered an inspiring talk, calling for employers, as critical stakeholders and drivers of change, to take responsibility to reduce the organisational inequalities that exist, and which are further delaying progress.

As Elliott pointed out: “Young women entering the workplace today will wait 50 to 70 years before the gender pay gap is eroded if change is not accelerated. Research from?PwC's?Women In Work Index showed there would be a $4.6trillion gain from increasing the female employment rate across the OECD to match that of Sweden’s, and to close the gender pay gap, that would increase female earnings at the same time by $2tn across the OECD, which would of course pour back into the economy. Apart from the fact it would be fairer, the impact gender parity would have on all our businesses would be huge.”

Visible Women - Creating High-Profile Female Role Models to Inspire a New Generation of Female Leaders.

The 300-strong auditorium was treated to candid storytelling by Dame Sharon White , outgoing chairman of John Lewis Partnership , who regaled the audience with tales of growing up with a seamstress mother, about her career journey and advice on how we keep women in work.

During the session, steered by Dr Nighat Arif , White shared her top tips, which included finding mentors to sponsor, champion and lift you, and staying focused and determined.

She said: “If flexibility didn’t exist, I’d have given up work 15 years ago,” before going on to outline the progress women have made over the years. White said: “I had my first child at 37 and my second at 40. The change in navigating the world of work as a woman who was a mother was fundamentally different in a way, even as somebody who for years had promoted and worked with lots of women, that I had completely underestimated. It was the first time that my anatomy was starting to define - not necessarily my career choices, but those that others saw for me.”

Interview: How to Improve Health Outcomes for Women and Families in Work AND Reap the Benefits

In this session, Kate Ryder , founder and chief executive of Maven Clinic , which works with employers to deliver personalised and comprehensive support for women and families throughout the journeys of fertility and family-building, pregnancy, parenting, paediatrics and menopause, shared how employee engagement is an essential component of better workplace outcomes.

Ryder encouraged employers to “really listen – whether through the conduit of ERGs, or via employee surveys, to what their employees are saying.”

Questioned by Dr Nighat Arif, Ryder said: “Recent research (That Works for Me, 2023) shows that less than a quarter (24%) of women go back to full-time after having children, and of that 24%, 79% ended up leaving anyway due to not being able to maintain a full-time role, 90% of Maven members return to work following parental leave.”

And as Dr Nighat Arif added: “These are societal issues, not women's issues. It's everybody's issue. As circles, women tend to be constantly put into a square. The time has come to say no. And that's why having conversations like this are vital, so women are never seen as weak or 'a problem' because they’re having a menstrual cycle or menopausal symptoms.”

Debate: Is the Post-Pandemic Shift of Working from Home Full-Time Good for Women?

This was a very lively debate around the pitfalls and upsides of women WFH vs returning to the office, led by Liz Moseley , Managing Director of Good Housekeeping.

It left the audience wanting more, with controversial statements like: “Working from home is a disaster waiting to happen for feminism,” from multi-exit entrepreneur Debbie Wosskow, OBE .

But Christine Armstrong , author of The Mother of All Jobs, argued from the opposite corner: “Covid has given us the most incredible opportunity to reset work, which was designed for the world of the breadwinner model, where Daddy was at work and Mummy was at home. Now we can save ourselves two hours a day travelling, do a really good job, come into the office maybe two or three days a week and do some networking. And actually, this could really work, so what we can’t allow is for the men to do it the way they always did it, and slide back to the 1960s.”

Meanwhile, Michelle Sequeira , senior principal and 美世 ’s UK and Europe Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Consulting Leader, said research shows 40% of men feel connected when they are working remotely with co-workers, compared to only 30% of females. She urged businesses to build the right networks and put in place sponsorship and mentorship to encourage a sense of community for those working from home.

Case Study: How to Embed a Top-Down Culture that Embraces Equity and Leads by Example

As Chief Executive of Channel 4 , Alex Mahon is committed to making work better for women. In this session, she shared how she believes change can be delivered to stop women involuntarily leaving the workforce and to ensure they have the same career progression opportunities as men.

Mahon went from education to implementation to engagement and built a culture of inclusivity. Here’s how she started: “We set really specific targets for diversity, and I set hard targets for the top 100 most highly paid people within the organisation, with the belief that if we could change the people who were the biggest decision makers, that would help change the culture. We went from 34% women in the top 100 to now 53%... So we started off with diversity representation, then we moved to inclusion, making sure people got included in things in the workplace. Now we're trying to move to equity, which is ensuring that everybody has the same opportunity.”

?What can the C-Suite do to Hold the Business (and themselves) to Account

Mark Read , Chief Executive of WPP , explained how openness can create a competitive advantage for business, and how representation of women in advertising can shift consumer attitudes and behaviour.

“Polices are important,” said Read, “but ultimately as the leader of the company, it’s about understanding what’s going on, breaking taboos and being ready to talk about it. I did a menopause seminar a few years ago - as a white British male it wasn’t the most comfortable thing for me to talk about - but it was important for me to understand what women are going through, especially when you hear statistics like one in 10 women are leaving their jobs due to menopause symptoms. This is not a good thing for business. But as well as having policies, we need to make sure we have understanding within the company’s culture.”

Shifting hearts and mindsets: Winning over influential male allies in the workplace by taking a very different approach - C-Level Discussion

Lori Meakin , author of No More Menemies hosted this panel discussion, bringing some leading male allies together on the same platform. Male advocacy was high up the agenda, with speakers Varun Chandra from Hakluyt & Company , Paul Pester from Tandem Bank , and Ryan M. from Zilch.

We heard how supporting women in the workplace is not just morally good, but economically essential, as the panel explored their male C-suite perspectives. They shared some very candid assessments and personal experiences, as well as clear advice on how to cultivate workforces that truly support all genders.

?Why Fatherhood Matters and How Industry Can Support Working Dads

Dad’s rights campaigner Elliott Rae , Founder of the parenting platform MusicFootballFatherhood , delivered an honest and relatable (and very popular) talk calling for men to “parent out loud” at work.

Rae explained that the gender pay gap for women aged 40-plus is three times higher than for women under 40, attributed to time out for maternity and childcare, before going on to describe how a lack of shared parental leave take-up in the UK (estimated at between 2%-8% in 2019) has a major impact on gender equity.

Rae called upon employers to think about how they are supporting all parents, especially since younger men are “increasingly making decisions based on flexibility, and paternity leave.”

The stories he shared resonated deeply with many audience members, who agreed that in order to achieve gender parity, the importance of fatherhood must be included.

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Case study: Translating the facts into a business case

For Ruth Busby OBE ,?People Director from GWR/Network Rail, presenting a rational business case for women’s health policies was not a walk in the park in her male-dominated industry.

We heard how Busby made a powerful, evidence-based business case to senior leaders and decision makers, how she managed resistance and why it is so important to talk in the language of the majority to make a case for the minority.

Busby also showed some powerful examples of employee engagement: colleagues are 55% more likely to be engaged if they feel the organisation cares about their wellbeing, along with the vital reminder that someone’s line manager is as important to their mental health as their spouse.

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Discussion: The Biological Business Case: What we Know About Critical Health Stages - The Latest Research

In this informative session, Professor Dame Lesley Regan DBE, Women's Health Ambassador for England, and Chair of the Wellbeing of Women Charity, and Marissa Thomas , 普华永道 ’s UK Managing Partner, and Chief Operating Officer, discussed the predictability of a female's critical health stages, the need to focus on prevention, and the criticality of workplace support.

Regan highlighted some of the work that Wellbeing of Women have done over the years and the significance of their next campaign “Just a Period”. The campaign shines a spotlight on the millions of women, girls and people who menstruate and suffer with severe period pain, heavy bleeding or irregular cycles that disrupt their lives. Instead of getting the treatment and support they desperately need, they’re often dismissed and told it’s “just a period”.

The talk focused on the idea that no-one suffering from period symptoms should feel that it is taboo at work or damaging their career prospects. Regan said: “if a woman leaves your business aged 45-65 you can replace them with another body. But you can’t replace their wisdom, talent, or their role modelling”.

One Size Does NOT fit all: How to Move Away from Generic Initiatives to Support Diverse and Complex Needs

This session showed that a supported and happy workforce is a productive one. And businesses that acknowledge the complexity of women’s health journeys and life changes are more likely to generate better outcomes. So how can businesses move beyond the generic policies: i.e. one where salaries aren’t cut by 20% for a four-day week; where parental leave is considered beyond standard time lines and where every unique path is considered and respected?

We heard from innovative leaders Amanda Arrowsmith Chartered FCIPD , people and transformation director at the CIPD , and 雅诗兰黛有限公司 Monica Rastogi , Regional Director Inclusion, Diversity and Equity, and Naomi Hands Vice President, Human Resources, UK & Ireland, on how to redesign workplaces for a new generation and how to create personalised initiatives that work for the differing needs of a multi-generational workforce.

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PANEL: What Gets Measured Gets Managed: What Does Success Actually Look Like?

To make faster progress, we need to have a clear idea as to what success looks like, argued the participants in this lively debate. This session explored what different businesses are looking at to gauge success, and featured Helen Normoyle , Women’s Wellness Champion, Pamela Hutchinson OBE , Global Head of Diversity and Inclusion at 彭博资讯 , Deborah B. Williams , Founder & Chief Executive of The Women's Association , and Anna Delaney , People Director at the AA.

Closing Session & Overview

All too quickly, it was time for Mariella Frostrup’s closing summary of the day: “What's clear,” she said, “is that we’re an emerging force calling 'time’s up' on a working world shaped around only 50% of the workforce. There are significant advances being made, and many more to come. At last, there's acknowledgement of our equal contribution to the working world and an overdue realisation that our biology isn't a hindrance, but just a fact to be factored in'.”

Clearly, we have made great progress, but it’s still not enough, especially against the backdrop of a compelling moral and economic case for gender parity.

All employers, and critical stakeholders and drivers of change have the responsibility to do all we can to reduce the organisational inequalities that exist – and which are further-delaying progress.?

The inaugural WiW Summit was an important and powerful opportunity for inspiring thought-provoking debate and addressing key issues.

Together, we must all continue the conversation and drive progress for women in the workplace.

As Mariella said in closing: “We have begun something immense. You are our early pioneers, so let’s make it bigger and better every year, and continue our efforts to cement women’s position in the workplace as the undoubted equals we’ve already proved ourselves to be. We want those career-curves to be the must-have silhouette for every workplace".

All sessions are available to watch in full on our digital channel until the end of November. ?Find out more HERE.