Monthly Memo: March 2023

Monthly Memo: March 2023? ?

Welcome back to Evolution Partners' monthly newsletter, The Bottom Line. With this series, we hope to provide you with insights into the latest news this month, from finance and technology to ESG. We also provide updates on our team and company news.??

We'd love to know your thoughts - get in touch and leave a comment below. Tell us what struck a chord with you this month, and join the conversation.

International Women’s Day 2023 ?

On the 8th of March, we celebrated International Women’s Day and this year’s campaign theme #EmbraceEquity . The theme challenged us to acknowledge that equality is not always enough, and to address the common misconception that equality and equity can be used interchangeably when really it is important that we understand their differences. Equality is when “each individual or group of people is given the same resources or opportunities”, whereas equity emphasises the need to acknowledge each person’s different needs, experiences and circumstances and provide them with the necessary resources and support systems to reach an equal outcome.??

With this in mind, we considered some of these issues in this month’s content, with contributions from our female employees reflecting on their experiences at Evolution Partners. Consultant Emily Capon wrote an insightful Thought Leadership on ‘Why Equality Isn’t Enough’, discussing the continued underrepresentation of women in C-suite positions and how businesses and society should go about adopting equity.? Managing Director in Europe of Financial Times, Carola York , also shared her experiences from her career so far in this month’s episode of Evolutionary Exchanges. She touches on the importance of women having female role models and mentors in the workplace, how to balance motherhood and a career, and what companies need to be doing to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion.?

Shattering the Glass Ceiling: What Comes Next? by Analyst Caitlin York?

This year’s International Women’s Day and our content this month, including our episode of Evolutionary Exchanges with Carola York, led me to consider the experiences of other ambitious women who are successfully breaking through the glass ceiling, and what happens once they do.?

Historically, women have faced persistent headwinds, sticky floors, and glass ceilings from entry-level roles to C-suite positions. However, there has been consistent global growth in the number of women filling leadership positions. In the last five years women have increased their stake in senior leadership globally to 31%. And if we look at the UK’s FTSE Women Leaders Report we can see they have already reached their 40% target for female board members across the FTSE350, three years ahead of the December 2025 target. The same can be seen across other countries including France (44%), Norway (39%), Australia (38%) and Belgium (38%).?

Although these numbers and successes must be celebrated, there is still an ever-present need to continue driving positive change and promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace. Women, especially women from minority ethnic groups, still struggle to gain C-suite jobs in comparison to their male peers, and even once they do, they continue to face persistent challenges.?

Numerous studies have been done on the experiences of women once in leadership positions, but Dr Rumeet Billan’s recent 2023 study The Tallest Poppy has become particularly notable. The study is the first of its kind, involving thousands of working women from over 103 countries, focusing on their experiences of Tall Poppy Syndrome which “occurs when people are attacked, resented, disliked, criticised or cut down because of their achievements and success”. A staggering 87% revealed that they had experienced this phenomenon at work and/or in their personal lives. The study also observed these aggressions became more severe the more accomplished the individual. And even though the majority of those doing the ‘cutting’ were men, it was saddening to see that a considerable number of aggressors were other women. Some participants noted these hostilities drove them to want to achieve more and prove themselves, but the majority mentioned feeling more withdrawn, disengaged and facing a heightened sense of Imposter Syndrome. What Billan’s research emphasises is the continued lack of widespread female support at work, and that even after shattering the glass ceiling, its fallout continues to perpetrate harm.

Though incredibly significant, Billian’s study is one of many and focuses on just a handful of the challenges women face on their journey to the top. Other phenomena, such as the ‘glass cliff’, suggest that not only are women being cut down but set up to fail from the get-go. Based on early-stage research, the ‘glass cliff’ phenomenon suggests women and individuals from minority ethnic groups are more likely to be appointed into leadership positions during a time of crisis. While this can present the opportunity for them to demonstrate their capabilities, often they are being given unsolvable issues, setting them up for failure.??

To combat these, companies should be raising awareness of the issues, publicly applauding female employee successes and adopting zero-tolerance policies. Female mentor programmes have also been proven to be an effective way to support women at work, especially when taking on new senior positions.?

https://www.womenofinfluence.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/tp-whitepaper.pdf ?

https://ftsewomenleaders.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/ftse-women-leaders-review-report-2022-v2.pdf ?

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220204-the-danger-of-the-glass-cliff-for-women-and-people-of-colour ?

4-Day Working Week??

After the initial success of the five-day work week, first introduced by legendary car manufacturer Henry Ford in the 1920s, a four-day work week was proposed in the 1950s but was never widely adopted. Discussions recently reopened as a result of the recent pandemic, encouraging individuals and businesses to rethink the way in which we work and realise that flexibility does not necessarily have to come at the cost of productivity. As an increasing number of companies implement and trial the four-day workweek, preliminary results suggest that it can encourage a better work-life balance, time management and working rhythm, while decreasing stress and burn-out. However, it can also mean tighter deadlines and could cause further disengagement of those who are already feeling disconnected from their work.?

Here at Evolution Partners, our UK Team has been trialling the four-day work week this month. Here are Consultant Emily’s and Analyst Caitlin York ’s thoughts on the trial so far:?

“I have really valued the 4-day work week this month. Having the extra work-free day has made a huge difference to me personally, helping me create a better work-life balance by allowing me to spend more time on my interests outside of work. But I don’t feel that it has impacted the standard of my work or my output in any way. If anything, it has encouraged me to be more productive and come back well-rested and positive on a Monday.” - Caitlin?

“The four-day week experiment has been running all over the UK in recent months, and it’s changing our perception of how we can spend our working days more productively over a shorter time frame. The experiment here at Evolution Partners has yielded hopeful results. While maintaining my productivity levels, and even surpassing my five-day week working capacity, I was able to take Friday to enjoy my interests outside of work, and fully decompress before the next working week. By Monday, I felt well-rested and ready to go! I really see the four-day week becoming a mainstay of business across the world in the near-future.” - Emily?

EP Hellos and Goodbyes?

This month at Evolution Partners, we said goodbye to our wonderful Analyst Harsita Raja . Her contributions and enthusiasm during her six months with us were greatly appreciated. It was an absolute pleasure to have her on board, and we wish her all the best for her future career. Here is what Sita had to say about her time with us:?

“Working for a boutique consulting firm has been invaluable in giving me a true introduction to the industry and giving further insight into how Evolution Partners' unique business model and approach to consulting provides us with an edge, distinguishing us from the rest.?

Spending the duration of my internship with the warm, welcoming team at Evolution Partners has been a true privilege and I could not recommend interning here more for those who are curious about consulting.”?

We are also happy to be welcoming our newest University of Oxford campus ambassador, Aditya Kulkarni . Aditya is a first-year physics undergraduate and an active member of several finance societies at The University of Oxford. We look forward to working with Aditya and hope he finds his time with us to be valuable and enjoyable.?

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