Why We All Need More Women at Every Level in the Talent/Seniority Pipeline

If you were ever in any doubt that women have to work harder, face more obstacles, be smarter, face discrimination etcetera, etcetera in their attempts to progress at work, wonder no more.

Tracey Scholes - Too Short to Work, after 34 years!

I am angry, very angry. I am a five foot three inch tall woman, average height apparently. Yet I frequently have trouble when trying to buy a car because most are designed by men to suit men. Despite 5ft 3 inches being the average height for females we are not catered for. My 6ft 2 inch husband has no such problems.

However, despite my anger and compelling need to inform the car dealers that they need to feedback to manufacturers, and no I won't use a cushion, thank you very much, it has never cost me a job (although lots of male centric car designs do cause women to lose their lives - see Why Women Lack Confidence and my thoughts on 'Invisible Women' from Caroline Criado-Perez).

For Tracey Scholes being two inches shorter than me means she is being forced to leave her bus driving job of over thirty years. New buses have been designed which, surprise, surprise, have not taken anyone of less than average stature into account. (By average I think we mean male).

You can read more on that story here, or if that doesn't work, cut and paste this link.https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jan/09/support-grows-manchester-bus-driver-tracey-scholes-sacked-too-short. It is a perfect example of women's needs not being taken into account. I'm pretty sure no one did this deliberately. No organisation really sets out to discriminate. It comes about through laziness, complacency, lack of knowledge and lack of diversity in the talent pipeline.

Tip of the Iceberg

Tracey's story has become high profile but this type of discrimination goes on, often largely unnoticed even by women themselves, day after day after day.

And it has a cost. Not least that businesses which don't look to their gender balance make less money. They make mistakes, especially in marketing and design. They lose out on a most valuable resource. They train/develop women only to lose them time in their thirties when talented women are forced to make difficult choices re childcare in companies that do not support equality. They then complain that women lack confidence and ambition and that they can't find enough women to have true gender equality int her organisation.

Funnily enough, companies that do embrace true gender equal practices don't have this problem; they find enough women because women want to work for companies that value them.

Develop Your Female Pipeline of Talent

In 2007 I read a survey from the ILM that said one of the reasons women were not in senior positions in significant numbers was that they lacked confidence. It is still on their website and is still pertinent:

With far fewer women than men reaching senior management and leadership positions we set out to explore the hurdles women face along their career path. Our report identifies the factors that contribute to the "glass ceiling" many women managers encounter.

What we found?

Self-confidence

Compared to their male counterparts, women managers tend to lack self-belief and confidence, which leads to a cautious approach to career opportunities. Climbing the career ladder is notoriously competitive, and women’s hesitation in applying for more challenging roles inevitably puts them at a disadvantage.

Ambition

The career ambitions of women managers lag behind those of men. In general, women set their sights lower than men do, and are more likely to limit their ambitions to more junior ranks of management. Fewer women than men expect to reach a general manager or director level by the end of their careers.

?Satisfaction levels

Despite significant differences elsewhere, we found there was no gap in satisfaction between male and female managers. When it comes to management careers, women tend to aim lower and settle for less than male colleagues with the same skills and experience.

Quotas

If legislation is required to address the current imbalance then it may prove divisive, as the majority of men are not in favour of quotas. If organisations want to avoid the imposition of external targets or quotas, they need to act decisively. In order to preclude the need for external regulations, organisations should take the lead voluntarily and set transparent, self-imposed targets for female representation at board and senior executive levels.

Training

Men and women enjoy equal access to training and development, which suggests employers have an opportunity to address gender imbalance by tailoring training to the differing needs of male and female managers. Coaching and mentoring, in particular, offer highly effective ways of addressing women’s lower confidence and ambition, and encouraging them to realise their leadership potential.

Why Do Women Lack Confidence?

We're back to where we came in. If women are continually trying to make their way in a world designed by men to suit men, they are going to feel inadequate. If organisations do not support their women employees into leadership roles they will go elsewhere. The organisational equivalent of a pink Bic pen will not cut the mustard.

That said, yes, I will concede that women often do lack confidence in the world of work. From birth women and girls are subtly and not so subtly being discriminated against (see No More Boys and Girls). This takes its toll. We're all getting brainwashed about women and men can do. Yes, companies need to do better (and for the avoidance of doubt I totally support quotas), but they cannot address all the ills of a sexist society.

Give Your Female Employees a Confidence Boost

However, they can make a start by trying to bolster and empower their female employees. After reading that ILM report I sat down and wrote the RenewYou programme for women. It does not tell women how to behave but it was specifically designed to help women have greater self belief. And, because I am a realist, it was designed to be delivered in one day so that employers would release women to attend. The experience of delivering RenewYou has shown that even one day can be enough to kick start change and encourage women to take advantage of other opportunities. Managers report that they can see a difference (in a positive way). It has run across the world, being used by big organisations like Sky to smaller local authorities, to the NHS, to Universities. It can be delivered personally on line to individuals, in house, or L&D specialists can be trained to deliver it in house.

Just one day, yet it could last a lifetime.