Talent Centric
“I
t’s ok saying we want
more women on boards,
but organisations need to
be conversant about why:
clearly understanding
what greater diversity brings to everyone
in society and business,” says Karen Gill, co-
founder of the everywoman network.
Gill launched everywoman in 1999 to
support women in business and “give them
a voice”, alongside long-term friend Maxine
Benson. She would like to see organisations
being “braver” when it comes to tackling
gender diversity.
“I find it objectionable when people
are closed out of certain environments.
It’s really important that we create more
inclusive places for people to participate in.
If more organisations were bolder, working
collaboratively with other businesses, we
would make faster changes,” she says.
THE GENDER
PROGRESSION GAP
WOMEN
46%
37%
33%
29%
24%
“A third of businesses
around the world have no
women in leadership
positions”
ENTRY
LEVEL
ROSALEEN BLAIR, FOUNDER AND CEO,
ALEXANDER MANN SOLUTIONS
Collaborative leadership
Gill believes that the conversation around
gender diversity has progressed in recent
years, helped in part, by technology which
has enabled greater flexibility. “Women –
who still tend to be the primary care givers
at home – can engage and work more
effectively with technology. And we now
have male CEOs with the same aspirations
for their daughters as their sons. It wasn’t
like that 20 years ago.
“Most men now recognise the value of
collaborative leadership. For example, 10
years ago, when Northern Rock crashed,
where was diversity in that conversation?
Where was the different voice saying ‘we
can’t keep doing this’? That was a tipping
point for us in terms of realising that type
of group-think had to stop.”
But women’s representation at senior
levels remains stagnant. As highlighted
MEN
INSPIRING THE NEXT
GENERATION
19%
MANAGER
SNR
MANAGER/
DIRECTOR
VP
Over the years, Alexander Mann Solutions
has worked hard to create an inclusive
working environment. This has enabled
all our colleagues, women and men, to
succeed personally and professionally, via
our ethos of enhanced flexible working,
maximising access to training and global
work opportunities to support career
aspirations and success.
From a personal perspective, I understand
the responsibility that successful women
have to inspire and engage the next
generation of female business leaders. I am
involved in the not-for-profit social enterprise,
Modern Muse, which is an online platform for
successful women from all backgrounds, and
across a range of sectors to share stories of
their careers for the benefit of girls from the
age of eight.
Each one of us can be a leader within
our own spheres of influence by taking
bold, pragmatic action to accelerate gender
parity. Through purposeful collaboration, we
can help women advance and unleash the
limitless potential offered to economies the
world over. www.modernmuse.org
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
SVP
C-SUITE
MENTOR/SPONSOR other women
entrepreneurs, both internally and
externally in your business
ENCOURAGE women to increase their
network both in work and outside
ENGAGE with men and ‘other agents
of change’ and make them part of the
conversation.
Source: McKinsey 2016
Issue 2 - 2017
29