‘Lack of ambition’ deters women

Kate Craig-Wood is uniquelyqualified to offer an explana-tion for the shortage ofwomen in senior manage-

ment roles – and it is a typically out-spoken one.

“It’s perhaps not very politicallycorrect to say this, but I think it’spartly down to a lack of ambition.From my own personal experience ofhaving lived with testosterone andthen without it, it definitely changesyou,” she says.

Controversial, yes – but her insightinto the most fundamental gender dif-ference carries weight, because Katewas once Robert.

Ms Craig-Wood is managing directorof Memset, a web and IT hosting solu-tions provider based in Guildford, Sur-rey, a company she founded in 2002with her brother Nick, its technicaldirector.

At that time, Ms Craig-Wood wasMr Craig-Wood, a woman in a man’sbody, brought up to be a boy – and fortwo years a husband – but mentallyand emotionally, always feminine.

Following a gruelling process of gen-der transition, completed in 2006, sheis able to see business leadership andthe workplace very differently.

She now believes the gender imbal-ance at the top of the business worldcan partly be explained by naturaldifferences between the sexes: “It’s agross over-generalisation, but womencare about being collective, whereasmen tend to care for themselves.

“So if women believe they’re doingthe right thing by keeping their headdown and supporting a group, thenthey’re perhaps less motivated topush themselves forward. Women alsotend to undervalue themselves andthat is a very big barrier.”

Her experience, along with her MScin biomedical science, lead her toattribute these characteristics – atleast in part – to nature, rather thannurture: “I say look at the hormones.”

She backs this up by revealing howshe has changed since her operation:“It sounds terribly clichéd, but myperspective on the company and thepeople has changed. I used not reallyto be a people person, whereas nowone of my most satisfying moments isbeing the last person in the office onFriday night and just wanderingaround and looking at all those desksand thinking about the people. It’salmost a maternal pride.

“In the past, I would be much morefocused on how I was going to makethis all work for me. Now, it’s abouthow am I going to make this work forall of us together.”

Her focus on the natural does notexclude consideration of societalexplanations, however, and Ms Craig-Wood has clear views on howupbringing shapes the sexes’ relation-ship with leadership.

“Compared to most women, I wasbrought up to have a lot of confi-dence. Running and growing my ownbusiness, that’s been important,because when I make a decision, Iinstil confidence in my team so theyfeel ready to follow me. But a lot ofthat is now down to track record aswell.

“I surprise myself at how rapidly Iclimbed to modest celebrity withinthe IT sphere – but I think it came notfrom me being aggressive, but mebeing outspoken and having faith thatI have something to contribute.

“I think having an opinion andsticking to it and believing it andsharing it is something that doesn’tnecessarily come naturally to women.But we should encourage it. I like tothink that organisations would valuethat trait and I think that’s wherethings like coaching come in.”

As we shift to discussing the “nur-ture” side of the equation, I ask whygirls do not develop the same sort ofconfidence as boys.

“I can’t speak for everyone, butlooking at my childhood, compared tomy sister’s childhood, I don’t think itwas so much a matter of confidencebeing instilled in me – although therewas an element of that – but of fearbeing instilled in her.

“Dad was the archetypal parent,believing there was a murderer andrapist round every corner and so mysister was a frightened little girl,whereas I was taught to look at theworld through analytical eyes andunderstand it. So when I was fright-ened by thunder, dad would explain tome what was going on, whereas thatdidn’t seem to happen with my sisterand she was allowed to be afraid.

“So I would say it was more aboutoverprotecting. I’m sure Dad came atit from a caring place, but you stillsee it – society tends to over-protectwomen. I don’t think there’s anymalign intent on the part of the malehalf of the species. I think it’s aninstinct, but it has unfortunate ramifi-cations.”

Is it possible to overcome this pro-tectiveness?

“I think it’s absolutely possible,” MsCraig-Wood says. “I would advocateteaching parents. Boys and girls arebeing socialised differently – it’snobody’s fault – but there is some-thing you can do about it.”

I first interviewed Ms Craig-Wood in2008, when her company employed 12people. It is now 30-strong and grow-ing, but faces the same problem todayas it did then – a lack of girls inter-ested in working in IT.

“A few years ago we started seeinggirls coming out of programmingcourses and there were some excellentcandidates, but we’re seeing that dieoff,” she says. She advises girls whowant to earn £30,000 within two yearsof leaving university to learn Pythonprogramming, as the demand forwomen in IT is huge.

They are put off partly by the typi-cally male IT environment, whichapplies to Memset, too. Ms Craig-Wood explains: “Although we have anenvironment on the technical teamwhich would suit women, at themoment it is entirely guys and I mor-ally struggle with that first girl join-ing. It could be difficult.”

They are all talking about footballand swearing a lot?

“Yes. And I’ve seen it at leadershiplevel, which is even more damaging.I’ve even seen myself doing it. In theearly days when I was the only femalein the office, I became a lot morecrude and had to develop interests inthings that didn’t interest me just so Icould talk to them.

“I’ve spoken to many other womenin technology who have basically

Peter Whitehead asks anIT boss for her explanationof why there is a shortageof female business leaders

www.exec-appointments.com

APPOINTMENTSEXECUTIVE

FINANCIAL TIMES Thursday February 21 2013

Continued on Page 2

‘As the only female in theoffice, I became morecrude and had to developinterests in things thatdidn’t interest me’

Kate Craig-Wood: ‘Society tends toover-protect women. It’s an instinct,but it has unfortunate effects’ Daniel Jones

Women and theWorkplaceBoardroom progress; a‘me-me-me’ culture;body language; and theimportance of networksSpecial focus, Pages 5-8

Singers take theopposite paths

One followed his passionfrom finance to music;economics forced theother back to the officePage 3

Inside this issue

‘How should I deal withall these requests forreduced working hours?’Page 2

Your questions

‘Diversity cannotbe left to chance’Head to head A guestcolumnist explains whysome employers attracta particular genderPage 3

@FTCareerMgmt on Twitterwww.ft.com/recruit

2 ★ FINANCIAL TIMES THURSDAY FEBRUARY 21 2013

Executive Appointments

Senior staff make thecase for portfolio careers

My HR department is receiving agrowing number of requests fromquite senior staff to cut down ontheir hours so they can devote moretime to other interests outside work– and in some cases, fledglingbusinesses. They argue thatpursuing their “portfolio” careerswill help improve their skills andbenefit the business, and I’m of themind that it’s important to taketheir requests seriously for retentionpurposes. But what are the legal andpractical implications and how doesit work in practice?

Simon Harper, co-founder ofLawyers On Demand, a legalresourcing business that offersportfolio careers for lawyers, says:

First, congratulations on yourforesight. While at first it mightseem counter-intuitive to allowemployees to explore otherbusinesses and interests, you areright in recognising the long-termbenefits to your own business.

Studies show that autonomyconsistently tops the list of traitsmost valued by employees, and is amain driver for initiating andsustaining portfolio careers. It has

also been found that workers whobelieve they are free to make choicesin the workplace – and beaccountable for their decisions – arehappier and more productive. Thesesame workers also seem willing tomake a financial sacrifice in theprocess.

You rightly state that staffretention is a consideration, butthink, too, about staff loyalty. Seniormanagers who are given moreautonomy are much more likely tobecome staunch evangelists for yourbrand (and might also be more likelyto attract other talent because oftheir enthusiasm for your business).In addition, when budgets are tightfor salaries, the offer of flexibilitycan be an equally effective lure fornew and existing employees.

On a practical level, it is vital thatexpectations on both sides are set upfront – agree on the time yourmanagers will dedicate to yourbusiness and clearly state that theymust not be diluted with otherprojects. Agree a trial period so thatboth sides can review progress, andaddress any problems as soon asthey arise – there are bound to bebumps in the road.

Finally, try to monitor outputwhere possible. You might well findthat your managers are asproductive despite their reduced

hours, because of their increasedmotivation and energy. This willhelp you establish a business casefor any further requests.

Rob Eldridge, employment partnerat Berwin Leighton Paisner, says:

There are a few issues that mightarise as a result of thesearrangements, none of which isnecessarily prohibitive, but youshould bear them in mind whenconsidering requests.

There are two ways in which legalobligations might be introduced tothis situation. First, there areimplied duties in every contract ofemployment, one of which is theduty of fidelity.

This includes employees’ duties notto put themselves in positions wheretheir interests conflict with those oftheir employer, duties not to act fortheir own benefit or those of thirdparties without their employer’sinformed consent, and a duty not tocompete with their employer.

Second, as senior employees, itmay well be that there are expressduties in their contracts coveringthese and similar areas.

Obtain more information aboutthese staff members’ other businessinterests – if it is a completelyseparate area from your organisationthen that won’t raise a conflict of

interest but if senior staff memberspursue portfolio careers in similarsectors to their main jobs, that couldhave the potential to becomecompetition for your business furtherdown the line.

It would be sensible to obtaininformation from the individualsabout the nature and extent of theseother businesses before givingconsent for their involvement. In anyevent, this would be a usefulopportunity to remind them of theirduties.

Unlike requests made under theFlexible Working Regulations, in thissituation you do not have a duty toconsider these requests reasonably oreven at all. However, as youmention, there may be commercialreasons that make it sensible for youto do so.

Email your career managementquestions to: recruitment@ft.com

More time for extracurricular work

Your Questions AnsweredGILL PLIMMER

‘Lack of ambition’

made themselves more ‘masculine’.But I took a stand against this. I wokeup one morning and thought, I’vespent all this effort on becoming mydream, becoming feminine and here Iam trying to tone it down. What onearth am I doing?

“We’ve finally got to a point wherewe do have a decent number ofwomen in the office – it’s just a shameit’s so polarised between administra-tion and sales versus developmentand operations.”

Are you seeing any signs of changeand progress?

“Unfortunately I have to say no.Our sales team is predominantlyfemale, young and pretty. We’ve beendoing more conferences lately and Ihave had some horrific reports backof gross sexism.

“Even the career trajectories of myfemale contacts in the IT world whoI’ve known for years don’t seem to bedoing terribly well – and time andagain I find myself in a tiny minoritybe it at a board meeting or a confer-ence.”

Ms Craig-Wood is the only womanon Memset’s board. She and herbrother each own a 45 per cent share-holding, with the remaining 10 percent divided between four familybackers. But she hopes a female com-pany secretary, who originally joinedas a personal assistant, will join theboard.

Where does Ms Craig-Wood stand ongender quotas for the boardroom?

“It’s a tricky one. On one hand, I

think it would end up with womenbeing thrust into positions whoweren’t ready.

“But then that’s how I learned. Andtake the lady at my business. Shewould be terrified if I said, ‘right,you’re going to be a director’. But Ithink she could do it. We’re held backby fear more than anything

“So in the absence of a better planthat will work quickly enough, I thinka bit of a kick up the backside mightbe what’s needed. There are plenty ofways to do it so that people didn’timmediately come in making rashdecisions – such as starting the quotaquite small and gradually increasingit.

“And you could have a boardapprenticeship, so someone is a silentmember for the first two or threeboard meetings and then starts get-ting involved in the decision-making abit more.

“When you take the idea of womennot being taught to be as extrovertand confident and outspoken as malecounterparts and then factor in thatthey will be in a minority, the pros-pect of joining an established seniorboard as perhaps the sole womanwould be absolutely terrifying. Whichis why I think we need that littlehelping hand of a quota system.”

Any career advice to others?“Don’t be afraid, have a go. Have

faith in yourself that even if it goeswrong, you can probably fix it. I thinktoo many people are held back by thewhat-if?

“But I’d adapt it for men – don’t beafraid of being yourself.”

Continued from Page 1

FINANCIAL TIMES THURSDAY FEBRUARY 21 2013 ★ 3

‘Attractive employers don’t leave diversity to chance’

Claudia Tattanelli chairs theStrategic Board at Universum, anemployer branding consultant.

Do male and female students seekthe same employers?

Our research with students showssome employers and sectors attractone gender more than the other, butattributes such as innovation andinternational opportunities areimportant for both genders. Thereare also regional differences.

What are the main differences?Female students more often choose

companies in the fast-movingconsumer goods sector. What is evenmore interesting is that femaleengineers, although not stronglyattracted to the FMCG industryitself, still choose companies in thesector as their ideal employers asthey find them to be inclusive anddiverse. In our latest Europeanranking, based on the preferences ofmore than 85,000 career seekers,L’Oreal was ranked top by femalebusiness students and at 27 bymales. Female engineering studentsranked Nestlé second while maleengineers rated it 28th. Investmentbanking, on the other hand, attractsmany more males: Goldman Sachsand JP Morgan were ranked six andseven by male business students and

21 and 19 respectively by females.

What does each gender value?Women are looking for employers

that support gender equality, haveflexible working conditions and highethical standards. Men focus oncompanies offering high levels ofresponsibility, leadershipopportunities and only recruit thebest talent. When we ask thestudents how they perceive banksthe gender gap is obvious: femaleschoose words such as competitiveand aggressive, while males tend toassociate banks with prestige andmoney. We also see a big gap insalary expectations, with femalestudents almost always predicting alower starting salary.

Why are there differences?There are several reasons. A

company such as L’Oreal, forexample, invests in products andmarketing targeted at women and isperceived as having a diverse andinclusive workforce. The companyalso has several women in topmanagement position and retainsthem – and it takes this message tocampuses. On the other hand,investment banks are associated withtraditionally male characteristics:long hours and testosterone. Thestudents pick employers that arewell-known to them and makeproducts they like. They want towork in companies where they wouldbe welcomed and that arerecommended by their friends.

Is advancement an attraction?Men do more often get “hot jobs”

than women – these are jobs withthe most impact and might includelarge and visible projects, mission-critical roles and internationalassignments. Women are more oftennominated for mentoringprogrammes and spend more time indevelopment programmes withoutseeing an impact on their careers.

Women need experience in hot jobsbecause most career developmenthappens on the job. There is also agap in global experience. Evenamong the women and men mostwilling to relocate, more men weregiven international assignments andmore women were never asked. Inthe long run this provides fewer top

management positions and lowersalaries for women.

Should differences be overcome?And if so, how?

Differentiation is a big concern foremployers because organisationsneed a diverse workforce to beinnovative and dynamic. Manytechnology companies, for example,have problems attracting women andare working hard on this – althoughGoogle, the world’s most attractiveemployer in our ranking, is a goodexample of a company that has beengood at attracting a diverse range. Indriving change, smart companiesallocate hot jobs in deliberate andstrategic ways to advance women.They do not leave it to chance.

Executive Appointments

Secret CVAny mentors?

In Toronto, Yezdi Pavri, the Deloittepartner who I could always trust forthe right advice.

Your first big breakWorking with American bass Daniel

Lewis Williams of the BayerischeStaatsoper – he told me if I didn’tsing it would be a sin.

Best career advice to othersDon’t sell yourself short.

Head to headCLAUDIA TATTANELLI

Love of money gives way topassion for music and singing

It took 40 years for David JohnPike to recognise that what hereally wanted to do was sing fora living. But it has taken the

Canadian-born baritone less than sixyears to establish a reputation as anoperatic and concert soloist, release aCD, and be picked by British Airwaysto reach an audience of millions viaits in-flight entertainment.

Whither Must I Wander, a compila-tion of English songs on CD broughtout by independent classical recordlabel Signum Classics in early Decem-ber, includes Ralph Vaughan Wil-liams’ “Songs of Travel”, potentially afitting theme tune to Mr Pike’s careerodyssey.

Since he walked away from his full-time life as a Deloitte partner in 2007,after having worked in three of the“big four” accountancy firms, he hasspent a lot of time travelling andbuilding a network of contacts,coaches and “big names” in the musi-cal sphere.

In December, Mr Pike was in Lon-don en route from his Luxembourghome to Florida to work with SherrillMilne, the American baritone, in prep-aration for a debut performance withPacific Opera Victoria in Canada asScarpia in Puccini’s Tosca.

From there, it was on to his child-hood home in Kingston, Ontario,where he once sang in school andchurch choirs, inspired by a motherwho was a singer, a choir director anda teacher. No journey has a sole pur-pose: the Canada trip included a

chance for further auditions, inter-views and a showcase performance fora publicist.

His itinerary is filling up, with per-formances at Guildford cathedral inthe UK in February, Germany inMarch, back to Canada in April/Mayand Luxembourg in June, as his“singing CV” grows.

It is a far cry from his other CV,which describes him as “a finance, ITand risk management professionalwith a combination of in-depth busi-ness and technology knowledge, aris-ing from over 20 years experience…”

As Mr Pike puts it: “The nice thingabout being a bean counter is thatyou can always come back to it if youwant to.”

While working for Deloitte as part-ner in enterprise risk services in Swit-zerland – commuting for four yearsfrom Luxembourg where his partnerlives – he also started working with “awonderful singer, a basso profundowho was the latest in a long line ofteachers who kept asking me ‘butwhy aren’t you singing?’”

This time, he asked himself thesame question: “I love making money,both the pursuit of it and the techni-cal challenge – but you start to realisethat today’s profit is just what it is,

and loyalty to a company isn’t all thatthere is either.”

His finance world CV also describeshim as an “entrepreneurial, results-driven, team developer, and provendeliverer” – all traits he displayed byquitting Deloitte for a singing careerwhile also setting up his own consul-tancy business, The Professionals Net-work, based in Luxembourg.

He continues to prove that he iscomfortable in “multi-cultural, multi-lingual and international environ-ments”. From early days as an ama-teur singer at the University ofToronto, encouraged by composer Wil-

liam Perry at the Royal Conservatoryof Music, he found his way to Londonand “a bunch of folk who were alsodoing it as a hobby on the side”.

Today he is keen to embrace the“Englishness” he claims from hisgrandparents, and now his patriality.It was through his exposure to musicin London, with the Guildhall Schoolof Music and Drama, the Academy ofSt Martin-in-the-Fields, the LondonPhilharmonic, the ENO Opera Worksprogramme and a chorus role atGlyndebourne in 2009, that it all cametogether for him.

“In the English situation you couldhave City lawyers singing alongsidecompetent professional musicians –there is a real choral tradition –whereas in Swiss groups there weremostly professionals,” he says.

Having worked under the directionof leading musicians, including SirSimon Rattle and Sir Neville Mar-riner, he says: “I had been encouragedrepeatedly but I had never had theguts – and then suddenly it felt as if itwould be stupid to let it all pass by.”

In June 2011, when he received ravereviews for his debut as Marcello inPuccini’s La Bohème in Bamberg, Ger-many, it became clear he was notgoing to let that happen.

Interview 1David John PikeDina Medland meets aformer Deloitte partnerwho eventually found thecourage to fulfil a dream

David John Pike: ‘I suddenly felt it would be stupid to let it all pass by’

Ian Stockley has no doubts about therole performing arts can play in build-ing a child’s confidence. He recallsbeing 10 years old, singing on stage inGilbert and Sullivan’s Trial By Juryand losing his wig – but having theaplomb to flick it back on withoutpausing in the middle of an aria.

Music has been a defining factor inhis life from early music scholarshipsto the independent school, Charter-house. The French horn vied laterwith keyboard and the school choirfor his attention, but it was in his lastyear of an economics degree at theLondon School of Economics that hefaced stark choices.

He applied for graduate jobs in mar-keting with fast-moving consumergoods companies, and also success-fully to the Royal Academy of Musicfor a scholarship. “I got to the lastthree interviews with companies onthe ‘milk round’ and was asked whatother irons I had in the fire. When Imentioned the scholarship they said‘there must be something wrong withus if you’ve got this far and want tobecome a singer’.”

So he did just that. He says his“bread and butter” work came fromoratorio with choral societies, and by27, he was married and confronted“the idealism of a classical singer’slife with the realities”.

“I was quite a home bird and didn’twant to be in a hotel every week. Mywife was a lawyer, and the goalpostschanged. I wasn’t willing to pay theprice, or deal with the stress. So Iwent back to my economics.”

At 30 he secured a job in marketingwith Reader’s Digest/EMI. At that

time, it was called “below the line”marketing – which for Mr Stockley“combined creativity with the factthat I am analytical”. Joining whatwas known at the time as “the univer-sity of direct marketing”, he stayedfor six years, becoming director of itsUK music and video division.

They parted company whenReader’s Digest wanted him to moveto the US. Instead, he joined Col-leagues, a marketing agency, and

after four years was ready to set uphis own marketing business. CalledEntire, he says it was “all about com-municating with customers andbrands through understanding themmore, and using data to communicatewith the customer”. The “statisticalregression” analysis he studied at LSEwas to stand him in good stead.

Starting Entire was, he says “a bigpiece of luck” as a change in the lawaround the electoral roll in 2002meant companies could no longer buythe full electoral roll for marketingpurposes. “We pulled together cus-tomer databases as ‘data co-opera-tives’ and it allowed me to launch myway of marketing,” says Mr Stockley.

In March 2008 he sold Entire to Indi-cia Group, which was backed by ven-ture capital, and he co-founded Lin-naeus Consulting, which offered serv-ices aimed at helping clients under-stand how consumers engage withmobile media as a channel. Linnaeusalso became part of Indicia Group in2010 and Entire merged with Market-ing Databasics, with Mr Stockleybecoming managing director of a com-pany with a turnover now approach-ing £10m.

The company’s clients – who hesays would have been dismissive of itswork in the early days – include Nis-san, Heineken UK, Asos, YorkshireBuilding Society, Scottish Power andnew clients ITV and TalkTalk.

Having spent a decade singing, andthen almost 25 years in marketing, MrStockley says: “It was the right thingto do, and I am lucky to have changedcareer path at 30. But in the next 10years I would love to start to do morewith music – it’s a big part of my life.It just does not pay very well.”

His two daughters and son are allmusically inclined and encouraged toenjoy it. He holds a non-executivepost on the board of Bath Festivals,an annual arts festival, and heremains interested in exploring thefunding of UK music festivals alongthe US model of private investors –“combining my love of music withmanaging a business” as he puts it.

Stress and poor pay sendssinger back to the office

Secret CVAny mentors?

Andrew Lynam-Smith, themarketing director at Reader’sDigest, was amazing at allowing histeams to create opportunity – heallowed me to fast track andinfluenced my management stylegoing forward.

Your first big break?A big piece of luck – starting my

own company when I did, in 2000.

Best career advice to others?Listen acutely and be prepared for

ongoing challenges to your thinking.

Ian Stockley: spent a decade singing

Interview 2Ian StockleyDina Medland asks amarketing entrepreneurabout ‘the realities’ thatmade him switch careers

Women and the WorkplaceAN EXECUTIVE APPOINTMENTS SPECIAL FOCUS www.ft.com/recruit | twitter.com/FTCareerMgmt

Fundamentalchange couldtake ‘at leasta generation’

Two years ago, Lord Davies ofAbersoch published a reporton the lack of women in UKboardrooms – and it looked

ambitious. Just 12.5 per cent of non-executive directors in FTSE 100 com-panies were female; in the FTSE 250 itwas worse – 7.8 per cent. Lord Daviesset a target of 25 per cent by 2015.

Has there been progress? Figuresfrom November 2012 show 17.3 percent of FTSE 100 non-executives arefemale, and 12 per cent in FTSE 250companies. They also show that 38 percent of board appointments madesince March 1 last year were womenin the FTSE 100; 36 per cent in theFTSE 250.

BoardWatch, a professional boardsforum, is about to update its figureson gender balance and notes therehave been some female appointmentson what were staunchly all-maleboards.

Each such appointment is publi-cised on Twitter by BoardWatch anddutifully “re-tweeted” by Helena Mor-rissey, founder of the 30% Club, agender campaigning group.

The most recent appointment publi-cised in this way is that of MaryWaldner, who will join the previouslyall-male board of FTSE 250 companyUltra Electronics Holdings as a non-executive director. The list of“appointment tweets” since Novem-ber 2012 suggests there will be further

room for cheer when the latest figurescome out.

But, as Ms Morrissey says: “Twoyears after the Davies Report, it isn’tso much about the numbers, it isabout spotlighting the issues.Whether or not the whole thing hasbeen a charade, at least it is ‘in ourfaces’ in a way it has never beenbefore, and the lack of women cannotbe ignored.

“You couldn’t have had much fasterprogress than we have had if youbelieve in merit – but somewherealong the way it became apparentthat the problem was on the executiveside.”

Many agree. Lord Davies’s reporthas successfully made diversity anissue to be discussed every day. Butthis focus has also pushed up the lev-els of frustration: some women whoused to abhor the notion of genderquotas have moved to sit on the fence,or even come out in favour of quotasfor want of action.

The UK’s business secretary VinceCable recently sent a letter to sevenFTSE 100 companies with resolutelyall-male boards to give them a prod.But he maintains a broadly arms-length stance: “This is about long-last-ing cultural change and creating afairer society for all. It is not some-thing that the government is dictatingto business and we have always saidit should be business-led.

“The onus is on companies to recog-nise the importance of this challengeand tackle the issue head on.”

Fiona Hotston Moore, a senior part-ner at Reeves, a City accountant,responds: “Vince Cable is saying theright things, but words are notenough. To think he will get a hugeincrease in the number of women on

FTSE 100 boards by 2015 withoutaction is ludicrous and naïve.”

Ms Hotston Moore says: “All wehave is tokenism at the moment –companies want to be seen to complyso they are appointing non-executives.The only way we are going to seeprogress is quotas – everywhere –public sector and private companiesas well.”

But it has also become apparentthat the real ambition for better diver-sity lies well beyond the boardroom –it lies in building an executive pipe-line of capable and willing women,which needs action on many levels.

Helen Pitcher, chief executive andchairman of board consultancy Iddas,says: “It will probably take until 2050before we see 50 per cent women onboards.

“We have made a fair bit of progresson the non-executive front, but it’svery slow on the executive sidebecause there just aren’t enoughwomen in the pipeline. If we wantmore female executives comingthrough we will have to start a lotearlier.”

It is a global problem. Sheryl Sand-berg, Facebook’s chief operatingofficer, writes in her book Lean In:Women, Work and the Will to Lead,which is due to be published nextmonth: “Women rarely make one bigdecision to leave the workforce.Instead, they make a lot of small deci-sions along the way, making accom-

modations and sacrifices that theybelieve are required to have a familysome day. Of all the ways women holdthemselves back, perhaps the mostpervasive is that they leave beforethey leave.”

The focus on “numbers” that beganwith the Davies Report carries onbeing debated in countless women’sgroups, as would-be candidates for theboardroom hope to network with the“right people” who might get themthere.

But that trend has been overtakenby another, as women and men inbusiness themselves become moreinvolved in instigating the culturalchange required from both sexes toachieve the larger ambition of “betterbusiness”.

Ruby McGregor-Smith, chief execu-tive of Mitie, the outsourcing com-pany, says: “The remit of Lord Dav-ies’s report was very small, and it hasbeen fantastic at highlighting thechallenge of the pipeline (of women inbusiness). But the ongoing discussionof the level of non-executives misses

the point – it involves a very limitednumber of jobs and should be decidedon talent not gender.”

Improving the pipeline of talent shesays, is “about going all the way backto school, to aspirations, to thechoices young girls make and the sup-port they get making them. We needto start early, and also help the youngtalented women who have children.

“Women find it very hard – and Iinclude myself in this – when theyhave young children. The prohibitivecost of childcare is part of the prob-lem. If you’re serious about address-ing issues of pipeline, you need taxbreaks for childcare to get womenback quickly to allow their confidenceto develop,” says Ms McGregor-Smith.

The verdict on the Davies Reportafter two years might be: it was greatas far as it went, but it revealed aneed to instigate serious change. MsPitcher says: “Huge societal change isrequired and attitudinal changesamong women as well because theyopt out – and yes, some of it is genera-tional, and that change will come.”

Dina Medland reviews theprogress made over thetwo years since LordDavies’s report on genderdiversity in the boardroom

In the spotlight: Lord Davies’s report raised the issue of gender diversity to a point where the lack of women cannot be ignored Rosie Hallam

Thursday February 21 2013

On other pages

Culture Women are told they needto learn to say ‘I’ more often

Body language ‘We don’t puff outour chests for obvious reasons. Menare more likely to be military looking’

Interview Fleur Bothwick of Ernst &Young on tackling gender imbalances

Networking A smart strategy isneeded to make the right contacts

2 ★ FINANCIAL TIMES THURSDAY FEBRUARY 21 2013

Working forprogress acrossa firm withglobal reach

Fleur Bothwick was “thrilledand totally surprised” to beawarded an OBE for her con-tribution to diversity and

inclusion in the workplace in the lastNew Year honours list. But she doesnot see it as an excuse to relax. Herambitious to-do list is as long as ever.

Ms Bothwick, director of diversityand inclusive leadership at Ernst &Young, has charge of what the firmcalls its EMEIA region – Europe, Mid-dle East, India and Africa. She nowhas her sights set on E&Y reaching itsEMEIA target of 17 per cent femalepartners, up from a current 15 percent among a total of 3,500 partners,when new partners are announced inJuly.

In the UK, the firm has 19 per centfemale partners, up from 13 per centwhen Ms Bothwick joined in 2007.

“I’m a big believer in targets, theywork for everything else and they putthe focus on what we need to do toachieve them,” she says. “We haven’tmet all of our targets but they havestarted a meaningful conversation.”

Working for change across a com-pany with global reach – Ms Bothwickhas her eye on 93 countries and 69,000people – is no easy task, not leastbecause of the different legislativeframeworks and cultures around theworld.

Different programmes and networksare tailored to geographical areas butthey all share the same ultimate goal:to ensure the reputation and revenuesof the firm and the retention of high-flying staff. Retaining and promoting

women is not just the right thing todo but makes hard commercial sense,she says.

“Our studies have shown a verypowerful link between engagementand brand reputation with higher rev-enues and retention rates,” she says.

Research by the firm in 2011 foundits best-in-class performers on engage-ment yielded $110,000 more in reve-nues compared with below-norm per-formers. Best-in-class performers onengagement also retained more than10 per cent of their team than thosewho were below the norm.

This means that ideas such as pre-paring women for leadership, flexibleworking, sponsorship of potential sen-ior leaders and networking are nolonger regarded as fluffy add-ons butvital to the success of the firm.

It has estimated that an additional1bn women will participate in the glo-bal economy by 2025 and this, coupledwith the European Union’s target of40 per cent representation of womenon boards by 2020, means new com-mercial opportunities.

The firm defines diversity as the“demographic mix in a given environ-ment which includes both seen andunseen differences”. Inclusiveness “ishow we make the mix work by creat-ing an environment where all peoplefeel valued and are able to achievetheir potential”.

Three years ago, the firm started tofocus on its leadership pipeline by rat-ing women on their potential for pro-motion in three categories; “highlylikely”, “might” or “don’t know”.Those women rated highly likely tosucceed, now numbering about 300,are managed closely, often with apartner sponsor and are encouragedto attend the EMEIA-wide women’sleadership programme.

They may also be included in thefirm’s global talent management pro-gramme, called Global Next Gen.

“We track and see how they do andthere’s no guarantee they will makeit,” says Ms Bothwick. “We refresh

the process each year and revisit andreset our targets.”

In EMEIA, the firm has also pilotedprogrammes, including one calledNavigator, “which enables femalemanagers to spend time looking at

what they want to achieve with theircareer and putting a plan in place toget there”.

There are a variety of approachestailored to different countries. InSouth Africa, for example, the firmhas introduced an internal diversityscore card providing a detailed profileof African, Coloured and Indian

employees – such data had been along-time requirement of the govern-ment anyway but there had been noscore card for internal use.

In Belgium and the Netherlands,meanwhile, the region was an earlyadopter of Career Watch, a sponsor-ship programme targeting high-poten-tial women, with a focus on makingsure everyone understood the differ-ences between sponsorship and men-toring. A key difference is that spon-sors tend to be influential partnerscarefully selected to intervene.

“There are considerable challengesbut even though our women comefrom very different cultures, theyoften have similar concerns and chal-lenges,” says Ms Bothwick. “Womenare just as ambitious as men. Butbeing called ambitious as a womancan have negative connotations. Peo-ple make the distinction betweenaggressiveness and assertiveness.”

Challenges include overcoming the“imposter syndrome” – the self-doubt

some women might feel as to whetherthey are qualified for promotion whenthey clearly are ready – or the impactof unconscious bias that all peoplehave and need to be aware of to com-bat it.

In Paris, Patrick Scharnitzky, asocial psychologist and author, toldstaff in a workshop that stereotypingcould not be avoided but people mightbecome conscious of their ownassumptions in order to reduce themand avoid unfair decisions.

Ms Bothwick, who was previouslydirector of diversity at Lehman Broth-ers, developed one of the UK’s firstblack and minority ethnic leadershipprogrammes at E&Y, introduced aSponsors for Educational Opportuni-ties programme to the professionalservices sector, and a pilot summergraduate scheme for disabled interns.

She is passionate about inclusive-ness in all its subtleties: “If someoneis gay, that is only part of their pro-file. They could have a disability too.

And be a woman,” she says. “It’smore complex than just putting peo-ple into boxes.”

While her focus at E&Y has been oncreating a leadership pipeline fromthe layer of staff just below partner,the next task is to look at the layerbelow – senior managers.

“At the manager level, male andfemales are equally technically able.So when we talk about potential, it isimportant that managers have theirelevator pitch, for example,” she says.

She is optimistic that attitudes arechanging across business, althoughsome sectors are still seen as moretough, for example, within E&Y’sTransaction Advisory Services divi-sion, that has an emphasis on deal-making, which makes the hours lesspredictable.

“Companies have become focusedon inclusive behaviours across theboard and while attitudes vary enor-mously, they have changed dramati-cally,” she says.

InterviewFleur BothwickSharmila Devi asks Ernst& Young’s director ofdiversity how she istackling gender imbalances

Fleur Bothwick: optimistic that attitudes are changing, although some sectors are still seen as tough – for example, where hours are less predictable

‘Women are just asambitious as men. Butbeing called ambitiousas a woman can havenegative connotations’

Women and the Workplace

FINANCIAL TIMES THURSDAY FEBRUARY 21 2013 ★ 3

Women told they need to learn to say ‘I’ more

The commercial argument forpromoting more women tosenior positions might havebeen won, says Andi Keeling.

But does this mean women need toact like men to get noticed by theirorganisations?

Ms Keeling is director of women’smarkets at the Royal Bank of Scot-land and she notes that more andmore senior executives of all gendersare coming to realise that accessing adiverse talent pool makes businesssense for companies, clients and cus-tomers.

She also has views on the questionover whether there are specific genderdifferences that women must over-come, such as a lack of confidenceand less inclination to shout “me meme”.

“A lot of women don’t naturallypush themselves forward. They tendto keep their heads down, work hardand expect to be recognised,” Ms Keel-ing says. “But should we try tochange women to behave like men orshould they be authentic?

“My opinion is that there is a lotmore women can do – but we shouldnever act or behave in a way thatisn’t authentic.”

Women have indeed shown them-selves well able to take on more asser-tive roles in sectors such as manage-ment consultancy.

Liann Eden, founding partner ofEden McCallum management consult-ants, where about 40 per cent of theconsultants are female, says: “Ourwomen are confident, they get theirpoint of view across and are happy togo in as advisers, so it’s not an issue.If surveyed, none of our women wouldsay they get nervous about goingbefore the board of a FTSE 100 com-pany. We’ve moved beyond that.”

All the consultants at the firm areindependent, meaning they get to pickand choose which jobs they take onand when and how long to work.

“Some women are more iassertive,some are quiet. But we find that’strue of men, too,” says Dena McCal-lum, another founding partner. “Wespend time thinking about the bestmatch. If it’s a client who spends a lotof time listening, then you want some-one with a big voice and that mightbe a man or a woman. If the clientruns a consensus boardroom, youwant someone different.”

While there is little differencebetween gender and leadership poten-tial, research by SHL, the globalrecruitment and talent assessment

company, suggests men in leadershippositions are motivated by power andfear of failure, whereas women aremotivated by a constructive workingatmosphere and receiving recognition.

SHL found a persistent genderimbalance in the corporate world,with only 20 per cent of women in theUK represented in leadership roles,compared with 42 per cent in Norwayand 39 per cent in Thailand, based onthe analysis or more than 1m peoplein its database.

“With three men to every woman inleadership positions on average glo-bally, and with men being motivatedby power and a fear of failure, UKboardrooms are self-perpetuating anunbalanced culture which is likely todisengage women from aspiring toreach a senior position,” says EugeneBurke, chief science and talent analyt-ics officer at SHL.

“The C-suite culture will have tochange if it is to attract aspiringfemale leaders. UK plc needs proac-tively to adapt boardroom culture somore women are keen to continuetheir career path to the top. Movingaway from an organisation cultureframed by fear of failure to onefounded on recognition for contribu-tion and performance will be astronger attraction for potentialfemale leaders.”

Fiona Czerniawska left a large firmto co-found the Source for Consultingresearch company after she had chil-

dren. “When I started out and did myMBA, we looked at what happened towomen and found companies took usto the door of motherhood and left usthere. I’ve found working as aresearch consultant allows me to sayno. I’m not travelling all the time orworking from 7am to midnight,” shesays.

“Women are often more thoughtful

and listen more. Women talk moreabout content and there’s less of adesire to impress. Meanwhile, consult-ing is changing and clients are lesstrusting and want less arrogance, sothat’s helpful from a woman’s point ofview.”

The three main areas critical to pro-motion are sharing success, seekingopportunities and getting the rightjobs, says Ines Wichert, senior psy-chologist at the Kenexa High Perform-ance Institute.

“Women still seem to hold back.Senior women go to great lengths toexplain their own success in terms oftheir team. They need to say ‘I’ fromtime to time,” she says. “Women feelthey have to be careful becausethey’re supposed to be more nurtur-ing and are scared of people saying,‘what’s wrong with her’.”

A Kenexa report, entitled “Womenleaders’ career advancement: a three-level framework”, outlines the factorsto be addressed when trying toimprove the progression of women inthe workplace, including access tocritical job assignments, flexibleworking hours and sponsors and men-tors.

“Women are less likely to take risksand they may feel the need to meet amuch higher percentage of jobrequirements than their male col-leagues before they apply for a newrole. Women also seem to need moreencouragement from mentors in order

to take on new challenges,” the reportsays.

“The reason for this, as shown innegotiation literature, may be thatwomen are less likely to ask forthings, such as more money, and thatthey have learned that contraveningfemale stereotypes (being passive andcommunal rather than driven andcompetitive) can lead to negative feed-back and being sidelined.”

Anna-Marie Detert, talent proposi-tion lead director at KPMG, says thereis a fine balance between beingviewed as “manipulative” and justwanting to get ahead: “The personwho succeeds manages the politics ina way that’s almost invisible. Theydon’t stop giving credit to others andalways make others look good,” shesays.

“You have to be very self-aware.Being charming or being direct meansknowing and gauging your audience.Confidence is where you have control,not on whether your company needsyou.”

As an American, she also has aninteresting view on the differences inbusiness practice on each side of theAtlantic that applies to men andwomen: “When talking with execu-tives here, there’s a great need forintellectual content, paying attentionto what you actually say and how todebate logically,” she says. “Passionand emotion are bigger in the US butcan be a disaster in the UK.”

‘I didn’t wear a dress – I was terrified of seeming too female’

Many women executives might wishthat dress code, body language andthe ability to banter with the boys nolonger matter – but they know fromexperience that they often do.

“It’s less of an issue than it used tobe,” says Fiona O’Hara, Accenture’smanaging director for human capitaland diversity in the UK and Ireland.“As more women progress through tothe executive level, there’s safety innumbers and the culture changeswhen there’s a diverse team.

“But bias is still there. People haveto stay true to themselves and if

they’re comfortable with the banter,great. If not, call time and walk awayor call someone out. And while dresscode isn’t a problem at our company,on the Tube I’m amazed what womenwear in terms of revealing clothing –but maybe I’m conservative.”

A great deal of research has beenconducted on the role of unconsciousbias in terms of promotion and morecompanies are aware of the need tocombat it. But culture takes time tochange and many women have had tocreate their own coping strategies.

“Men use humour and put-downswhile women look for similarities andempathy and are more likely to drawpeople up, not put them down,” saysKaren Gill, co-founder of Every-woman, the organisation for womenin business.

“The differences can be very subtleand make us feel less resilient andgung ho. Look at body language. We

don’t puff out our chests for obviousreasons, are often round-shoulderedand introverted. Men are more likelyto be upright and military looking andthat’s what many people are lookingfor in leadership.”

Wendy Alexander, former ScottishLabour leader and now the LondonBusiness School’s associate dean ofdegree programmes and career serv-ices, says that although “we’re pastthe stage where we need to learn toplay golf”, too often women are not ontop of their own agenda.

During her political career, she wasoften described as “outspoken” – oftencode for unfeminine behaviour: “Thechallenges are surmountable andthere are more similarities than differ-ences between men and women.

“Yes, women are less likely to nego-tiate but there are ways women canequip themselves and there areimmeasurably more opportunities

than in the past because companies,post-financial crisis, value diversity.”

Heather Jackson, chief executive ofAn Inspirational Journey, an organi-sation that aims to increase thenumber of women in senior positions,is passionate in urging women to goforward: “Take away your shyness.No one can go forward by being shy,it’s not a leadership word. You don’thave to be gung ho and you can dothings sensibly and intelligently,” shesays. “Visibility and responsibility arethe key words.”

It can take time to find a style andapproach that works. Anna-MarieDetert, talent proposition lead direc-tor at KPMG, says: “I remember whenI wouldn’t wear a dress because I wasterrified of seeming too female. ButI’ve found my way now and thatmeans being a little softer, connectingpersonally and being ‘others-focused’but not subservient.”

Fiona Czerniawska, co-founder ofthe Source for Consulting researchcompany, says she never pretended tobe one of the boys: “I’ve never beeninto football and it made me feelexcluded. I can do weather but sportis divisive,” she says. “I’ve foundmyself thinking, ‘I’m an expert so I’llblast them with my expertise’.

“As for dress, I would defend some-one’s right to wear what they wantand we should have have movedbeyond that but I don’t feel comforta-ble in a low-cut top or short dress.”

While many women want to moveaway from cliches about being morecaring and emotionally intelligentthan men, it might be some timebefore there are enough female execu-tives on boards and in positions tohire more women like them.

“It might take quotas as a tempo-rary measure to help get women intopositions where they can recruit oth-

ers after them,” says Ines Wichert,senior psychologist at the KenexaHigh Performance Institute. “It’sabout creating real opportunities.”

Some companies offer help. Accen-ture, for example, has a Skills Acad-emy and a course, called “MoveBeyond the Boys Club (ShamelessSelf-Promotion)”, that says career pro-gression, especially in male-dominatedfields, is a blend of aptitude and atti-tude, manoeuvrability, understandingoffice politics, allied to self-awarenessand confidence.

It says: “Women who get ahead arethose who make key decision-makersaware of their wins. When you workwith men, you have to learn to playthe game and get comfortable raisingyour profile the way they do – weshould take the best of what they canteach us while maintaining a sense ofour own integrity, individuality andindependence.”

Body languageSharmila Devi findswomen are developingtheir own coping strategies

Fiona Czerniawska: left a large firm

Women and the Workplace

C-suite cultureSharmila Devi looks athow females can becomecandidates for promotion– without acting like men

4 ★ FINANCIAL TIMES THURSDAY FEBRUARY 21 2013

Smart strategykey to makingthe rightconnections

The message that women mustnetwork and seek sponsors isnot new but the obstaclesthey face trying to get into

the right clubs can be seen every yearat the World Economic Forum’s gath-ering at Davos in Switzerland.

So few delegates are women – typi-cally around 17 per cent – that theorganisers now insist that the forum’stop 100 strategic partners, who areentitled to send five delegates, mustinclude at least one woman.

Viviane Reding, European commis-sioner for justice, fundamental rightsand citizenship, said this year that theforum had not always put genderissues high on its agenda. “This is thefirst year that the issue has been pre-sented at a plenary session,” she says.“It’s a breakthrough for Davos, too.”

Although a raft of legislation is inplace to ensure fairness in recruit-ment, it is widely acknowledged thatmany senior jobs can only be securedat least partly through networking.This means women need a powerfulnetwork of contacts and sponsors tosupport their career ambitions.

“Davos made it clear that womenneed to put their hands up. Network-ing has to be seen by both men andwomen as an essential part of theirbusiness development,” says HeatherJackson, founder of An InspirationalJourney, an organisation that aims toincrease the number of women in sen-ior positions.

“If women are feeling neglected,they need to think about why andwhere they need to be seen,” she says.

“It depends on which sector andindustry they work in so they need todo some investigation – just like theywould check out a gym. Speak to col-leagues, see what business events arecoming up and try to get invited.Don’t fear it, because it’s not as badas it seems and the thought of it canbe worse than it is.”

An Inspirational Journey is one ofmany programmes initiated in the pri-vate sector to tackle gender diversity.While some critics might argue thatthey exist to forestall any legislationto introduce gender quotas, the combi-nation of networking, sponsorshipand mentorship can provide practicalhelp.

Led by the Royal Bank of Scotland,An Inspirational Journey asks compa-nies to commit at least 25 women tothe programme. Events and onlineforums aim to “help women buildtheir confidence, learn to recogniseand deploy their capabilities anddevelop their network of contactsacross all sectors”.

Ms Jackson divides networking intotwo: that which is done internally andthat conducted externally, outside thecompany. “It isn’t a quick means toan end and you have to invest a lot oftime. Do your homework, think aboutwho you want to meet. It’s about find-ing out what people are interested inand helping one another.”

She is also clear about the differ-ence between a sponsor and a mentor:“A sponsor promotes, protects andprepares you. They’ll get their littleblack book out in front of you andgive you contacts. They’ll push youup because their reputations are onthe line.”

Experts say women need to beaware that they might network differ-ently compared with male colleaguesand have to develop extra skills andconfidence.

A report by Kenexa’s High Perform-ance Institute says: “While men usenetworks for career-building, womenfrequently use them for affiliation and

emotional support. It is the career-focused networking that brings signif-icant advantages to progression.

The report, “Women leaders’ careeradvancement: a three-level frame-work,” acknowledges that childcareconstraints can make out-of-hours net-working difficult but emphasises thatwomen must still ensure they have

the right political skills. It says that ifwomen’s mentors are not seniorenough or fail to provide insights intoorganisational politics, it reducestheir networking effectiveness.

“Having access to senior, politicallysavvy mentors who can help a womandecode the political landscape of an

organisation and help her improve theeffectiveness of her networking activi-ties is very important,” the reportsays.

Assertiveness is also important andChristine Lagarde, former Frenchfinance minister and head of theInternational Monetary Fund, said atDavos this year that she developed itearly on. “I grew up with brothers; Igrew up in a man’s world and you hadto elbow your way in.”

Younger women perhaps have anadvantage over older colleaguesbecause the importance of networkingis now instilled early on. Wendy Alex-ander, the London Business School’sassociate dean of degree programmesand career services, says: “The impor-tance of diversity has been acknowl-edged and now we need to thinkabout the practical takeaways forwomen to advance these issues.

“We try to ensure early on in ourbusiness school the importance ofhow to leverage networks.”

Karen Gill co-founded Everywomanin 1999, an organisation that works

with companies to help and retainwomen leaders through training,workshops and networking: “What’sinteresting is that there were thou-sands of networks across industry,cultures, ethnic minorities but no spe-cific men’s groups because they hadhobbies and sports through whichthey were connected,” she says.

“Women should be in as diverse amixture of networks as possibleincluding mixed networks with men.Women need to be strategic when net-working. Most senior people are verygood at it and make it look easy butare actually very strategic and thinkabout what they want to achieve. Youcan’t get an invite, turn up and thenthink ‘what am I doing here?’.”

Dena McCallum, founding partnerof Eden McCallum management con-sultants, says it is important to beaware of “superficial” networking:“Sometimes women are better thanmen and have more of an ability tostay in touch with people and havemore of a personal connection,” shesays.

“But if your career network isLinkedIn then that’s not very mean-ingful. You need to have an interestin the other person otherwise it’s justvery superficial.”

While some effort has to be made, itis also important to stay true to yourown style and play to your ownstrengths, says Fiona O’Hara, Accen-ture’s managing director for humancapital and diversity in the UK andIreland.

“It’s very tricky because there aresome schools of thought that say net-working is valueless and you shouldjust focus on doing a good job,” shesays. “But the fact of doing a good jobis often not enough and you do needsupport outside of your day job. Youneed visibility and access to seniorleadership and sponsorship.

“But at junior levels, people do tendto stay within their own peer group,so don’t be too hard on yourself if youknow no one, as that will come later.Networking needs to come naturallyand not involve doing things you’renot comfortable with.”

Christine Lagarde: growing up with brothers helped her develop assertiveness early on AFP

‘Most senior people arevery good at it and make itlook easy. But you can’tjust turn up and then think‘what am I doing here?’

NetworkingSharmila Devi talks tosuccessful women about‘organisational politics’ andthe need to ‘elbow theirway into a man’s world’

Women and the Workplace