EMBA
• • •
In TIMES OF CrISIS
characteristics. Statements like: “Not sure we’re Therefore this recession provides great would be 17% instead of 15%. Perhaps this
ready to have a woman in that role,” “It would opportunity as we can choose to downsize in seems like a small jump for humankind, but
be fine for me, but the other men won’t accept a more diversity-friendly manner (3*) and considering the starting point and the length
it,” or “We’ll hire her because we have to, but thereby influence the threshold level needed of this journey, this recession can accelerate the
we’ll make sure she doesn’t want to stay long,” for discrimination not to be an active force. small steps and thereby constitute great progress
are not uncommon. Most discrimination is, Gender-sensitive downsizing, for example, at the end of the day. Proportions matter.
however, not overt and systems may discriminate can achieve the same level of cost-reduction as
by supporting assumptions about how to get “normal” downsizing, but it also aims to secure a Professor Bettina Büchel teaches on Strategic
performance, not performance itself. healthy gender diversity level for the future. And Leadership for Women, a four-day program
we should not forget that the denominator (the that empowers women leaders. ■
A phenomenon at work is called tokenism total number of managers) is also worthwhile
(*2) and focuses on unconscious gender keeping an eye on when we revert to times
(*1) Helfat, C., Harris, D. and Wolfson, P. (2006)
assumptions. High status majority members of growth, so that the proportions do not get
The Pipeline to the Top: Women and Men in the
(often men) exhibit the following behaviors: 1) skewed by many new non-diverse hires.
Top Executive Ranks of US Corporations, Acad-
they don’t give the minority credibility until it is
emy of Management Perspectives, 20: 42-64.
earned (“I’ll believe she can do it when I see it”) Let us go back to the initial example of a company
(*2) When groups, teams or organizations
2) they see the minority person as representatives with 200 high-level managers. Imagine that the
have minorities represented by less than
of their group, attributing behavior and management headcount must be reduced by
15-20% there is a clear case of tokenism.
performance to others in the group (“We need 20%. If this is done according to the proportions
(*3) Must be applied in ways that are compliant
a woman’s point of view, let’s ask Eva”) 3) they of male and female managers, this would mean
with national/regional legislation
notice and remember poor performance of the that out of the 40 people to be laid off, 15% or
minority more than good performance (“She six would be women. In practice, this number
didn’t do as well as I expected”). The low- might often be higher because minority groups
status minority members (women) frequently traditionally suffer more due to the subtle Biographies
feel responsibility towards the minority group discrimination that works against them.
Karsten Jonsen, Research Fellow, Willem
(“If I don’t do this, no woman will ever be
Smit, Research Fellow and Bettina Büchel,
asked again”) or feel increased role conflict If, however, the human resources department
Professor of Strategy and Organization at
and overload (“Why am I processing 50% – backed by the CEO – sets a new standard
IMD. IMD is one of the world’s leading
business schools. Located in Lausanne on
more loans than everyone else, and doing these for gender-sensitive downsizing with an
Lake Geneva in Switzerland, IMD is the
committees?”). Once a certain threshold level of objective of laying off only three women, then
global meeting place for executives from all
representation (20-30%) has been reached, this the company’s gender diversity would increase
over the world.
phenomenon of tokenism decreases. because the proportion of female managers
CEO | 33
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