roundtable: women in business 57


attractive to women. Quota systems could “drive decisions back to the golf club and the men’s room,” she added.


Enforcement was not a good option. Requiring companies to be transparent about their gender agenda and diversity support within their business, through annual reports, websites and social media, might be more fruitful. Suppliers could also be drawn into the transparency. Many procurement


give fully-rounded views on matters rather than coming at things from one angle.”


Drummond felt changing decades of male- focused culture and business mindsets might require gender quotas. “I wouldn’t necessarily want to be employed just to fill a quota, but if by filling that quota the gender-balance and culture of boards looks very different 10 years down the line, then I could take that. Maybe we need to trail-blaze the change.”


Forrester: “If we have to make a sacrifice now and the end result is that my daughters will be better off in 20 years time, then I could handle that struggle.”


Should mentoring be gender- specific?


Claire Edmunds


agreements already require ‘green’ compliance. “We can actually use existing communication and reporting structures to bring gender equality to the forefront of business activity if it becomes a trading requirement that companies should be able to show how they are addressing the issues or at least that they have a plan to produce change.”


Daykin did not support quotas. “They simply build resentment in the workplace. We need to look at the process by which people move up through different roles.”


She felt success was too often achieved by people ‘blowing their own trumpet, bigging-up achievements’ – male traits. “We should measure people for promotion in better ways, upon the true values of their skillsets, which would help draw women up through the ranks.”


Dereza felt men were generally judged on potential and women on performance.


Daykin agreed, stressing that the only right way was to assess everyone equally by the same measures of skills, potential and performance.


Dallimore-Fox pointed out that higher level recruitment was often undertaken by male- dominated selection panels who would have “a 100% unconscious bias to recruit similar to themselves.” Changing that mindset was essential. Assessors had to be able to recognise the true value of different qualities and abilities within candidates.


She highlighted how sales-pitch teams often included ‘a bit of grey’ – an older man, providing the impression of experience and knowledge – to conform to male norms expected by prospective clients.


Clifford believed there was no “unconscious bias” selection at Barclays. “We almost see the opposite, with successful leaders saying ‘I know what I am, so what qualities do I need to build my best team?’ and embracing diversity, using more strategic and tactical decision-making. As a team they can then


THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – DECEMBER14/JANUARY15


Shimmin felt mentoring was critical for career advancement, male or female. Companies should identify potential promotion candidates and their mentoring needs as part of overall corporate resource planning, which, at Blake Morgan is something we invest a considerable amount of management effort into. “Mentoring needs to be gender-aware, not gender-specific, and should be aiming to address issues at an early stage.”


Honesty, trust, and openness were key to good mentoring, she added. “Mentoring is a valuable two-way street, and all organisations should be looking to do it.”


Edmunds agreed that mentoring was extremely important, both at work and also through supportive partners in homelife. The mentor- mentee pairing didn’t need to be gender-specific, simply mutually acceptable, because mentoring only worked well when there was genuine ‘chemistry’.


Mentoring by both men and women within EY had been beneficial for Dallimore-Fox. “Different mentors have helped in different situations, and their experience, skillsets and advice do reassure you that you are not the first person to feel like this.”


“Sometimes in work we shy away from talking about how we feel, in order to remain professional by not bringing in that personal element. It’s nice to have someone to go to, to be honest and not judged.”


Dereza highlighted the popular role in America of career sponsors – focused on an individual’s corporate development rather than their personal concerns – advocating on behalf of women for development and promotion opportunities.


Daykin said both mentors and sponsors were beneficial. With less female role models as mentees progress, she had never had a female mentor but agreed with Edmunds that being comfortable and ‘clicking’ with your mentor really mattered. Peer group relationships could also be very helpful.


As a woman in meetings with 90% men, Morris said: “I do see pushing myself to the top as a long and lonely road, and would welcome a senior female mentor.” Revealing that her career was her current priority, she added: “I do feel quite panicked because I don’t know how I would cope with a child, and work as well.”


Forrester has always had good male mentoring,


but said: “Coming back after having children, it would have been so helpful to have a senior women to turn to. That’s where we have the difficulty in helping women go further within companies and achieving gender-balance at the top.”


Clifford supported mentoring too, having had a long-term female mentor and other male mentors at Barclays. “For me it’s not about gender, it’s about who is the best person to help me close a gap in my development.”


Clifford is now herself a mentor. “I’ve only been approached by females to become their mentor, never males, and I’m not sure why that is.”


Shimmin suggested it was because women were more willing than men to reach out for help.


Drummond said she had thrived from mentoring. “Looking at my career, the places I have progressed the quickest are where mentors have filled the gap.” She felt female managers had an important influence within companies as role models for all employees. Female mentors tended to advise mentees holistically, on aspects beyond their organisational requirements, notably family and lifetime aspirations.


Fancy the Apple/Facebook egg-freezing career choice? The Roundtable gave a unanimous ‘No’.


Views expressed included: “I can’t imagine what possessed them”, “Shocking”, “Rather scary”. “They could better invest that £12,000 per female employee into a different agenda.”, “It’s a very male solution.”


Katie Dallimore-Fox


Are women too reluctant to ask for pay-rises?


Unlike men, it wasn’t female nature to step up and ask for pay-rises, said Shimmin. “Why


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