In her networking work, particularly with female entrepreneurs, Rai had realised there were various business barriers for females, hence the Shattering Stereotypes research by CFE she had commissioned for Barclays.
national and global economy. “If you are waiting for people to do it naturally, it won’t happen fast enough. We are in a very difficult situation timewise, but we have to do it because diverse boards produce stronger, more productive and profitable companies, and these enlightened organisations will have more money to invest.”
Being a woman in ‘a man’s world’
Like Rai, lawyer Kath Shimmin often found herself as ‘the only woman in the room” at meetings, getting noticed for being different, rather than for her professional attributes.
Kath Shimmin
Of particular interest were the findings about established female-led businesses that had plateaued at the £2-3 million turnover stage. “The research told us that if you compared a female-led business with a similar male-led business, then generally only the male business would continue to grow. Why?”
Treat us as equals, although we know we’re different
Research had thrown up an interesting dichotomy Rai revealed. “Many women said they didn’t want to be treated any differently to men in the workplace, just treated as an equal. However, within their work there are business thought processes, attributes and behaviours from women that are inherently different. Overtly, women don’t want to be treated differently, but their behaviour suggests that something needs to change.”
Ross Wilson emphasised that men and women are different, indeed everyone is different and people do themselves a disservice by trying to be like everyone else. Individuality, divergence of opinion and thought are key within enlightened companies. “Getting the best out of the talent you have, regardless of gender etc, is where you start to build the business.”
Kathleen Smith agreed: “Understanding 'different but equal' is what matters. ‘Group- think’ is a dangerous thing in boardrooms – nodding agreement to the same discussions and subjects with the same approach and outlook. After a while, someone has to point out that hope is not a strategy, things are not working, something has to change. Diluting group-think is important.”
Supporting top-down government, Smith claimed that without new diversity and equality laws or imposed gender quotas, change in the workplace would not be achieved quickly enough to benefit the
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – MARCH 2016
Annette D’Abreo is the only woman on the five-person Ceuta board, but runs a company with “a good reservoir of senior female managers and directors of the future.” She also sits on two other well- mixed boards. “I don’t see a difference in the dialogue at the boardroom table or the way people are treated. I don’t see my being a woman in my role as being an issue. It’s only about who has got the best ability to solve a problem.”
Rai noted that most successful women don’t view their gender as a business barrier, because they never let it become an issue.
D’Abreo accepted that some women can be overwhelmed by a louder male at meetings, and tend to sit back out of politeness. “As a chairperson, you just have to ensure that those women get their say.”
One issue for women was personal confidence, D’Abreo felt, hence Ceuta provides specific training courses and mentoring for female staff.
Mechanical engineer Maria Llorens highlighted meeting a new client, accompanied by an older member of her all-male team. She was taken as the junior rather than the senior management boss. “I remember blushing and saying sorry about the misunderstanding.”
“Don’t ever apologise for being female,” said Victoria Peterkin.
“That client’s reaction was unconscious bias; that’s our challenge,” said Smith, stressing the need to recognise its existence and devise solutions to enable true equality and diversity within an organisation. “You have to call out the unconscious bias, be aware of it, because then you can start fixing it.”
Llorens admitted that if she ever felt her employment was gender-driven to fulfil a tick-box quota, she would immediately hand in her notice.
Enjoy playing the same game, but in a different way
Napier-Munn pointed out that at meetings
w
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omen
women can talk over each other, take in multi-conversations while men take their turn to speak. “I observed it recently at a meeting involving four women and one man. He came out frustrated, having not said a word. Surely, that’s an obvious gender difference, and one that might be beneficial, produce better solutions, in some business situations.”
Rai raised the contradiction about the female ‘see me as an equal, but treat me differently’ scenario. “If we walk into a high-street store we don’t think twice about asking for the women’s department, but do we ask for the women’s section on going into a high-street bank?”
A bank’s women’s section would not be so strange, Shimmin suggested, if women understood and accepted that the bank was offering specific services and opportunities designed to suit their different business approach.
“What women are really saying is: ‘’Don’t change the rules for me. Just show me how I can join in and win at this game.’
Shimmin revealed she had played women’s rugby for ten years in the 1980s. “It was the same rules as the men. We didn’t run as fast, weren’t so powerful, but we chose to play the game our way, to our strengths. We still enjoyed the game and made it fun for fans to watch.
“Women simply need to be encouraged, to recognise that there is a different way to play the game, and you can still win on the same terms as the men.”
TM
Victoria Peterkin
D’Abreo mentioned women moving up through her organisation. “They are brilliant because they have that awareness of how to play the game to their strengths.” She highlighted their customer-facing abilities to build relationships and trust with clients.
Continued overleaf ...
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