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bank. “If there were holes in my knowledge I googled them, did research, tried to educate myself. Actually, I opened the nursery with no formal business training.”


Rai: “Have you got the right support now to facilitate a smooth business growth journey?


Peterkin: “I’d like to think so. I have got a fantastic senior team around me, including a former nursery inspector. My advice would be to employ people better than yourself at certain things, people who challenge your thinking. I wouldn’t want to be in a constant ‘Yes’ environment.”


about people who have got something special about them, their ambition, interesting ideas, personality – regardless of their gender.”


Wilson highlighted one of his clients, The Fourfront Group, that had addressed talent retention directly by setting up Women in Fourfront, and Young Generation support programmes.


Smith said Serocor had a Back To Work Mums programme. “Before we introduced it we had less than 10% of mums returning, now we have 100%.”


Wilson noted that, in the US, maternity breaks are not now mentioned on CVs, in order that job candidates can be assessed equally. “Personally, I think women who leave to have children often come back with a broader range of skillsets, but they may lack confidence and would welcome mentoring.”


Smith said research shows that women don’t naturally put themselves forward for promotion or new jobs. Often they need to be approached, and encouraged that they can meet a new job’s requirements.


Annette D’Abreo


Wilson explained that one reason some women come out of big corporates to start their own business is that they eventually realise that they don’t want to sit on the board with its internal politics and testosterone-fuelled meetings. They prefer the hands-on operational aspects of running a business.


However, such corporate career women invariably armed with hugely transferrable skills struggled with the change between dealing B2B at corporate level and operating B2C in the SME/MSB sectors.


The challenge of recruiting and retaining female talent


Shimmin: “The legal profession is one that women are taking by storm. It’s taking time for them to reach the top because it’s taking time for the male hierarchy to work out how to retain talented individuals who, like it or not, are likely to have a baby.


“It’s a problem we’re going to have to resolve, because we can’t watch 55% of our employees just walk out of the door.”


D’Abreo concurred. Either women didn’t want to come back after giving birth – hence experience, talent, training and investment were lost to the employer – or they wanted to work flexibly 2-3 days a week – which didn’t suit their customers who work the full week.


Businesses will have to adapt or change to accommodate the female talent they need, said Smith. “Something has to give.”


Rai: “When we recruit and retain it is all THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – SOLENT & SOUTH CENTRAL – MARCH 2016


“On average it takes two calls from an executive headhunter to persuade a man to apply for a job, and eight calls to persuade a woman.” So boards wanting to employ more women, need to take this into account when asking headhunters to devise diverse shortlists in a short time frame.


Such recruitment reticence also highlighted the need for longer-term succession planning if organisations wanted more women in senior positions, added Pasco.


Which support events help women most?


Wilson said there were many advisory, networking and support events for business people to attend – choosing the most helpful was the difficulty. “I’ve kissed a zillion event frogs in my time,” he admitted. He praised Victoria Peterkin who only gave her time twice to any event.


Peterkin: “I don’t have the free time to go many places, so I visit online webinars.”


Smith said many women feel guilty about going to worktime networking events unless they can justify attending by taking something of value back to the company. “So, call your event educational if you want to attract women, not networking.” Similarly, research shows that women feel more personally obligated than men to attend once they register or accept an invitation to an event.”


More proactivity within the female business community to share individual experiences about helpful networks and events was suggested, along with measures to avoid unhelpful ‘Queen Bee syndrome’ developing within companies.


w


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IN BUSINESS 2016


omen


Napier-Munn highlighted that not all women wanting to work after childbirth are natural entrepreneurs. They need help to find or set up their suitable flexible working environment. Women favoured one-to- one retraining, upskilling or coaching programmes to increase their confidence. Men tended to prefer networking groups.


Rai and Shimmin suggested companies needed to be more gender intelligent, looking beyond general female-only support programmes, since younger or older women, startup or established businesswomen, and returning mums, would engage and respond best to differing types of support.


Are women educated to become leaders?


Leadership is all about bringing the best out of people, which can lead to uncomfortable conversations about equality and diversity, said Rai. Managing such situations in a positive way is crucial for an organisation. The true value of diversity in a business comes through everyone talking to each other while creating some constructive discord and challenge.


Peterkin recalled her childhood and often being told ‘Don’t be so bossy’. “It was behaviour frowned upon for girls, but never boys. But, isn’t that an organisational, leadership or management trait – and who’s laughing now?”


Personal beliefs, core values and qualities that start from a very early age, plus education, play a huge role in the end product – employable candidates for different talent pools.


TM


Kathleen Smith


Pasco felt entrepreneurial spirit was often “crushed” at school level. “You can’t pigeon- hole people, but there are particular traits often associated with entrepreneurial drive


www.businessmag.co.uk Continued overleaf ...


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