DOMOTEX WOMEN IN FLOORING
who co-owns Johnson Floors and Service with her husband, Pete, in Madison, Wisconsin, went on record recently to note: “Sometimes when you walk on a job site people do kind of look at you with wonderment, like, ‘What is she doing here?’ Not in a mean way, just surprised. But as soon as they start seeing you work, it’s no big deal, you just become part of the job site.” The US is at the forefront of promoting such change, inspired by the likes of Bettye M Garmon who 40 years ago became something of an industry pioneer by starting her own commercial fl ooring company in Charlotte, North Carolina. Interestingly, the research giant Gallup’s latest Work and Education survey showed that while 35 per cent said they would prefer to work for a man, 23 per cent said they’d prefer a female supervisor. Other surveys have added reasoning to this by singling out key attributes such as the sort of empathy that suggests a female boss is more likely to understand workplace issue, respond to a situation and off er relevant guidance as well as high levels of organisation and fairness - she will not judge your work based on your gender, for example. She is also likely to have a better understanding of issues such as the need for work-life balance. Closer to home, the largest share of women at managerial positions among EU Member States was recorded in Latvia and Poland, followed by Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovenia and Sweden, according to Eurostat, the offi cial online portal of the EU. A more recent survey by Statista named the highest-ranking European country as Belarus with 50.5 per cent of female managers, noting that generally, Eastern European countries and former Soviet Republics tend to score higher.
THE RISE OF THE WOMEN-ONLY PLATFORMS It all paints a picture of positive change driven, it seems, by results. A growing number of studies over the past decade have been linking bottom line fi nancial results to more gender-balanced leadership teams, according to Forbes which notes: “Consulting fi rms started this off , followed by banks, investors, media and others. Some will argue this doesn’t prove causality. It doesn’t, but the big asset managers seem to be buying it. A growing number of them ... have publicly said they won’t invest in companies that aren’t gender-balanced.” The issue of such cultural change in the fl ooring sector was highlighted
more than a year ago by several industry fi gures in the US who spoke of the wider advantages of a more diverse workplace. Penny Carnino, of Grigsby’s Carpet, Tile & Hardwood, in Oklahoma told FC News: “Our industry has been very male dominated, but I don’t think of myself
FACT The country where women are now best
represented in management is Belarus with 50.6 per cent, according to a poll
as a woman in a male-dominated industry any longer. I do though think women have brought a lot of style and design into the industry (a diff erent perspective), and it has been a welcomed contribution. “Since the majority of our customer base, residentially, are women, it works very well.” And Doris Garza of Alexander Carpet One Floor & Home, Corpus Christi, Texas, highlighted “remarks that question my ability to succeed because I am a woman,” particularly when it comes to technical aspects and highlighted the importance of female-focused support platforms. “While the world has a long way
to go,” she said. “I believe platforms that help bring women together and raise each other up are a great step into a future that sees us all as good businesspeople instead of businessmen or businesswomen. “Until that happens, we all need
to believe that together, with all our knowledge, perseverance and determination, we can be successful and, in turn, unstoppable.” Women within the Floorcovering Industry was launched to coincide with International Women’s Day
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