Women in Leadership: Beyond the Moral Imperative! Suzi Skinner (Mappl.Sci)

Transcription

1 Women in Leadership: Beyond the Moral Imperative! Suzi Skinner (Mappl.Sci) 21 st July 2011

2 Introduction Specialists in: Leadership Development Executive Coaching High Performance Teams Passionate developers of: Onramping Advancing Women Inclusive Work Practices Roar People Team: Suzi Skinner BA.MAppSci (PsychCoaching) Kate Lloyd M. Sci. HRM, MAPS Judy Mills BA. LLB (Hons) Debra Birks Dawn Kitchener Sue Leigh BA(Hons)(Psych), MApplSc(PsychCoaching), MAPS Advisory Board: Dr Joseph Collins, Chairman IST Gail Grant, CEO IPAF Copyright SelfTalk Pty Limited 2

3 Overview Definitions Gender / Inclusiveness & the Moral Imperative Understanding the Status Quo The evidence The Business Case (& the Stupid Curve) The Opportunity & some ideas for Change

4 Defining Gender Balance Gender (vs Biology) The economic, social, political and cultural attributes and opportunities associated with being male and female (ILO 2009) Organisational Goals: Achieving a balanced representation of both genders (particularly in leadership levels)

5 Defining Inclusion Inclusion promoting a culture where everybody is engaged and contributing to their full potential represented in policies, norms and behaviours Managing diversity mean(s) integration truly valuing different perspectives, and establishing environments where diverse employees could contribute authentically and holistically without leaving parts of themselves at home April and Shockley (2007)

6 The Moral Imperative 17%

7 The status quo Australian Government statistics Equal Opportunity for Women Agency (EOWA) Global Gender Gap statistics

8 The Evidence: Benefits of More Inclusive Organisations Higher job satisfaction. Lower turnover. Higher productivity, higher profitability. Improved problem solving throughout the organization. Increased creativity and innovation. Increased organisational flexibility and ability to learn from people at all levels. Improved quality of personnel through better recruitment and retention. Decreased vulnerability to legal challenges. Additional business-related reasons include the potential to improve product and services and reach out to new clients or audiences. (Summary of research from McKinseys, Catalyst, Boston Consulting Group )

9 Benefits of More Inclusive Organisations What men lose as a result of Gender Inequality Pressure to bear the primary financial responsibility for one s household More distant relationships with spouse or partner More distant relationships with children Pressure to acquire status and compete with men Poor psychological and physical wellbeing What men Gain from Gender Equality Freedom to share financial responsibilities with one s spouse or partner More rewarding and intimate relationships Freedom to parent more substantively; more rewarding relationships with children Freedom to define oneself according to one s own values rather than traditional gender norms Better psychological and physical health Engaging Men in Gender Initiatives J. Prime & C. A. Moss Racusin, Catalyst 2009, p21

10 The Evidence Study by University of Illinois compared 506 for-profit US organisations on their sales revenues, customer numbers, market share and profits in relation to the gender and racial make-up of their employees. It found that those organisations with greater racial and gender diversity performed better on all measures of organisational success. Companies where women are most strongly represented at board or top-management level are also the companies that perform best Women Matter: Gender diversity, A Corporate Performance Driver, McKinsey & Company, 2007

11 The Evidence - Benefits of More Inclusive Boards Conference Board of Canada Research ( ) Found that the presence of women on boards has a practical as well as a symbolic effect: it changes the functioning and deliberative style of the board in clear and consistent ways: linked to good governance, which in turn improves organisational performance over the long term. Key characteristic here is that the boards had 3 or more women: 30% representation seems to be the magic number

12 Impact of Gender Balance on Wellbeing From a social psychology perspective the results so far are mixed and few in number! Positive outcomes were reported in studies where workers in gender-balanced groups had higher levels of job satisfaction vs those working in homogeneous groups. (Peccei and Lee,2005; Fields and Blum,1997) However negative outcomes have been reported is studies which look at the similarity-attraction paradigm (like hires like) and group size (as minority groups increase in size, increased conflict results) Maume & Sebastian (2007) The challenge is that most of the literature is focused on organisational performance outcomes rather than affect/ wellbeing (Jackson et al, 2003)

13 The Business Case:The Stupid Curve

14 Leadership Wasted Talent Active Engagement Unaware Emerging Awareness Adapted from Women In Leadership, Ernst & Young, 2010

15 2010/11 Momentum 3 New ASX reporting guidelines in place from 1 January 2011 % increase in female Board hires in 2010 Paid parental leave introduction Organisations taking action in: flexible work programmes, CEO involvement & monitoring; female networking; mentoring by more senior execs to junior women; diversity included in strategic framework & diversity KPIs rolled out; pay equality audits; training on diversity for men & women, unconscious bias & unconscious resistance; setting voluntary targets; skills programmes aimed specifically at women; performance evaluations that neutralise the flexible work or parental leave arrangements. Lots of activity but what is working? 2 4 1

16 The Opportunity Estimate women will outnumber men in management roles by the year 2030 as more women are earning Bachelor level degrees and participating in graduate level educational programs (Girion, 2001). In the UK, Women are expected to own 60% of all personal wealth by Today there are more female millionaires between the age of 18 and 44 than males (Cunningham and Roberts 2006). Women make 80% of the purchasing decisions in households (M.Barletta, Marketing to Women 2006). US women represent 47% of all investors (Nasdaq)

17 The Opportunity - Meeting your Client Demands Do you really believe that your clients: Won t start looking for companies that can offer gender diverse project teams to work with? Won t start to actively target women & want to talk with more women? Don t want to work with female decision makers?

18 Change Model Permanent Exit New behaviour becomes part of personality Relapse Slipping back into old behaviours Pre-Contemplation Maintenance Sustaining change Contemplation Thinking about change/ feeling ambivalent Stages of Change Action Deciding and beginning to change Preparation Deciding to change Source Prochaska & DiClemente 1983

19 1. Authenticity Behaviour, emotional expression, communication Impact of the social environment Conscious awareness of self states Core Self Actual cognitions, emotions, beliefs Adapted from Wood et al (2008) The Authentic Personality; Journal of Counselling Psychology

20 2. Unconscious biases & Stereotypes We are creatures of habit!!

21 3. Engaging Men (& Women)

22 Denial Engaging Men (& Women) Types of Responses Description We promote on merit Counter Hard statistics eg. EOWA Census Inversion Women don t want it Research shows women who do leave are back in the workforce (working for others!) Dilution Subversion There may be gaps but we don t discriminate Accountability given down the hierarchy (maintains status quo) Ask them to explain the statistics (including the av. 17% pay gap) Nominate Executive level champion(s)

23 Engaging Men (& Women) Types of Responses Shelving Description Not ready for this yet Counter Ask: When is a good time? Lip Service All talk no action Set up regular monitoring & evaluation Compartmentisation Responsibility given to others Remind that gender issues are relevant to all stakeholders & the business case! Tokenism She ll do Establish male & female champions Investigation we ll take a look at it Use investigation as a pre-audit opportunity Types of Resistance Strategies for Advocacy, ILO 2009

24 4. Questions to ask your Organisation Are people here are treated fairly regardless of their gender? Are people able to manage their preferred work life balance? Is our organisational culture supportive of our workers at all stages of their career? Are we identifying our high potential females? Do they have executive sponsors? Are we profiling them throughout the organisation? Are our Managers aware and skilled to manage diverse teams? Inclusiveness Talent Development Are we up-skilling our women in building skills in self-promotion, communication, executive presence and organisation politics? What percentage of our women are in client facing career paths? Are we actively attracting and retaining senior women into the organisation? Does a pay gap exist in our organisation? Is our on-boarding for our people extensive enough? Are we supporting our staff through other career transitions? Career Pathways Recruiting and Retaining

25 5. Tips for You Encourage an inclusive culture. Be inclusive. Increase your capacity: Challenge your own assumptions catch yourself Supportively challenge the assumptions of others Recognise and manage styles that are very different from your own!

26 Persevere! This is an ongoing, iterative process where we can all learn from each other and keep our eyes out for new ideas and practices. Thank you... Questions? Dr J. Franklin, Change Readiness, Macquarie University 2003