parity

Gender balance in UK financial services leaps up the agenda

14 June, 2016 By WiC

A new report from think tank New Financial on gender diversity in UK financial services reveals that 23% of board directors of UK financial services companies are women but only 14% of executive committee members are female.

What is the report about?

Gender balance in UK financial services has leapt up the agenda since the government asked Jayne-Anne Gadhia, chief executive of Virgin Money, to lead a review of women in senior management, and launched HM Treasury’s Women in Finance Charter. The aim of this report is to look at the context of the Gadhia Review and the Charter and discuss how the industry can engage with these initiatives as an important stepping stone towards permanent, sustainable change.

The report presents a detailed analysis of the data New Financial provided to the Gadhia Review on female representation on executive committees and boards across UK financial services, as well as a qualitative survey of six of the Charter’s founder signatories to draw out the 10 common themes and challenges signatories face.

Why is this important?

The Charter applies to all UK-regulated financial services companies with more than 250 staff. It is voluntary and allows companies flexibility on how they apply the principles of the Charter, but if companies choose not to get involved, they could face a more prescriptive approach.

The highlights of the report are:

Nearly a quarter (23%) of board directors of UK financial services companies are women, but only one in seven (14%) executive committee members are female.
There is a big difference between excos and boards when it comes to gender diversity and a wide range across the 12 different sectors in our sample
Whether we cut the data by country, ownership, or the number of people on the exco, the average percentage of women on excos hovers stubbornly around 14%, indicating that this is the natural baseline for women on excos in the absence of public pressure.
The UK government is now focused on increasing the number of women in the executive pipeline. The Gadhia Review and HM Treasury Charter are catalysts not only for discussion but also provide a clear set of action points – including setting targets for improving gender balance – designed to shift the dial.
The biggest hurdle for potential Charter signatories to overcome is going to be setting targets. New Financial’s Diversity Disclosure research shows just 27% of companies publicly disclose any kind of diversity target. While it won’t be easy, and is more complicated for international firms which have to convince a non-UK head office and board, no financial services company would expect sales to improve without setting a clear target and having a strategy to achieve it.

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Female ambition: Women look to achieve career milestones earlier than men

14 June, 2016 By WiC

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A study of 2,000 workers by recruitment specialist REED has revealed what signifies ‘career success’ to the UK population.

Average salary that signals success is £56,018 according to all workers
Almost half of women (48%) want to have achieved career success before the age of 40, compared to 39% of men
1 in 3 (33%) women hope to earn their ideal salary by the age of 35, compared to 1 in 4 (25%) men

Achieving ‘career success’ means earning an annual salary of £56,000 by the age of 40 – more than twice the average salary – according to UK workers. Yet when it comes to the definition of success, female workers have revealed their ambitious side, wanting to achieve key career milestones earlier than men.

And whilst achieving career success is equally important to both men and women (51%), what they perceive as indicators of success, and the age they want to achieve them, reveals some stark contrasts.

The research suggests that women have ambitions to achieve this earlier, with almost half (48%) wanting to have reached career success before the age of 40, compared to 39% of men. And 1 in 3 women (33%) hope to earn their ideal salary by the age of 35, compared to 1 in 4 (25%) men.

Yet when it comes to salary expectations, achieving career success comes with a salary of £54k for women, but according to men, £58k is the magic number.

While women are more ambitious at a younger age, men are more likely to desire the independence and responsibility – and the resulting exposure to risk – of leadership positions. The areas that more men than women associate with career success are being their own boss (4 percentage points higher), being on the board of their company (4 percentage points higher), having a say in their company’s strategy (2 percentage points higher) and owning their own company (2 percentage points higher).

It’s not all about salary

The research by REED found that although the majority of workers (68%) do see a healthy salary as a sign of career success, other indicators of career success have changed. Old-fashioned markers of success such as golf days and business lunches are firmly out of favour, with a desire for a good work-life balance favoured by 75% of workers. Being able to work flexibly is also a sign of success to over a third of workers – 42% of women and 31% of men.

Despite the rise in open-plan offices and hot-desking, getting your own office is still on the list for almost half of UK workers (49%), with 35% wanting a designated parking space. Technology is playing an ever-growing role as a mark of success, with a laptop (45%), iPad (32%) and iPhone (32%) the gadgets workers expect to receive by the age of 34 if they are going to make it to the top.

Both men and women agree that 35 days of paid holiday would be a sign of success – yet with women currently receiving an average of 22 days per year, and men 23, workers are currently falling short of this goal.

Home ownership as an indicator?

During a booming housing market workers are also measuring career success by the age at which they can climb on the property ladder.

Over half of women (51%) believe that owning a house by the age of 35 is a sign of career success, compared to just 43% of men.

Yet the newest generation of workers (18 – 24 year olds) remains optimistic of buying a home by the age of 30, with 39% believing this helps define career success.

Tom Lovell, managing director at REED, says:

Achieving ‘career success’ is deemed important to 51% of workers overall, yet what is most interesting from this research is what they define as indicators of that success and when they wish to achieve it.

With addressing the gender pay gap and the glass ceiling high on the political agenda, it’s particularly interesting that women want to hit key milestones earlier on in their career. Flexibility is also key for them – seemingly more so than men – with 42% of women deeming a sign of career success, compared to just 31% of men.

Interestingly, three quarters of people (76%) don’t think they’ve yet achieved career success, with the average worker saying career success is eight years away. More than half (54%) believe they are not yet on the right path to achieve success.”

Tom added:

In order to make themselves attractive and hold on to the best talent, businesses must look at what matters most to individuals in the workplace and be flexible in their approach to benefits and salary packages.

For candidates, the best way to get on the path to career success is to check you’re in the right role and the right organisation. Consider your benefits, compare your salary to others at your level, and if you’re not being paid enough or think you deserve more, the ideal next step is to see if there are other jobs out there that could better meet your needs. Think about the package as a whole, weighing up factors like holiday, flexibility and ultimately – take home pay.”

Find out how much better off you could be.

The top things in the workplace that UK workers associate with career success are:

Navigating disruption without gender diversity? Think again.

24 May, 2016 By WiC

Disruption and gender diversity are two of the biggest topics facing business leaders today. Both issues are critical to the future of every industry. And they are closely connected.

The best way to navigate disruption is to harness the power of diverse thinking by enabling people with different experiences, ideas and knowledge to come together in an inclusive culture. Gender diversity is a critical part of the equation. Not only this, gender diverse leadership is proven to increase the skills businesses need to navigate the disruptive trends transforming their industry.

Despite the business imperative around diversity, EY’s recent research report, Navigating disruption without gender diversity? Think again., shows that many organizations are still not making real progress. Around the world and across the seven industries we researched EY found a lack of meaningful action that will deliver greater gender diversity in the boardroom.

Whilst business leaders overwhelmingly recognize the challenges ahead and acknowledge the value of diverse senior leadership in overcoming these, five disconnects are holding businesses back from greater gender diversity at Board levels:

the reality disconnect
the data disconnect
the pipeline disconnect
the perception and perspective disconnect
the progress disconnect

As we come up to announcing our 7th Future Leaders Award Winner, the pipeline disconnect is of particular interest.

Companies aren’t creating pipelines for future female leaders

Many organizations say they are effective at attracting and retaining women.

Only 56% believe they are effective at promoting female leaders.

And while more than half of respondents of EY’s report say they must improve in this area, less than one-fifth have formal programs to identify and develop women for leadership.

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Few organisations have formal programmes to identify and develop women for leadership.

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Randstad survey reveals stark contrast between male and female pay rises

11 May, 2016 By WiC

According to new research, women don’t ask for as many pay rises as their male counterparts and are given less pay rises as a results. Research from specialist recruiter, Randstad, reveals that women only average two pay increases in five years compared to three for men.

Despite the gender pay gap being the smallest it has ever been, it seems women are more fearful of asking for pay rises, according to the survey of 2000 employees. There is also a lingering perception across some industries that men are paid more than women.

In finance and professional services, 72% of men in London believe they are paid more than women. However, 79% of men in construction and engineering believe they are paid equally though almost half of the women asked disagreed, believing men are paid more.

When reflecting on these findings, Randstad Middle East and UK MD, Mark Bull, said:

Employers are working hard to promote equal pay and encourage women across all industries but there is still work to be done.

The pay gap may be the narrowest it has ever been but it still exists, and it seems women remain more reluctant than their male counterparts to ask for a raise.

The workers, who were picked from a wide range of sectors, felt a number of issues held women back, with 35% citing employer attitudes as the top factor. Many of the respondents also said there was a still a glass ceiling in place in some industries, particularly for women and minorities. A further 47% said not enough is being done to encourage women into the top jobs.

The research also revealed that women tend to ask for fewer pay rises – only a fifth had asked for one in the last three years compared to a third of men. The top reason given for not asking for a raise was fear of being turned down (35%) or jeopardising their current job. This was closely followed by worry over their boss’s reaction (34%), the thought of having to work longer hours after promotion (15%) and other people’s attitudes (14%).

Mr Bull said:

It makes sound business sense for companies to address the issues still facing women in the workplace, including closing the pay gap, providing ongoing support for progression and rewards for achievements.

Companies that do promote women and actively help them progress are giving themselves access to a greater pool of talent, making the most of their workforce, boosting growth and positively affecting their bottom line.

Improvements therefore need to be made to the way companies reveal their pay structures and more needs to be done to ensure there is further transparency in the workplace. This is likely to be supported by proposed government legislation which will compel companies with more than 250 employees to publish the average difference between male and female pay.

Read the full report along with concise industry breakdowns.

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Getting to Equal – How Digital is Helping to Close the Gender Gap at Work

24 March, 2016 By WiC

It’s a well-documented fact that women are lagging men in workplace equality. Different reports have pegged the time to gender parity at as much as 100 years. Now new Accenture research is proving that digital fluency—the extent to which both men and women have embraced digital technologies to become more knowledgeable, connected and effective—is helping to close this gender gap and level the playing field for women in the workplace.

Accenture’s Digital Fluency Model examines the impact of digital technologies across women’s entire career lifecycle. Nearly 5,000 women and men in 31 countries were surveyed to gauge their familiarity with digital technologies. While men outscore women in digital fluency across almost all of the 31 countries studied, that gap is narrowing and digital fluency acts as an accelerant in every stage of a person’s career—a powerful one in education and in the workplace, and an increasingly important one as they advance into the ranks of leadership.

Why is this? Digital fluency is helping today’s workers better manage their time and become more productive. Digital fluency also enables greater work flexibility—an amenity that workers value and companies are now providing. While men and women alike are liberated by the balance that work flexibility affords, women appear to derive greater value from it.

Getting on the right side of the digital fluency gap can change the picture for women—and their countries—in dramatic ways.

If governments and businesses can double the pace at which women become digitally fluent, we could reach gender equality in the workplace by 2040 in developed nations and by 2060 in developing nations.

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Digital has a positive impact on the women’s education and employment opportunities.

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