A BLUEPRINT FOR BALANCE - TIME TO FIX THE BROKEN WINDOWS - WEARETHECITY

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A BLUEPRINT FOR BALANCE - TIME TO FIX THE BROKEN WINDOWS - WEARETHECITY
A BLUEPRINT
FOR BALANCE.
     Time to fix the broken windows.

Dr Maureen Vontz, Dr Heejung Chung, Dr Jane Dennehy,
Dr Ruth Sacks, Patrick Woodman, Dr Wahida Amin

January 2018
A BLUEPRINT FOR BALANCE - TIME TO FIX THE BROKEN WINDOWS - WEARETHECITY
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
CMI and the authors would like to thank all those who took part in the different
strands of work. We’re grateful to the survey respondents for their contribution and
in particular to the many individuals who gave us their time and insights generously
through the 53 depth interviews carried out for this report. Some are named in the
report, although many remain anonymous. In particular, we would like to thank the
below organisations for sharing their approach to improving gender balance.

•   AngloAmerican                          •   Mentore Consulting
•   BBC                                    •   PwC
•   BlackRock                              •   Royal Air Force
•   Deloitte UK                            •   RBS
•   E.On                                   •   Santander
•   EY                                     •   Sky
•   Government Equalities Office           •   UBS
•   Harvey Nash                            •   Virgin Money
•   Marks & Spencer

We’re also grateful to the CMI Women Board, chaired by Heather Melville, for their
support at every stage of this work.

Authors & Academic Advisory Board          CMI Research Team
CMI would like to thank the report’s       Patrick Woodman, Head of Research
authors for sharing insight, ideas and     and Advocacy
expertise. Particular thanks go to         Dr Wahida Amin, Research Manager
Maureen Vontz, the lead researcher
                                           Ipek Noel, Research Manager
and author, for all her work throughout
the project.                               Tony Sobrado, Research Officer
Dr Maureen Vontz, Duke Corporate
Education (lead researcher)                We also gratefully acknowledge the
Dr Heejung Chung, University of Kent       editorial contribution of Matthew Rock
                                           of Think Publishing, and Emma De Vita.
Dr Ruth Sacks, University of
Northumbria
Dr Jane Dennehy, Gender Hub

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A BLUEPRINT FOR BALANCE - TIME TO FIX THE BROKEN WINDOWS - WEARETHECITY
CONTENTS

Acknowledgements.............................................................................................................................2

Foreword...............................................................................................................................................4
Ann Francke, CMI CEO and Heather Melville, Chair of CMI Women

CMI Women’s Blueprint for Balance..................................................................................................5

Key findings: how employers are working to achieve gender balance..........................................6

Recommendations for balance..........................................................................................................8

Gender balance: the opportunities and the challenges................................................................10

1. Balanced recruitment...................................................................................................................12

2. Pay and rewards...........................................................................................................................14

3. Skills and career development....................................................................................................16

4. Making flexible working work for everyone...............................................................................20

5. Progress with mentoring and sponsorship...............................................................................24

6. Leadership equality and management culture..........................................................................26

The blueprint for balance: action steps...........................................................................................32

Research methodology.....................................................................................................................34

                                                                                                                                                       3
A BLUEPRINT FOR BALANCE - TIME TO FIX THE BROKEN WINDOWS - WEARETHECITY
FOREWORD
ANN FRANCKE AND HEATHER MELVILLE

Ann Francke MBA CMgr CCMI FIC              Heather Melville OBE CCMI
Chief Executive, CMI                       Chair of CMI Women

What a time it has been for campaigners    thriving or failing to reach their full      This report highlights some gender
for gender equality. In 2017 the #MeToo    potential. That is why this report, and      balance best practice from world-class
hashtag campaign became emblematic         CMI’s associated Blueprint for Balance,      organisations. We make a series of
of the bravery of women in speaking        focus on the practical ways in which         proven, innovative and practical
out against injustice and, in doing so,    managers and business leaders can            recommendations that leaders can
opening the floodgates to the unseen,      accelerate gender inclusivity, and           learn from. We hope you find these
darker side of working culture. It was     challenge the visible and invisible          inspirational and purposeful, and that
not for nothing that The Silence           behaviours that stymie progress.             they help you make 2018 the year for
Breakers – the movement that asked                                                      action.
women to speak out – won Time              These are what we call organisations’
Magazine’s person of year.                 “broken windows”. These seemingly
                                           small symptoms of incivility in a
One brave woman, Susan Fowler, the
                                           workplace leave open the possibility of
software engineer who lifted the lid on
                                           more serious violations. When small
sexual harassment at Uber and inspired
                                           infractions remain unchallenged or
women to speak out against its
                                           invisible, an organisation can unwittingly
poisonous culture, was the Financial
                                           perpetuate a culture that is not
Times’ Person of the Year; the previous
year, it had been Donald Trump. Enough     inclusive, hampering efforts to improve
said. It’s clear that 2017 was a turning   gender balance. By fixing these broken
point, a year when one voice after         windows, organisations can start to
another joined together to bring about     build inclusive cultures where women,
change – and the momentum for that         other minorities, and men, can thrive.
change continues. Already in 2018,         To accelerate that progress, our Broken
the #TimesUp campaign sums up the          Windows campaign helps men and
sense that it’s time for real change.      women to recognise, acknowledge,
Yet change cannot be achieved through      and challenge, the smaller moments
words alone. Although women and            and behaviours in the workplace that
men must continue to speak out, it         ultimately lead to larger gender
takes practical action to challenge        inequalities. Share your stories,
workplace cultures that stop women         in confidence, with us:
                                           brokenwindows@managers.org.uk

4
A BLUEPRINT FOR BALANCE - TIME TO FIX THE BROKEN WINDOWS - WEARETHECITY
CMI WOMEN’S BLUEPRINT
FOR BALANCE

                                                                                                                            SURVEY OF 856 MANAGERS
                                                                                                                            53 IN-DEPTH MANAGER
                                                                                                                            INTERVIEWS
                                                                                                                            17 EMPLOYER BEST PRACTICE
                                                                                                                            CONVERSATIONS

This report charts employers’ current
approaches to achieving gender
balance and showcases the                                   How far do your organisation’s practices support gender balance?
best-in-class practices that are
starting to achieve real change.                                                                   Detractors                       Passives                        Promoters
                                                                  Recruitment practices
But it shows that many organisations                                       (NPS = 2%)
                                                                                                         34%                        29%                        37%
have much more to do, revealing the
                                                              Pay and reward practices
“broken windows” of gender bias                                           (NPS = 0%)
                                                                                                           38%                      23%                       38%
that still – for far too many women –
                                                                     Career and skills
mar the reality of work.                                     development (NPS = -7%)
                                                                                                           37%                         34%                       30%

We look at examples like Sky, where                           Flexible working practices                   39%                          31%                      31%
                                                                           (NPS = -8%)
39% of top leaders are now female.
We explore the roles of senior                                      Management culture                          48%                            31%                  22%
                                                                         (NPS = -26%)
leadership and line managers in
transforming business culture, with                         Mentoring and sponsorship                                 59%                           20%              21%
                                                                        (NPS = -39%)
an in-depth look at Deloitte which has
achieved its highest-ever proportion
of female partners. We also look at
the return-to-work schemes of UBS,
at the RAF’s commitment to opening
up opportunities for women, at Virgin                       Fixing the “Broken Windows”
Money’s drive to close its gender pay                       Employer practices are only part of
gap with real-time management data                          the story. In many organisations,
on pay, and more examples.                                  there remains a gap between rhetoric                                  81% OF
                                                            and reality, with female managers
The Blueprint for Balance                                   continuing to experience everyday                                    MANAGERS
The need for employers to learn from                        sexism and bias in how their                                         HAVE SEEN
such exemplars of best practice is                          companies work.
clear from our survey of managers
                                                                                                                             ‘BROKEN WINDOWS’
across the UK. At most, only one third                      Fixing these broken windows is the                                  BEHAVIOURS
of managers give their employers top                        most urgent challenge facing any
marks in any of the six categories of                       manager trying to support gender
CMI Women’s Blueprint for Balance.                          balance in their organisation.

NPS ratings: we applied the ‘Net Promoter Score’ approach to managers’ ratings of their employers in these six key areas. Scores of nine or 10 are called Promoters; seven or
eight are Passives; six or lower are Detractors. Detractors are deducted from Promoters to give the NPS.

                                                                                                                                                                                5
KEY FINDINGS
HOW EMPLOYERS ARE WORKING
TO ACHIEVE GENDER BALANCE

         1. LINE MANAGERS ARE KEY TO FIXING BROKEN WINDOWS
         Line managers play a pivotal role in changing behaviour and creating balanced workplaces. Their
         actions are decisive in the success or failure of efforts to create balance. Yet many of the women
         we interviewed have seen their line managers block, not champion, change.

         Without progress on the reality of line management behaviours, the rhetoric of senior leaders falls
         flat. Managers need to learn about the behaviours and practices that make a difference. They
         need to be empowered to call out bias and create change, while also being held to account for
         their impact.

         “Lots of male and some female managers don’t seem to know they are being unfair or sexist. They
         need to learn about and understand how institutionalised sexism works and develop strategies to
         overcome it at a personal and corporate level”, said a middle manager in an engineering company
         in South East England.

         2. MAKING GENDER A BUSINESS ISSUE: THE CHALLENGE
             FOR LEADERS
         Our case study employers all credit senior leadership as essential to achieving change. Effective
         leaders make gender a business issue – core to how the organisation works – not a “women’s
         issue” that can be sidelined.

         “Today, what is making a difference is all senior leadership talking and endeavouring to deliver the
         same line in a coherent way.”
         Air Vice-Marshal Warren James CBE, RAF

         Without vision, personal commitment, and linkage to strategic priorities, gender balance will
         remain out of reach. Yet our survey found that only 19% of junior and middle managers regard
         their senior leaders as being committed to gender balance – and senior leaders are in fact the tier
         of management least likely themselves to describe gender as a priority (42%).

         3. CREATE ACCOUNTABILITY: MEASURE IT, MANAGE IT
         Companies like Sky and Virgin Money have set targets for gender balance and ensure
         transparency in tracking and reporting progress. Diversity and inclusion is part of performance
         management, tying financial rewards and consequences to behaviours and delivery of targets.

         “If we set financial targets, there are repercussions, but there are no repercussions for missing
         gender balance targets.”
         A female head of Diversity and Inclusion in a professional services company.

         Use of metrics and targets is often lagging behind aspiration. Only 27% of managers report that
         their organisation has clear targets for gender balance.

6
4. BRINGING DIVERSITY TO LIFE: MAKING IT PERSONAL
At the same time as making gender a mainstream business issue, we found that effective
executive leaders talked about deep personal motives underlying their commitment to gender
balance. For instance, for male leaders that often related to a vision of the future for their
daughters.

“As far as my girls are concerned, they can do anything. I want to make sure they are ready
for work and that nothing is happening there that they can’t do.”
A male executive in a FTSE 100 financial services company.

It’s personal, genuine, relatable for other employees, and highly effective to engage others in
bringing gender balance policies to life.

5. B
    UILDING THE BUSINESS CASE: TALENT IS THE DRIVER
The most common driver for organisations focusing on gender balance is attracting and
retaining the best talent (cited by 58% of managers), at a time when employers face growing
competition for skilled people.

Programmes like the UBS Career Comeback programme attract women who have taken time
out of work, helping the company tap into a wealth of talent.

“As all organisations struggle to find women to fill senior leadership roles, we think we
have access to a new talent pool that with a bit of creative support can make a fabulous
contribution to the business.”
Carolanne Minashi, Global Head of Diversity & Inclusion at UBS.

6. THE JOB’S NOT DONE: TACKLING SECOND
    GENERATION BIAS
The overt discrimination of previous generations may not have completely disappeared. But
the most common challenge now is “second-generation” gender bias: behaviours flowing from
basic assumptions about working life or about the qualities required to succeed in leadership,
which reflect masculine values and men’s life situations.

“[Discrimination has] gone underground. Views are now more masked and only rear their
heads in passive, unobvious ways.”
A female managing director in a FTSE 100 financial services company

One female manager in a manufacturing company told us that “Women are still viewed as
‘admin’ in my organisation.”

And despite recent high profile gender debates in business and the media, some female
managers told us that gender is at risk of becoming invisible as a business priority. One female
leader told us of the dismissive attitude one male senior executive when talking about gender
balance in their company: “Well, don’t you think we’ve done enough?”

                                                                                                   7
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR BALANCE

Our recommendations highlight key actions for senior leaders,
line managers and diversity specialists alike to change cultures,
address the broken windows, and take action across the six
areas of CMI Women’s Blueprint for Business. See our full
recommendations on pages 32 to 33.

FIXING THE BROKEN
WINDOWS
• Call out, challenge, change               • Make change personal – tap into
  behaviours – too many “broken               people’s emotional connections and        TAKE ACTION
  windows” behaviours pass                    motivations to accelerate progress
  unchallenged. Make 2018 the year            towards gender balance. Leaders           Head to www.managers.org.
  for action. Every manager has a role        should open up about their personal       uk/BrokenWindows to:
  to play.                                    motivations for promoting the gender
                                              agenda, as well as making the                  Access our Blueprint for
• Share stories – listen to the day-to-       business case.                                 Balance Tool where you
  day experiences of women in your                                                           can download best practice
  organisation. Share your experiences      • Work with men as change agents                 resources, benchmark your
  of broken windows to find the best          – show how advances for women                  organisation and upload
  ways of addressing them and evolve          are advances for men too. Work with            and share your resources to
                                                                                             support the drive for
  a more inclusive culture.                   men to role model the behaviours
                                                                                             diversity
                                              needed to change cultures, like using
• Match reality with rhetoric –               flexible working for family reasons, to        Sign up to CMI Women,
  leaders and middle managers alike           make those behaviours the norm and             CMI’s network for managers
  need to be aligned in their behaviour       not the exception.                             who want to help us to
  to change to make sure that policies                                                       drive gender balance in
  and practices deliver real change.                                                         the workplace and create a
                                                                                             world-class pipeline
• Make it a business issue – leaders                                                         of women in management
  need to make gender balance a                                                              and leadership
  bigger management priority. Measure
                                                                                             Find out how to take
  it, set targets and report on progress.
                                                                                             part in our CMI Women
  Empower line managers to make
                                                                                             Broken Windows campaign
  change, and make them accountable                                                          which will identify the
  for their actions.                                                                         smaller, discriminatory
                                                                                             and sometimes accidental
• Reinforce the business case –                                                              behaviours that continue
  win the argument about whether                                                             to exist in our culture
  enough has been done on gender                                                             and contribute to gender
  by highlighting the business case for                                                      inequality.
  your organisation. Use the evidence
  that diversity delivers results and                                                   Follow us on Twitter
  show how gender initiatives address                                                   @CMI_managers
  key business needs, like helping to                                                   #CMIWomen
  attract and retain talent or improving
  how far leadership teams reflect your
  customers.

8
THE BLUEPRINT FOR BALANCE

BALANCED RECRUITMENT                                     SKILLS AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT
• Mandate diverse interview and selection panels for     • Tackle women’s perceptions that they have less access
  all roles, especially senior posts.                      to development opportunities by ensuring equal intake to
• Use blind CVs and insist on diverse candidate lists.     leadership programmes.
• Stop seeing career breaks as a shortcoming.            • Tailor any women’s leadership development programmes
  Recognise the value of alternative skill sets and        to the needs of the organisation. Be considerate about
  experience.                                              the language and promotion of single-sex programmes,
                                                           and make sure they support inclusion rather than
                                                           separateness, for instance by expanding women’s
                                                           networks to include men.
                                                         • Enhance return-to-work programmes for career-break
                                                           returners. Use one in 10 of the new management and
                                                           leadership Apprenticeships to support returners.

PAY AND REWARDS                                          MENTORING AND SPONSORSHIP
• Lead the way for gender balance by being               • Executive leadership teams should be tasked to sponsor
  transparent. Publish your pay gap and say how you        at least one high-potential woman and track their progress.
  will work to decrease this.                            • Support senior and middle managers in sponsoring female
• Analyse your data and link progress to                   middle managers. Provide guidance on how to advocate for
  performance targets and rewards.                         the person being sponsored.
• Ensure maternity leave and flexible working is not     • Support female team members in particular to become
  considered a penalty in pay negotiations.                mentored and sponsored, whether by senior women or by
                                                           men.

FLEXIBLE WORKING                                         PROMOTING LEADERSHIP EQUALITY
• Find managers at all levels who are role models for    • Keep up momentum at senior levels by applying best
  working flexibly for family reasons, especially men.     practices and sustaining the focus on the talent pipeline.
• Develop campaigns and training to make sure            • Target 50/50 balance. Why settle for less?
  flexible working really works and doesn’t create       • Focus on culture by tackling broken windows, engaging
  pitfalls for women. Focus on how it can enhance          men as agents of change, and making it personal.
  performance outcomes.
• Address the stigma around flexible working.
  Challenge presumptions based on the long hours
  culture.

                                                                                                                        9
GENDER BALANCE: THE OPPORTUNITIES
AND THE CHALLENGES

CMI and many others have set
out in recent years the benefits
of gender balance, as well as the
scale of the challenges we still
face to achieve it.

What’s the business case for                              An 18% ROI premium                      Diversity could add                   Diverse companies are
action? Diverse teams deliver                               for gender-diverse                 $12 trillion annually to                   21% more likely to
better results.                                             leadership teams.1                  the global economy 2                   out-perform competitors.4
                                                                                              and £150 billion a year to
A huge economic and social opportunity                                                       the UK economy 3 in 2025.
awaits if we create gender-balanced
organisations.

Employers in the UK have to redouble
efforts to recruit, develop and retain
female managers if they are to create
diverse and balanced organisations                                                                                                                 To achieve
                                                              By 2024,                                                                           equal numbers,
over the next decade. Right now,
women outnumber men at junior
                                                            the UK needs                                                                         1.5 million
levels, but too few make it through                       1.9 million                                                                              of the new
                                                           new managers                                                                          managers need
middle management and to the top of
                                                                                                                                                 to be women.6
an organisation.

While 66% of entry-level management
roles are occupied by women, this
reduces to just 40% of women in
middle management roles.5 To achieve                      the gender pay gap for UK managers
a 50/50 split of management jobs                          stands at 26.8%, with male managers
between men and women by 2024,                            on average out-earning female peers
the UK will need 1.5 million new female                   by £11,606 a year. The gap increases
managers.6                                                to £34,144 for director-level positions.7
                                                          With government regulations driving
Major inequalities also persist in pay.                   new levels of transparency about pay,
The latest analysis of management pay                     there is a renewed focus on closing the
from CMI and XpertHR revealed that                        gap.

1
  Credit Suisse, The GS Gender 3000 (2014 and 2016)                                 4
                                                                                      McKinsey, Delivering through Diversity (2018)
2
  McKinsey Global Institute, The Power of Parity: How Advancing Women’s Equality   5
                                                                                      Gender Pay Gap, CMI (2017) http://www.managers.org.uk/campaigns/gender-
   Can Add $12 Trillion To Global Growth (2015)                                        salary-survey-2017
3
   McKinsey Global Institute and McKinsey & Company United Kingdom, The Power of   6
                                                                                       CMI analysis of UK Commission for Employment and Skills data, from Working
    Parity: Advancing Women’s Equality in the United Kingdom (2016)                     Futures 2014-2024 (2016)
                                                                                    7
                                                                                        Gender Pay Gap, CMI (2017) http://www.managers.org.uk/campaigns/gender-
                                                                                         salary-survey-2017

10
FEW WOMEN REACH THE TOP
                                       Women don’t just face a glass ceiling – it’s a ‘glass pyramid’,
                                         with wider pay gaps for women the higher they reach.

                 DIRECTORS                                                                                                                               19%
                 26%    74%                                                                                                                           £34,144

                                                                                                                                                                 GENDER PAY GAP*
REPRESENTATION

                 SENIOR MANAGERS                                                                                                                         18%
                 36%    64%                                                                                                                           £19,852
                 MIDDLE MANAGERS                                                                                                                          10%
                 40%    60%                                                                                                                             £6,341
                 PROFESSIONAL                                                                                                                             11%
                 50%    50%                                                                                                                             £4,364
                 ENTRY LEVEL / JUNIOR                                                                                                                      4%
                 66% 34%                                                                                                                                  £960

                                            *Because the pay gap between men and women at senior levels is far bigger than junior levels
                                                 in real terms (not just percentage terms), it drives up the overall average to 26.8%.

  Broken Windows
  CMI’s research has also shown that
  gender discrimination is still rife in

                                                                                       @!*
  the workplace. 81% of managers
  have witnessed some form of gender
  discrimination or bias in the past
  year.8 Women were more likely to
  have observed such behavious (85%
  compared to 80%).
                                                                         85%                 80%                                      83%             62%
  According to CMI’s Creating Balanced                                  of women               of men                                of women         of men
  Workplaces research in February 2017,
                                                                             have witnessed                                          have witnessed women
  when asked what behaviours they                                         inappropriate remarks                                      struggling to make their
  had personally witnessed in the past                                                                                               views heard in meetings
  12 months, half (50%) of managers
  pointed to gender bias in recruitment/
  promotion decisions, while 42% said
  they had seen inequality in pay and
  rewards. Over two-thirds of managers
  (69%) said they saw women struggling
  to make their views heard in meetings,
  and four in five (81%) said they had                                                                                                     £
  witnessed inappropriate remarks                                                                                                                       £
  (such as comments with sexualised
  overtones masquerading as ‘banter’).

  This report builds on these themes
  to provide more detailed insights into                                  62%                 42%                                     61%             31%
  employers’ action to address these                                     of women              of men                                of women         of men
  challenges, the role of line managers,                                have witnessed gender                                        have witnessed gender
  and the reality of change – or its                                 bias in recruitment/promotion                                   bias in pay and rewards
  absence – for women in management.                                            decisions                                               in the workplace

 8
      Creating Balanced Workplaces, CMI (2017) https://www.managers.org.uk/~/media/Appius/Submissions/Creating-Balanced-Workplaces-Infographic.pdf

                                                                                                                                                                 11
1. BALANCED RECRUITMENT

                                                                                                         5%
                                                                                                 21%

                                                                                                                       70%

                                                                                               57%

As the first step in the employment
cycle, recruitment is a critical area
of focus for gender balance. Most                             5%
managers regard their recruitment                     21%
                                                                                             Interview questioning
processes as fair but it’s clear that
adoption of leading practices to                                            70%              Unconscious bias training or other
ensure real fairness and gender                                                              diversity training
balance remains low. Supporting                                                              I haven’t received any training
middle managers during the                          57%
                                                                                             Other recruitment training
process is the key to balanced
recruitment.

Leading employers use a range of
measures throughout the recruitment
                                            Figure 1: Managers receiving training on balanced recruitment
cycle to create balance. They include            Interview questioning
using gender-neutral job descriptions,
                                                  Unconscious bias training or other
blind-sifting applications, and insisting         diversity training
on diverse candidate lists.
                                                  I haven’t received any training
Employer interviews also highlighted        Recruitment    tops the
                                                 Other recruitment    list when
                                                                   training                   Perhaps as a result, “that” 62%
the need to think differently about         managers score their organisations                of women and 42% of men have
the capabilities and experience             against the six areas of the Blueprint            witnessed gender bias in recruitment/
needed for the job role: recognising        for Balance, with just over one third             promotion decisions.
that candidates may bring relevant          giving their organisation top marks for
skills from different contexts, or that     recruitment. But it’s equally clear that          More encouragingly, a large
sometimes the best hire is the person       many organisations could do much to               proportion of managers report having
who will excel in the role in six months’   improve their recruitment.                        received training that can support
time, not today. Strengths-based job                                                          gender-balanced recruitment, such
descriptions paying particular attention    Fewer than half of managers (48%)                 as interview questioning (70%) or
to behaviours, rather than a checklist      say that they have diverse panels                 unconscious bias training (57%).
of competencies, can encourage more         when recruiting candidates. And just              However, just over one in five don’t
female applicants.                          under one in five (19%) of managers               receive any training at all (see Figure 1).
                                            involved in recruitment report reviewing
While these practices may take some         CVs without names or other gender
time time and effort to implement,          identifiers.
identifying and attracting a gender-
balanced candidate pool is essential
for improving hiring rates of women.

12
Confronting apathy                               Harvey Nash, the global professional                 real terms, Parslow says that’s three to
Individual managers need support                 and executive service firm, always                   four times the national average in that
from HR and leaders to make positive             raise the question about balanced                    space. “Their motto is positive action,
change, while also calling out apathetic         recruitment with clients. “We were                   not positive discrimination.”
attitudes to balanced recruitment. One           talking to a female HR director at a
female managing director in financial            large publically-quoted organisation
services cited management apathy                 and mentioned we do a lot of work
as a block to hiring more women: “I              around gender diversity,” says Nigel
hear them complaining ‘Oh my God,                Parslow, Harvey Nash’s managing
now we’ve got to make sure we’ve                 director. “Her response was that
interviewed a woman.’ They are simply            this had no consequence for her
ticking a box.”                                  recruitment search. That was the end
                                                 of that relationship.”

                                                 By contrast, another client in the
                                                 technical industry has insisted on
                                                 having at least one qualified woman
                                                 on its list for any role for many years
                                                 and as a result they now have more
                                                 than 30% female technical staff. In
      CASE
     STUDY

  Sky’s focus on 50/50
  As part of its strategy to achieve a
  50/50 gender balance in their senior
  leadership team, Sky committed to
  50/50 shortlists for all senior roles. This          CASE
  was supported by efforts to attract                 STUDY
  talented women through targeted
  marketing, along with a dedicated
  Women in Leadership Sponsorship &
  Development programme.
                                                    Getting balanced                                  with its clients, resulting in a diverse
  “Our biggest driver is to reflect UK                                                                team, not only in terms of gender, but
  society, so the right thing to do is
                                                    recruitment right                                 also age, race and ability. The firm
  aim for 50/50, which gives us a really            When an individual leaves a team at               follows a robust and fair recruitment
  clear goal” said Katrina Watson, an               short notice, middle managers can face            process that relies on gender-neutral
  inclusion consultant at Sky. Through              a problem: find a quick replacement               language in job descriptions, gender-
  a business-led approach with                                                                        balanced short-lists, and having
                                                    versus taking the time to pursue balanced
  leadership accountability and working                                                               candidates meet several team members
                                                    recruitment. According to Rachael Hanley-
  in partnership with HR, Sky adopted                                                                 to ensure there is a broad range of
                                                    Browne, head of leadership consulting
  a balanced recruitment process that                                                                 feedback on a candidate’s fit.
                                                    at executive search firm Harvey Nash,
  included 50/50 short lists and diverse            balanced recruitment can take up to               “We measure the gender balance on all
  interview panels. This approach has
                                                    two to four weeks longer than traditional         of our internal searches,” says Hanley-
  seen female representation in their
                                                    recruitment.                                      Browne. “We look at how many women
  senior leadership team increase by a
                                                                                                      we’ve interviewed and appointed and
  third, from 29% to 39%.                           Harvey Nash is the only recruitment
                                                                                                      discuss this internally at team meetings.
                                                    business to have earned National                  We look for non-traditional evidence of
  Middle managers also work with the
                                                    Equality Standard accreditation                   competencies, such as experiences as a
  recruitment team during the recruitment
                                                    based on its efforts at meeting client            governor or finance committee member
  process to reinforce Sky’s commitment
  to gender balance.                                demands for more diverse shortlists and           at a school.”
                                                    contractors, particularly in the STEM
  “It’s getting the middle manager layer            space. “Our recruitment consultants               Adopting a broader view of experience
  to engage in conversations about                  are asking themselves if they are                 and a longer-term perspective in finding
  balanced recruitment,” said Watson.               challenging clients to push them for the          the right fit are hallmarks of effective
  “This gets them thinking not just about           ‘real’ criteria for the role, if they are using   balanced recruitment. Bringing more
  how to replace a current role, but about          fair processes in selection versus just           women into the business is not enough
  the make-up of their team, what kind of           looking for the ‘typical’ candidate,” says        to ensure a diverse and inclusive team.
  skills would best support and enhance             Hanley-Browne.                                    Offering a solid onboarding process
  their current team instead of replacing                                                             that helps new people develop good
  like for like. It’s having a trickle effect;      When recruiting for its own organisation,         connections and adapt to a new work
  new managers coming up see that this              Harvey Nash applies the same best                 context are also fundamental parts of
  is just how we hire at Sky.”                      practice for gender balance as it does            Harvey Nash’s internal hiring practice.

                                                                                                                                                  13
2. PAY AND REWARDS: WE STILL NEED
    TO TALK ABOUT PAY

The introduction in 2017 of
regulations requiring large employers           Equal pay or gender pay gap?
to report their gender pay gap has              Equal pay is straightforwardly about whether men and women are paid equally for equal or
been transformational in instigating            similar work. Less favourable treatment between men and women in pay and conditions
senior management conversations                 has been illegal since the Equal Pay Act of 1970.
about pay and progression. The                  The gender pay gap, however, describes any difference between the average pay of all
gender pay gap remains significant –            women and men in a group – such as those employed by a particular organisation. That’s
                                                the focus of the new regulations, which require the publication of mean and median pay
but many employers are implementing
                                                gaps for both salaries and bonuses.
coherent strategies for change.
                                                As such, the gender pay gap reflects a number of factors, especially the relative lack of
Leading organisations are already issuing       women in better-paid senior management jobs. A company could easily be in a situation
information about their gender pay gap,         where it pays women and men equally at every grade (that is, in compliance with equal
                                                pay law), but most of the women it employs are in junior roles while men dominate
including those we spoke to for this            higher-paid management ranks. In that case, the company would still have a gender pay
report. Deloitte first reported its gender      gap. For this reason, most employers currently have gender pay gaps.
pay gap in August 2015, reported again a
year later, and was one of the first
companies to report under the new             reports internally on pay data by                discussions and decisions on pay and
regulations, in July 2017, showing a mean     gender, while 8% personally know their           rewards. This contrasts with the
pay gap of 18.2%. Another early adopter       organisation’s gender pay gap. 23%               perception of male managers, 67% of
was PwC: its 2017 Gender Pay Report           are not at all confident that their own          whom believe there is a fair approach.
reports a disclosable pay gap of 13.7%,       pay is the same or similar to others at          While 41% of managers don’t think their
down from 15.2% the year before.              the same level.                                  organisations have a gender pay gap
Leading employers link their reported         Secondly, the growth of the conversation         (see Figure 2), this may be optimistic or
numbers clearly to strategies for             about pay appears to have created                reflect some confusion between the
change, which are typically wide              significant doubts among managers                concepts of equal pay and the gender
reaching, recognising that the gender         about how fairly their organisations             pay gap. Strikingly, only 8% of
pay gap is an outcome of multiple             approach pay and reward.                         managers say that they know what their
factors including women leaving the                                                            organisation’s gender pay gap actually
                                              Almost one in five (19%) of managers             is. As the reporting regulations bed in,
workforce, being disengaged by poor
                                              say they are ‘not at all’ confident that         this number will surely rise.
company cultures, and failing to reach
                                              their own organisation even provides
senior levels.                                                                                 The annual CMI/XpertHR analysis of
                                              equal pay for men and women at the
Pay transparency – a question of              same level or role. Women were far less          management pay data for 2017
trust?                                        confident: 60% of men were “very                 highlighted that an even bigger gender
While reporting regulations have              confident” while only 34% of women               gap exist for bonus payments, as much
triggered a reaction across corporate         were “very confident”. This discrepancy          as 46.9%. Perhaps as a result, 17% of
                                                                                               women say they do not believe that
Britain, our managers’ survey suggests        in perspective was echoed in interviews.
                                                                                               men and women are equally likely to
we are still in the foothills of change.
                                              Fewer than half (44%) of female                  receive bonuses if they meet
Firstly, we see low levels of transparency.   managers agree that managers have a              performance criteria, compared to just
Only 13% state that their company             fair approach with respect to gender in          5% of men.

14
26%

   I don’t think my organisation     No       peer, had been earning more than me                  among women returners. “I was at this
   has a gender pay gap                       – yet I got the promotion. I didn’t raise            level when I went on maternity leave,”
   Don’t know/not sure         Yes            it because now, as the team leader,                  says one female senior engineer. “I’ve
                                              I’m being paid more, so I feel it’s being            come back to the same level but took
                                              addressed. But pay still isn’t openly                a huge pay cut as I went to four days
                                              discussed. I did hear of one woman                   – although I’m still working full time in
                8%                            raising a freedom of information                     reality,” she says.
                                              request for salaries. It was raised at the
                                              risk committee and she was deemed                    Middle managers can sometimes take
      25%
                                              aggressive.”                                         the lead on creating change by
                               41%
                                                                                                   supporting return-to-work employees.
                                              Another senior female leader in strategy             As a female partner in professional
                                              routinely found she was paid less than               services recalls: “When I returned to
                                              her male team members. “Apart from                   work after having my daughter I went
                26%
                                              one exception, when I’ve had male                    part-time to four days a week. I asked
                                              direct reports, they’ve always been paid             my boss for a bonus to reflect all the
                                              more than me. And I’m the boss! There                extra days I did – i.e. five-and-a-half
Figure 2: Do managers know the
                                              is always a background story and                     days a week. I was told however that
   I don’t think my organisation      No      reasons why.” She also did not raise the
gender
   has pay  gap ofpay
       a gender    their
                      gaporganisations?                                                            bonuses are linked to technical hours in
                                              issue. “I wouldn’t wish for them to have
   Don’t know/not sure         Yes                                                                 my contract and that the HR rules
                                              less but it’s about fairness.” she says.
                                                                                                   could not be broken. But my manager
Time to start talking                         Pay and returners                                    instead increased my salary to
Talking about pay at work has                 Financial penalties were also apparent               compensate for the extra work.”
traditionally been considered taboo
or at least in poor taste. While pay
transparency may be starting to break
this long-standing silence, our interviews
with women revealed ongoing challenges
for women in requesting and receiving               CASE
pay rises.                                         STUDY
Unsupportive line managers were
sometimes felt to be at fault. One female
middle manager working in strategy was
told by her boss that she could not do         Tackling the gender pay                             attractiveness of its employment offer to
better than “meet expectations” on her                                                             men at entry levels while bolstering its efforts
                                               gap the Virgin Money way                            to retain women in the business through
performance review because she’d been
                                               How organisations respond to their data on          programmes such as maternity mentoring.
on maternity leave. This meant she had                                                             It has also made a commitment, when hiring
                                               the gender pay gap is perhaps as strong
no chance of a bonus. When she said            an indicator of their commitment to gender          externally, to match any flexible working
she wanted to talk about how she could         equality as the data itself. Virgin Money was       arrangements in place with the previous
earn a pay rise, her manager simply            another early adopter of transparency and,          employer, as a minimum offer.
rolled his eyes and refused to discuss it.     led by CEO Jayne-Anne Gadhia, have been             The approach to pay also means confronting
                                               champions of gender balance in through the
“I was shocked, but what can you do?”                                                              the numbers. Virgin Money enhanced its
                                               Women in Finance Charter.                           management decision-making tools, so that
In some instances, policies and                In June 2017 Virgin Money reported a mean           when line managers are considering allocating
processes are blamed – rather than line        pay gap of 32.5% – a gap that had come down         pay rises and bonuses, they have “real time
                                                                                                   data” and can immediately see the impact
managers. “I went to my boss to talk           from 36% the year before. It’s working to
                                               close the gap with an approach that includes        of their decisions on their gender pay gap.
about my pay after a good performance                                                              This visibility is helping managers become
                                               helping managers across the business
review,” shared one female senior              understand the impact of their pay decisions.       aware of any unconscious bias in decisions
manager in financial services. “I was told,                                                        on pay, and it’s backed by transparency with
                                               Matt Elliott, people director at Virgin Money, is   employees, all of whom receive individualised
‘we’re doing our best and recognise your
                                               robust in his description of the bank’s gender      letters about their pay, including their position
potential, but the process is driven by HQ     pay gap. “It isn’t something we can accept,”        within the market benchmark for their role.
and we can’t get around it.’”                  he says.
                                                                                                   Not only do line managers benefit from
When women do become aware of                  Looking deeper at the data, Virgin Money            this insight but the tool rolls up to the top
pay discrepancies with men, they are           discovered that it had far fewer men (27%)          executive levels. “I review the break down at
                                               working in customer service or lower paid           the executive committee level with the CEO,”
unlikely to raise it for fear of the           roles and a disproportionately high level           said Elliott. “As a result of our approach we
consequences. “When I became a                 of men (65%) in the best paid roles. The            look at every grade level and person to ensure
manager of the team, I saw their               company took steps to both improve the              fairness, so there is a lot of transparency...”
compensation,” says a female senior
manager in financial services. “One of my
male direct reports, who had been a

                                                                                                                                                      15
3. SKILLS AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT

The more senior the level of                          Disagree          Neither agree nor disagree          Agree
management, the rarer women
become: so supporting women’s            Female                  31%              9%                              60%
skills and career progression is
key. Employers need to ensure
women participate in leadership            Male           21%            13%                                 66%
development schemes; dedicated
programmes, networks and
innovative return-to-work schemes
are also supporting career mobility.     Figure 3: I’m happy with the career and skills development opportunities I have in my organisation

Our interviews highlighted that
employers are focusing on ensuring
that men and women participate in
development opportunities. But our
                                                     Disagree          Neither agree nor disagree          Agree          Don’t know
survey revealed differences between
the sexes in their experiences.          Female            27%               9%                             62%                               2%

Women are more likely to disagree that
they are happy with the development
                                           Male     11%      7%                                      81%                                      1%
opportunities at their organisation:
31%, compared to 21% of men (see
Figure 3).
                                         Figure 4: Opportunities for career development/progression in my organisation are equal for men
And there are strong differences                    and women
when asked if career development
opportunities are equal for men and
women. 27% of women disagreed with
this, compared to just 11% of men (see
Figure 4).

For the leading organisations we
interviewed, the response to this
challenge included ensuring gender
balance in the uptake of their
leadership development schemes, but
also dedicated development activity
for women: whether formal leadership
programmes, or broader support
networks.

16
For many
organisations, an
important part of
improving women’s
chances of career                         EXPERT VIEW
progression is to
support women’s                           Women’s leadership development – missed
                                          opportunities
networks.                                 Dr. Ruth Sacks, University of Northumbria

                                          Have we done enough on gender? When it comes to leadership development, the
                                          answer is clearly no.
Leadership programmes for                 One of the key routes to greater gender equality is through leadership and management
women                                     development programmes. There are women-only programmes, programmes created
                                          for professional groups or sectors, courses for men and women as well as conferences
The retailer Marks & Spencer              and a plethora of networking and social event groups. They can offer role models, case
                                          studies and Q&A sessions to share knowledge, experience and as well as challenge
engaged a leading university to help      attitudes, understanding and awareness.
it understand why women were not
                                          Many companies have internal women’s networks which offer safe spaces to discuss
progressing into more senior roles.       challenges and difficulties experienced in the company as well as mentoring and
It conducted 20 in-depth interviews       coaching schemes. There are also cross-organisational, industry and sector specific
with women as well as an open survey      groups which offer a more neutral context for such discussions and training.
of 200 women, which revealed three        These all increase awareness, maintain the conversations and debates about gender.
key areas to focus on including better    After all, there is an assumption that if you don’t speak about gender it’s not a concern
career planning, along with flexibility   or issue.
and inconsistency across the business;    Many of the leadership programmes for women focus on communication and
and perceptions of culture.               presentation skills, self-confidence and those areas of knowledge in which women
                                          feel they have least confidence and competence such as finance, governance and
                                          networking. Some courses target women specifically looking to gain board level
Building on this knowledge, M&S put
                                          executive or non-executive roles.
together a mentoring and leadership
                                          Non-gender specific executive development programmes also often address these
programme for women. The company
                                          topics equally well, also including unconscious bias training or similar such topics.
worked with leaders to help them think    Women will delve deeper into certain issues when they are in a women only group.
about who was in their leadership         But when the more challenging topics such as bias, assumptions, language, attitude
teams.                                    and meaning are addressed in mixed gender groups, skilled facilitators can encourage
                                          conversations which are challenging and generate better understanding, among both
                                          men and women, to support change.
Says Simmone Haywood, M&S’s
Head of Talent: “Colleagues across        These initiatives make a significant contribution to driving interest, engagement and
                                          actions to improve gender balance. The number of attendees, the frequency of events
the business are seeing the benefits
                                          and the popularity of leadership development programmes are evidence of this. Each of
of creating a more inclusive workplace    the programmes or events will have an impact on the participating individuals and the
and we’re in the process of rolling out   network they create because of being involved in the development experience.
a smarter working project to challenge    But have we done enough? In relation to leadership development, the answer is no.
the way people work and offer more
                                          It’s not enough because rarely are there incentives or encouragement for participants
freedom and flexibility.”                 to share their learning and understanding, or add value to their performance using their
                                          new perspectives, skills and knowledge if no-one appears to be interested: “I can’t tell
Women’s networks                          where my boss is on this”, as one interviewee told us of her male line manager. This
For many organisations, an important      means that the ideas, strategies, cross departmental relationships and networks that
part of improving women’s chances         are proposed and enthused over during the courses rarely transfer to organisation
                                          practice or implemented policy.
of career progression is to support
women’s networks. BlackRock is one        When women’s leadership development seems not to have any real value to the men
                                          with whom the female participants work, its value is massively reduced. If creating a
such company (see over).                  better gender balance is a business issue then learning and behaviour outcomes must
                                          have greater importance.

                                                                                                                                      17
CASE                                                                                           CASE
       STUDY                                                                                          STUDY

     BlackRock’s Women’s                           Part of the cultural integration was the        Deloitte’s Women in
                                                   inclusion of men as network members.
     Initiative Network                            Participating in WIN helped men become          Leadership programme
     Female leadership was in-built at asset       not only be better managers of women, but       When Emma Codd took over as
     manager BlackRock. Two of its eight           also better fathers, according to reports       managing partner for talent at Deloitte
     original founders in the 1980s were           from male members. The inclusion of men         UK, one of the first things she did was
                                                   in the gender conversation at BlackRock         to spend time understanding what
     women. But the firm recognised that
                                                   expanded, where men were invited to sit         was holding women back. “We had a
     this didn’t mean the entire organisation
                                                   on panels alongside women at WIN events.        women’s network and a target of 25%
     was diverse and wanted to create more
                                                   Mentorship roles, originally filled by senior   female partners, but we were seeing
     formal ways to connect and foster female
                                                   women, also became filled by men. By            a steady decline in women joining us
     talent. The acquisition of Barclays Global
                                                   engaging with WIN, many men reported            at entry level and were making slow
     Investors (BGI) in 2009, offered a key
                                                   ‘lightbulb’ moments of recognising              progress towards our target,” she
     opportunity. BGI, which had also been led
                                                   unintentionally biased behaviour and            explains.
     by a female CEO, had a well-established
                                                   began to more intentionally manage
     Women’s Initiative Network (WIN) with                                                         Her analysis led to a detailed Women
                                                   team dynamics and career advancement
     women who were deeply engaged in              opportunities.                                  in Leadership action plan, including
     investing in each other’s growth.                                                             activities to increase the number of
                                                   The Women’s Leadership Forum (WLF) is a         women the firm recruits, to ensure
     BlackRock soon appointed Kara Helander        year-long leadership programme for senior       development opportunities are clearly
     as global head of philanthropy and            women at the firm that complements              available and to provide a working
     diversity. Helander was formerly the          other leadership programmes by focusing         environment enabling women to
     head of corporate social responsibility       on specific challenges women face in            balance a successful career with family
     at BGI and had worked to enhance the          advancing in the organisation. “We’re           life or other commitments outside the
     scope and scale of WIN. Senior women          working to continually have more diversity      workplace.
     from both legacy firms came together          in key high leverage roles,” says Jonathan
     to create BlackRock WIN. They focused         McBride, Helander’s successor. It has           Other key elements of the plan to help
     the network on attracting and retaining       extended its Women’s Leadership Forum           advance women included a return-
     women, developing an inclusive culture,       to director level and is expanding the          to-work programme for individuals
     and keeping its activities business-focused   concept of the programme for a wider set        who have been out of professional
     WIN grew quickly – soon there were            of vice-presidents. “We’re taking what          services workforce for more than two
     chapters in every major office – and it                                                       years; coaching for primary carers
                                                   worked for women and applying it across
                                                                                                   returning from maternity/parental leave
     became a catalyst to integrating cultures.    broader populations,” says McBride.
                                                                                                   (and mandatory sessions for their line
                                                                                                   managers) about balancing career
                                                                                                   and family; and an advocacy-based
                                                                                                   sponsorship programme. Deloitte also
                                                                                                   offers flexible or agile working for all –
                                                                                                   see page 22 for more.

18
“As soon as I was promoted, I fell pregnant and I then
  spent my whole middle stage of my career having two
  children. My career slowed down and it took me about
  three years to get promoted again, compared to my
  peers who did it in one-and-a-half years.”

                                              CASE
                                             STUDY

Returning from career breaks               Career comebacks at UBS                       offering such a model for permanent roles:
                                                                                         “Internships may lead to a real hire, but it’s
                                           Swiss wealth manager and investment           hard to find data on real conversion rates.
Parenthood is widely recognised as         bank UBS has a unique proposition with        We wanted to guarantee the best outcome.
one of the most critical challenges        its Career Comeback programme aimed           Two years later, we know both approaches
facing women’s career progression. But     at people who have taken a career break       have impact but our model for permanent
leading employers do not accept that       of a minimum of two years. Different to its   roles makes a strong commitment from the
                                           programmes for UBS maternity returners,       outset for both our Hiring Managers and
it must mean women are condemned
                                           Career Comeback offers permanent              the candidates.”
to fall behind their male peers as their   positions and is aimed for those outside of
careers progress.                          UBS who, for whatever reason (but largely     Minashi understands the financial
                                           childcare related), took a career break.      impact for women returners. Many
                                                                                         organisations discount remuneration on
One interviewee’s experiences were         “We’re aiming for director and senior-        these programmes and it can be hard to
typical of how parenthood can interrupt    level roles and we’ve found a huge            bring salary levels back in line, even if the
career progression. “As soon as I was      wealth of talent that were operating at       internships lead to permanent roles. “We
promoted, I fell pregnant and I then       that level before taking a break, but are     have a threshold of quality in skills and
                                           being overlooked by standard recruiting       experience and we’re aiming for director-
spent my whole middle stage of my          methods” says Carolanne Minashi, global       level and senior roles,” she says. “We’re
career having two children. My career      head of diversity and inclusion at UBS. “As   not entertaining the idea of discounting
slowed down and it took me about           all organisations struggle to find women      pay. If people are coming at senior levels,
three years to get promoted again,         to fill senior leadership roles, we think     we are paying them at senior levels.”
compared to my peers who did it in         we have access to a new talent pool that
                                           with a bit of creative support can make a     Restarting a career after a break period
one-and-a-half years.”                     fabulous contribution to the business.”       is not straightforward and challenged
                                                                                         UBS’s standard recruitment practices.
CMI has called for employers to draw       So far, its commitment to female returners    “Algorithms don’t work in this case,” says
                                           is paying dividends with 100% retention       Minashi. Line managers and recruiters
on their Apprenticeship Levy funding       after a one-year pilot. The programme         need training and support to help them
to support returners, by dedicating        has two offerings; a conventional 20 week     look past the break and only at the
one in ten Apprenticeships to              internship-style programme offered in New     skills competencies and life experience
parental returners. Leading employers      York and a permanent-hire programme that      the candidate brings, candidates need
meanwhile are actively working to          runs in Zurich and London. “We wanted         a higher level of touch and a softer
                                           to start with both offerings in our pilot     approach. We’re mindful that this can be a
support parents returning to the           year to see which approach was the most       nerve-wracking process and a confidence
workplace, including those coming          effective.”                                   test for many returners. Even if we can’t
back from extended career breaks –                                                       find a match for someone, we’ll suggest
                                           According to Minashi, UBS is the only
like, for instance, UBS.                   financial services company currently
                                                                                         other organisations for them.”

                                                                                                                                          19
4. MAKING FLEXIBLE WORKING
    WORK FOR EVERYONE

Flexible working is an important                                                                                                                                             70%
                                                                     Flexi time/flexible scheduling
component of creating gender                                                                                                                             49%
balance. The majority of managers                                                                                                                                            70%
regard it positively and enjoy                                  Working from home on occasion
                                                                                                                                                             54%
its benefits, but leaders need
                                                                                                                                                                          67%
to prevent any ‘stigma’ being                                     Reduced hours (e.g. part-time)
                                                                                                                           18%
associated with flexible work by
                                                                                                                                                40%
finding role models to normalise its                                                    Job sharing
                                                                                                                 7%
use for family reasons, especially
by men.                                                                                                                                   34%
                                                                                Compressed hours
                                                                                                                   9%

Flexible working can mean many                                                                                                  23%
                                                                                 Term time working
things: working from home, working                                                                            4%
compressed hours, term-time hours,                                                                                       16%
                                                                  Designated home office worker
part-time or flexi-time working. It has                                                                        5%
become an umbrella term to describe                                                                                      15%                                       Offered by
                                                                                  Annualised hours                                                                 organisations
all kinds of working outside traditional                                                                    2%
9-to-5 office hours. However it’s                                                                                 7%                                               Used by
defined, it’s widely regarded as an                                      My organisation does not                              22%
                                                                             offer flexible working                                                                managers
important way to improve gender
balance, for two main reasons.
                                                               Figure 5: T
                                                                          ypes of flexible working

Firstly, allowing women to work flexibly
– for family or non-family reasons – and
produce the same output as non-
flexible workers allows them to have
the same opportunities for promotion.
Secondly, and simultaneously, allowing
men to work flexibly can make it easier
for families to rebalance family duties.

Our survey found 78% of managers use
some form of flexible working, with 70%
using flexi-time, flexible scheduling or
working from home on occasion (see
Figure 5).

9
    Chung, H. & van der Horst, M. (2018) Women’s employment patterns after childbirth and the perceived access to and use of flexitime and teleworking. Human Relations 71(1): 47-72

20
Two-thirds of managers agree that                                             More difficult to collaborate/work                                                                          43%
                                                                                            together with others
flexible working has supported their
career. This is particularly true for                                                 Difficulty in managing staff                                                        33%
female managers (71%, compared to                                I don’t think my organisation experiences and                                                26%
57% among male managers).                                            challenges as a result of flexible working
                                                                                  More work for those who do                                             23%
                                                                                               not work flexibly
Managers also endorse flexible
working’s benefits for organisations.                                                     Conflict between workers                                       23%
Just under half (48%) believe that                                         Increased stigma towards parents/                             13%
it makes for a more productive                                                                carers/women
workforce. 64% agree that it creates a                                         Increased costs to the employer                         12%
more family-friendly culture while just
over a third (37%) agreed that flexible                          Figure 6: Perceived problems of flexible working
working creates a more gender-equal
workforce.

Those managers who use flexi-time,                               Policy and practice of flexible                                  where a culture of “working everywhere
working from home on occasion and                                working can often be at odds                                     and all the time” develops.
job sharing were the most likely to give                         Could flexible working generate effects
their organisation top marks on the                              that hold back, rather than advance,                             So a culture of presenteeism can
question of whether its flexible working                         gender balance? There is increasing                              penalise both men and women for
practices support gender diversity.                              evidence of significant pitfalls that                            choosing to work flexibly. “Even though
These arrangements can be crucial in                             managers need to avoid.                                          I’m 80% now, I don’t just work four
allowing women to stay in employment                                                                                              days a week,” said a female partner at
after childbirth.9                                               While intended to support better                                 a professional services firm.
                                                                 work-life balance, flexible working can
Getting flexible working right:                                  instead lead to longer working hours                             Challenging the “flexibility stigma”
managers’ challenges                                             and overtime hours.11 According to Dr                            Recent studies show one third of all
Just over a quarter of managers report                           Heejung Chung, University of Kent,                               workers identify a “flexibility stigma”
that their organisation experiences no                           there are three key reasons.12                                   attaching to workers who work flexibly
challenges in implementing flexible                                                                                               – attitudes that flexible workers are less
working, but many did perceive                                   First, to reciprocate for the favourable                         productive than full time colleagues and
challenges. Top of the list was making it                        work arrangements “gifted” by their                              contribute less.13
harder to collaborate effectively (43%).                         employers, workers expend greater
                                                                 effort, and increase their motivation                            The evidence suggests men may
Flexible workers are also perceived as                           and commitment, which leads them                                 be more likely to feel that flexible
being more difficult to manage: one-                             to work harder and/or longer hours.                              workers are not as productive, but
third of managers state that it can be                           Where there is negative stigma towards                           ‘flexibility stigma’ can affect both men
difficult to manage team members who                             flexible working (see below), workers                            and women. In a series of studies,
work flexibly.                                                   may feel they have to work even harder                           researchers found men more likely
                                                                 to compensate.                                                   to feel they were penalised for taking
Only 13% identify a challenge of                                                                                                  leave after the birth of a child and less
stigma associated with flexible                                  Second, employers can increase                                   likely to get pay rises or get promoted;
working – though this splits 17% of                              work intensity through the back door                             while women who worked reduced
women and just 10% of women. Our                                 when work becomes detached from                                  hours were given less meaningful
interviews add to recent academic                                fixed hours and more difficult to                                assignments.14
research suggesting that “flexibility                            regulate in terms of hours worked.
stigma” presents crucial pitfalls for                            This is especially true when workers                             Those themes were borne out in our
organisations to avoid.10                                        “voluntarily” work longer hours to meet                          survey and interviews. The risks were
                                                                 demands at work or when there are                                particularly recognised by women. 37%
                                                                 incentives for workers to work harder.                           of female managers felt that promotion
                                                                                                                                  prospects may be harmed by flexible
                                                                 Third, flexible working alongside the                            working, compared to a quarter of
                                                                 development of technology, and                                   men.
                                                                 increased competition in today’s
                                                                 workplaces can lead to “enabled
                                                                 intensification” and blurred boundaries,

10
    Williams, J.C. (2013) The Flexibility Stigma. Journal of Social Issues 69(2)                 13
                                                                                                     hung, H. (2017) Work Autonomy, Flexibility and Work-Life balance Final report.
                                                                                                    C
11
    Lott, Y. and Chung, H. (2016) Gender discrepancies in the outcomes of schedule                 Canterbury, University of Kent. http://wafproject.org/research-outputs/final-report/
     control on overtime hours and income in Germany. European Sociological Review               14
                                                                                                    Williams, J.C. (2013) The Flexibility Stigma. Journal of Social Issues, Vol 69, Issue 2.
     32(6): 752-765. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/esr/jcw032
   Chung, H. (2017) Work Autonomy, Flexibility and Work-Life balance Final report.
12 

   Canterbury, University of Kent. http://wafproject.org/research-outputs/final-report/

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