Women high-flyers in search of the "cultured" company
Eve-olution 2005 Survey findings published 14th September 2005

Fat salaries, fast cars and "playing the corporate game" are of no interest to ambitious senior business women according to the findings of the "Women Leaders Speak Out" 2005 Survey. Over 650 women in Director and Senior Management positions took part in the survey conducted by Eve-olution, the leading diversity training company. The results show that women want a corporate environment which recognises that their strengths and skills are different from male colleagues, but equally valuable for the company"s success.

They are attracted to a "cultured" company – one that has moved into a whole new way of operating by embracing men and women as equal but different in the Board Room. Such a company is highly sophisticated in its training and development of staff, positively rewards effort and achievement and places a value on communication, team building and relationships.

The Survey, involving women from major corporate and financial services firms, is a wake-up call for many employers who have yet to attain "cultured" status. Women leaders comment in the Survey that they can see through the rhetoric of so-called equal and diverse employment policies and would rather leave than accept the status quo.

Despite significant efforts over several years to recruit, develop and retain talented senior women, executive ranks are still dominated by men. Women make up just 9.7% of all Directorships in the FTSE 100 (DTI Women & Equality Unit 2004)

The 2005 Survey conducted by Eve-olution attempts to address women"s perceptions about barriers to their progress and why some choose to leave corporate life. Many myths perpetuate about the exodus of women, not least that they are leaving to raise families or are not career motivated. This research shows that these reasons account for little when women think of leaving. The respondents are moving away from a culture which fails to acknowledge "difference", or interprets difference to mean inferior.

Key survey findings:

• 67% believe that they are not recognised or promoted on an equal basis to men

• 79% agreed that companies do not place a high enough value on skills such as communication, team building and relationships

• 82% believe that not enough time and money is invested in training men and women to work more effectively together

• Eight out of ten women say that having a female role model is important for career success

• 99% of women believe that personal development and learning are motivators for them in the workplace

Tracey Carr, founder and CEO of Eve-olution said: "the survey illustrates that women leaders are motivated by values, differences and corporate culture. Women want the debate to move away from family and childcare issues to the more challenging areas of stereotypes, perceptions and prejudices. It is vital that companies recognise and acknowledge gender differences and encourage open discussion around the issues."

Speaking to delegates at today"s launch, Event Sponsor Clare Logie, Director, Women in Business at Bank of Scotland said: "As we work to understand and appreciate the subtleties around challenges for today's female leaders, qualitative evidence such as this is crucial in helping to define and address recurring negative trends so that we may work to improve the numbers of and environment for women at the top of organisations in the UK."

Jan Babiak, Managing Partner Information Systems Assurance and Advisory Services at Ernst & Young is living proof that talented women can make it to the top as they influence the creation of the right culture. "A truly 'cultured' organisation, as rare as they are, provides huge benefits to both men and women. Those leaders still in denial on this subject often think this is about positive discrimination - the reality is that this is about creating a people and service proposition that delivers very real competitive advantage. The opportunity to realise a competitive advantage is now - as the survey clearly indicates a majority of organisations do not yet recognise this gap in their performance."

Tracey Carr is urging senior managers to listen to what the women in the survey are saying: "Most women don"t speak out about these issues and then find reasons to leave. If companies chose the "cultured" approach to commerce they will soon attract and retain some of the best talent around. That"s got to be good for business."

Eve-olution are working towards creating many more "cultured" companies in partnership with the Opportunity Now campaign led by Business in the Community, and existing clients such as, Barclays Bank, Citigroup, Alliance & Leicester and Invensys. The work involves in-house programmes such as "Mars and Venus at Work" and the Creative Female Leader.

Conclusions:

• Gender differences in values, skills and behaviour are now recognised as a a practical reality by the overwhelming majority of senior women.

• Gender differences, therefore, need to be recognised as probably the most fundamental component of all the diversity issues that an organisation faces.

• In respect of gender differences, the concept of 'diversity awareness training' needs to be actively transformed to one of becoming a truly 'cultured' organisation.

• The goal of the 'Cultured Organisation' is to provide each gender with a deep understanding of gender differences and how best to put this knowledge into action on behalf of the business. This will allow staff to create environments in which each gender can thrive and achieve optimal performance.

Ultimately this leads to combined male/female workforces that are mutually energised and produce exceptional results for the business overall.

Notes

1. 'Women Leaders Speak Out' survey findings are available on www.eve-olution.net.

2. The research was part funded by the European Social Fund as part of the "Breaking New Horizons" action research project.

3. Eve-olution Ltd provides diversity consultancy and training in the UK, US and Europe. The team have collectively worked in diversity for over 40 years, with expertise that covers the law, psychology, gender, cross-cultural differences, globalisation, communications and strategy. info@eve-olution.net

To see a presentation slideshow of the survey analysis and its findings, you can view it here (size: 713kb). You can also download it onto your hard drive by right-clicking the link and selecting the "Save as" option on the menu that appears on your screen. You will need a copy of Microsoft Powerpoint to view the slideshow. Alternatively, you can download a free copy of Microsoft's Powerpoint Viewer utility (size: 2789kb). from the Microsoft corporate site.

You can view details of our 2003 Survey here.

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