eve-olution latest newsletter - November 2009
Contents of newsletter this month
- Introduction, message from Tracey Carr
- Boosting business performance by harnessing gender differences,
by guest feature writer Nikki Walker, Cisco
- BAE Systems taking the Gender Bull by the Horns
Introduction
I guess we are getting toward that reflective time of year when we ask ourselves ‘what have I achieved this year?’ With three teenage girls, and me being an only parent, Xmas comes all too soon and takes up great swathes of time during December. So, I have been asking myself the tough questions early this year because it has been a tough one – ‘What have I achieved?’ Well, I started the year out a compete technophobe and didn’t really have any intention of ending the year being confident talking about Java/Flash, Flv versus live streaming, blocked ports, firewalls and security settings.
Whoa, sometimes the elastic band stretches in directions we didn’t anticipate – the key is not to let it ping back again or it will hurt! Believe me there have been times this year when I have felt like letting go of the stretched elastic band but I am stubborn at heart and if something needs to be understood then I will do my best to understand it.
Anyway, how does this all help you? Well, we are bringing you an amazing learning platform on Gender IQ, full of rich content, videos, workbooks, accreditation, articles, ask the expert and fascinating interviews – all for less than the cost of a good lunch. I’ve also recently been at Cisco learning about Telepresence which is a wicked futuristic technology for live meetings. I will be running a Telepresence event some time in December which will then be recorded and will be available to you along with our new time-management planners. The package is called ‘Grab your future by the horns’ and if you haven’t had a good 2009 it is time now to set a different expectation for 2010. If you would like to take part in a free session on this some time in December then please email me at tracey@eve-olution.net: I would prefer to have people who have attended my workshops or seminars before but it’s not essential. What is essential is that you can get to a Cisco site and are willing to be filmed in our workshop session so that you can experience Telepresence too.
Go on ...Grab your future by the horns!
Boosting business performance by harnessing gender differences,
Guest feature writer Nikki Walker, director of Inclusion & Diversity for European Markets, Cisco
To have a truly balanced organisation, with the ability to really connect with all its customers, it’s vital that we have real participation from both sexes, and recognise the value and difference that both bring. There has been several pieces of research done, by Mckinsey and Catalyst, that show that men and women in general tend to have different strengths and that the most successful organisations leverage the power of both sexes. With women making up half the talent pool, and 60% of university graduates, they represent a natural resource that should be mined for their energy and talents.
Why are women still so under represented in organisations, and why does it get worse the higher up organisations you go? These are questions that many organisations are asking themselves in a desire to create fair and balanced organisations for all.
Many women still feel that they have to be better than men to succeed in the workplace, according to a new research project, entitled ‘The Styles of the Sexes’ conducted by Cisco and Gender IQ.
The study, found that 45% of working women agreed that women have to be better than men to succeed in the workplace. In contrast, just 26% of male respondents believed this to be true.
It also found clear differences in the way men and women work. Over half of male respondents (53%) believe that ability is more important than personality in the workplace, compared to just 39% of women. This is a clear example of the gender differences that exist within the workplace. Many organisations overlook these differences, rigidly sticking to their belief in gender equality over gender intelligence. Understanding the differences between men and women and leveraging the difference is a mainstream business imperative, directly linked to the performance of both individual and corporate success.
Cisco strongly believes in the importance of understanding the different styles and values of each employee and is committed to creating a truly inclusive and diverse culture throughout the organisation. This commitment is being delivered through a range of initiatives driven by the Global Inclusion and Diversity Council which integrates Inclusion and Diversity into business processes and operations at all levels of the organisation.
At the heart of these initiatives is collaboration and dialogue, which are central to Cisco’s culture. We regularly hold roundtables with our staff to build a greater understanding of diversity issues -including gender differences - as well as encouraging everyone to participate in ongoing conversations over interactive forums and employee networks.
Our research supports other studies and statistics which show there is still a long way to go before gender differences are fully embraced and recognised across all organisations; but, by moving the debate away from sexual stereotypes and towards the key issue of business performance created by a greater awareness of gender differences, we hope to encourage dialogue and action.
BAE Systems taking the Gender Bull by the Horns
It was with great pleasure that I travelled up to the BAE site at Lancashire this month to share the platform with Mark Kane, MD of Military Air Solutions. Mark gave us all a full and interesting talk on the business case for increasing female participation in BAE’s workforce, as Mark stated ‘The changing demographics of our home markets will affect the business. With the increasing richness of diversity in the world and in the workforce, we need to expand our outlook and use creative strategies to be successful.’
Following this it was my turn to bring the subject to life through an over-view of what else is happening ‘out there’ in other companies, in different countries, and a look at where Britain sits compared to other countries. Shockingly we sit behind Malawi and Tajikistan on the Gender pay gap, a fact that always brings a gasp from the audience! We looked at slides and a funny film to bring the Biological facts to life and even the technical support guys at the back of the room were intrigued and making such comments as ‘now I know why my wife has been saying xx for all these years!’
It is never enough for me to give a speech or workshop – no matter how short – without leaving people with some practical tips on what they can do differently. In this case I designed a short exercise where the participants had to imagine a stressful Monday morning meeting session where a confidential email had gone to the client by mistake. In pairs (knowing what they had learnt about the skills traits and abilities of the Gender scale) they had to practice their preferred style and their non preferred style.
A lot of learning can happen even in a short workshop and I know, from speaking to my contact at BAE this morning, that people are still talking about that session and sharing the handouts that I gave out to them.
Vive la difference!