eve-olution newsletter August 2004
Announcement - Patricia Hewitt endorses eve-olution's work with the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS)
eve-olution recently completed a research project on behalf of the MPS looking into the needs of part time and flexible workers. We are very grateful to Patricia Hewitt for her continuing support of our work and her endorsement for this project.
Contents
- Statistic of the month
- Book of the month
- Jane Campion – eve-olution's strategic coach
- Sexism and the City by Tracey Carr, CEO eve-olution
- Equality and human rights in the 21st century, eve-olution's legal correspondent
- Creative female leader programme - Who's Who?
Statistic of the month
'One in 12 people in Britain was born overseas – almost double the proportion of 50 years ago'. Source: Office of National Statistics
Book of the month
The brand you by Tom Peters
Fifty ways to transform yourself from an 'employee' into a brand that shouts distinction, commitment, and passion! There is no doubt that we are going through a period of dramatic change. Business is having to re-invent itself and the people who work in our businesses are having to adapt, learn and grow quickly. Be distinct or extinct! Read how to create a unique, high performance highly paid Brand You in this pocket size book that you can slip into your handbag or case!
Jane Campion – eve-olution's strategic coach
Summer Speed
eve-olution's strategic coach Jane Campion presents another summer speed tool for you. Last month you learned how to hold that holiday feeling – or any resourceful state – to empower you when you're back in the thick of things. This month, she has recorded her top tip for goal setting and getting. Invest in your success and call 0870 262 3044 any time. And have fun!
Sexism and the City
by Tracey Carr, CEO eve-olution
Nobody can have failed to notice the recent spate of high profile cases of 'sexism in the City' and some of you may have read that in late June a federal judge ruled that a sex discrimination case against Wal-Mart covering 1.6 million women can go forward as a class action, making it the largest civil rights case in history. This isn't just bad news for Wal-Mart this is bad news for business. The focused approach – providing hard numbers showing a glass ceiling (rather than claims for sexual harassment) creates a map for other possible suits.
The cost to the company could be up to $8 billion
How does a situation like this arise when it is predicted that by 2010 there will be a 10 million worker shortage in the US? The problem is even worse in Western Europe! Why are there still so many companies that persist with the traditional male dominated working model and ignore 50% of the potential talent pool when there aren't enough skilled people to go round?
This is a serious strategic issue – it's not about women's rights or feminism or corporate social responsibility. It is about common sense. How is your organisation coping with the changing demographics in the workplace? What are the implications for recruiting and retaining women? How are your re-informing your organisations' culture?
Following our July newsletter, I received an email from a CEO who pointed out that in 'celebrating; gender difference we were consigning men and women to separate silos for ever and that we should be embracing unity and shared experience between the sexes.
I totally agree – and I say that men and women are fundamentally different and that the route cause of attrition in the female workforce and the subsequent loss to the company of key talent, is as a direct result of a lack of understanding between the sexes.
Men and women have different ways of communicating, they have different drivers, handle conflict differently. How many companies in the UK are tackling this issue, bringing the conversation out of the closet and promoting unity through understanding? One of our clients, Barclays Bank, does take this subject seriously and as Deputy Chief Executive, John Varley, said 'Change is uncomfortable; sharing power, if you want to think about it that way, is uncomfortable. No wonder then that our heads of diversity often feel they are swimming up stream. We have the duty and the power to make that journey much easier, cultures can be changed but only if enough of us – white men – want the change.'
How many organisations in the UK really want change in this area? I suggest very few. Too few organisations are willing to allocate resources in this area. Countless large Blue Chip organisations in the UK have told us 'we have no budget for gender diversity'
Compare this to the attitude at Deloitte who had had an initiative for the retention and advancement of women for 10 years. They have proved that this is both the right thing to do and the smart thing to do. The gender gap in turnover has all but been eliminated and they have gone from 97 women partners in 1993 to 617 in 2003. What difference has this made to the bottom line? From 1992 to 2003 Deloitte's revenues increased from $1.93 billion to $5.93 billion.
It seems to me the real risk is actually to do nothing to promote the inclusion of women.
eve-olution provides a full range of support end to end from fact finding and research to full implementation of tailored development initiatives such as Mars and Venus at Work, Senior Women's Development Programmes and Male and Female Colleagues working together. Call us on 01483 688360.
Tracey Carr, CEO eve-olution
Equality and human rights in the 21st century
eve-olution's Legal Correspondent
You may have seen that the Government is proposing the creation of a single Commission for Equality and Human Rights. This single Commission will replace the Commission for Racial Equality, the Equal Opportunities Commission and the Disability Rights Commission. The Rt. Hon. Patricia Hewitt, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry paid tribute to the enormous amount of work the three existing commissions have already done in a speech entitled "Equality and Human Rights in the 21st Century", delivered in London in May of this year.
Interestingly, she went on to explain some of the reasons for the proposed change. "All of us start from a simple belief: that everyone is of equal value, entitled to respect for their individual dignity. That's the ethical case for equality".
Alongside this is the economic case, which has become increasingly important in a world where businesses depend on our ability to harness the talent and potential of everyone.
Patricia Hewitt gave three reasons as to why it is time that one Commission should replace their three existing Commissions.
Firstly, people have multiple identities. We need to see people as a whole, not put them into specific boxes. It should not be the responsibility of an individual group who experiences discrimination to sort out the problem, but society as a whole.
"People's identities are multiple and complex. We have to keep challenging the prejudice and discrimination that hold people back but we have to do that in a way that recognises the whole person, not just one aspect of them that the prejudiced and the discriminators pick on" says Ms Hewitt.
Secondly, we need to move from a perception that equality is about ‘minorities' to a belief that equality is for everyone. The new Commission is part of an effort to create a culture of human rights, a culture of equality, which embraces everyone. She gives the issue of diverse school results as an example of the complexity of backgrounds, opportunity and disadvantage. The aim is to achieve respect and recognition for everyone's individual identity irrespective of how that identify is made up and perceived by others.
Thirdly, the Commission will be able to deal with conflicting rights. The Commission can provide a more holistic view and provide a broader context within which it can resolve how people's human rights will best be respected for the benefit of society as a whole. Patricia Hewitt strongly believes that one Commission will be better able, at a practical level to deal with the overall impact future discrimination legislation will have on businesses and public service employers. Business increasingly needs one source of support and advice and this can be obtained from the Commission for Equality and Human Rights.
Patricia Hewitt finally mentions a number of ways the White Paper on the subject aims to achieve the potential of such a Commission. Interestingly one of the very few specific issues mentioned by her is the intention that steps will now be taken to promote equality of opportunity between men and women. It is obviously seen as a fundamental requirement for the future of diversity, equality and Human Rights.
It will certainly be very interesting to see how this matter develops and certainly the Government appears to recognise the importance and be working very hard to understand and address the complexities arising from these diversity issues
Creative Female Leader Programme
We are now approaching our 4th year of running this ground-breaking seminar at Farnham Castle. We would like to thank all those women who have helped to shape and inform the content over the years. Women from all professions who read like a 'Who's Who' of senior women in business.
Special thanks go to Jayne Chace for further enhancing this seminar by sharing her insights as a global senior female exec who really has been in Who's Who – many times!