Leadership and business training key to getting more women on boards

In a recent People Management article, Louise Redmond, the Bank of England’s HRD, has said that completing an MBA early on in her HR career has endowed her with a powerful combination of business knowledge and functional expertise. But Redmond pointed out that completing an MBA is not only about having letters after one’s name.

According to her, “The most important thing is for women to think about what jobs they are going to do during their career because there are always some jobs that are more likely to get you on to a board or the senior executive team.” She added that it was important for women to come out with the strongest possible qualification. 

Keith Dugdale, KPMG’s global head of recruitment, said: “We’re working hard to retain and promote our senior women. What’s really interesting is that we’re learning a lot from our Asia Pacific practices, where they’ve got substantial numbers of women in senior positions.”

He said at KPMG the issue wouldn’t be solved by more women completing MBAs because it isn’t a mainstream entry requirement for them. “It’s more about making sure that at the graduate entry level we’ve got 50:50 intakes or intakes that reflect the number of women in higher education. And once we’ve got them in the organisation we make sure we promote and retain them in equal measures.”

Research data on gender discrimination in the workplace featured in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette indicates that if women had the same exposure as men to programs grooming them for top leadership roles, there would be more females populating executive offices.

"What our data showed is that they are stacking the deck against women right from the start," said Ann Howard, chief scientist of Development Dimensions International, the Bridgeville consulting firm that conducted the study. Specifically, Ms. Howard and co-author Richard Wellins, a senior vice president at DDI, found women being shut out of "high-potential" programs designed to boost people's careers by providing experiences such as managing multinational business units or training and support that helps them transition smoothly to higher-level jobs.

"That was a rude awakening," said Ms. Howard. "There were 50 percent more men than women getting special attention and special development." Part of the reason women aren't involved in leadership programs, she said, is that programs are often kept secret. "These are things that kind of operate underground. For instance, individual managers -- many of whom are male -- will recommend other men for executive training programs, she said. "They think, 'Oh, Charlie's sort of like me. He'll do well.' A lot of it is unconscious." Men may neglect to recommend women for international assignments, she said, because they assume that females, especially those who have spouses and children, won't be eager to move overseas.

Smart Opportunities for Women will be launching its SMART workshops in April 2010. We are keen to provide in-house training and personal development programmes for organisations that are committed to recruiting, developing and retaining female talent.

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