Are the women in your team deselecting themselves for leadership roles?

Since then, at the Women in Finance Summit in London 22 March 2018, Megan Butler, the director of supervision – investment, wholesale and specialists at the FCA highlighted: “Only around 13% of FCA-approved individuals in trading firms are women. A figure that rises, slightly, to 16% in investment management. The best is approximately 19% in general insurance and 18% in retail banking.”

So what needs to be done and how can business leaders, managers and other professionals in finance help encourage women to strive for and break into leadership roles? Why are we seeing such low numbers of women sitting on the board?

At our recent Women in Leadership event at our London Victoria House office, we were lucky enough to hear from a number of senior women in business about their journeys and how, as senior leaders, they believe changes can be made. 

In response to some business leaders justifying the lack of women in senior leadership roles by stating that women are simply not fit for the boardroom environment, Jackie Bowie, Group CEO at JCRA disagreed. “I don’t think the board environment is the issue, but rather all the previous stages in a woman’s career before she even reaches the boardroom” she explained. 

She continued on to say: “Women have a tendency to deselect themselves too early and not put themselves forward as much as men do, which can make reaching these senior positions a lot harder.”

During our recent event, it was also highlighted that women can often focus on the areas they could develop rather than the strengths they possess. This typically means that they are likely to assume they won’t be able to perform well enough if they don’t 100% meet the job criteria. 

Some male leaders have justified the lack of women in senior positions by stating that there is not enough talent in their organisation to promote women. What message does that send to all female employees, if their leaders so openly admit to not thinking they are good enough? Professionals, both men and women, are a lot less likely to put themselves through the pressure of going for a promotion if they know from the start that it's not achievable.

As an employer or hiring manager, there are a number of improvements that can be made to the culture, hiring processes and mentoring programmes in your organisation that will better support and encourage women striving for higher leadership roles. 

It goes without saying that we can’t simply solve these challenges by telling women to stop deselecting themselves. Rather, we need to work better with women on their journeys by encouraging them to share ideas and take on leadership tasks, while helping them recognise their strengths. 

A diverse and inclusive workplace that truly embraces difference amongst employees is key. Recognise strength at all levels and highlight to all that out of the box thinking and fresh ideas are welcome and respected. These cultures encourage everyone within in an organisation to put themselves forward confidently, without the fear of failure or discrimination, which in turn will ensure women feel that their ideas will be heard and valued by the business. 

The hiring stage can be crucial in building the right culture for your organisation. If you’re striving towards gender equality within your business, the way you interview female candidates must support these efforts.

Men and women aren’t just different in the workplace but also during the interview stage. During our event, both guests and speakers also discussed how women and men tend to interview differently, and in many cases, women will be a lot more likely to show their nerves or admit they can’t do something that’s on the job description.

The interview process is a two-way evaluation. If you do not convey the right impression to female candidates, about the career progression, support, and inclusive environment the business provides, you run the risk of missing out on valuable talent. We’ve also seen more organisations including both men and women in their hiring processes, for all roles. This includes wording the job description and meeting candidates.  

A mentorship is a key tool in encouraging more women into leadership roles. Mentoring not only allows experienced senior leaders to share their knowledge, but it also affords those in junior positions the opportunity to explore their potential and seek guidance for career progression.

Many businesses have internal mentoring programmes, but how many were developed with female career progression as a key priority? The most crucial aspect of such a programme is support. A strong leader or successful role model in a senior position within the organisation can provide a wealth of insight, advice and encouragement to anyone looking to advance their career in finance. With a good mentorship programme in place, aspiring leaders benefit from fresh perspective, inspiration and the guidance needed to keep pushing themselves to reach the top. 

If you would like to get involved with our future events, or discuss how we can help with your recruitment processes, please contact your local Michael Page office. Alternatively, submit a job spec and one of our specialist consultants will be in touch.

Associate Director, Corporate Services and Finance

T: +442072692474

E: jessicatimelin@michaelpage.com