Gender questions get answers, at last

First of all, not all the news is good. A report from the 2011 Grant Thornton International Business Report reveals that the percentage of privately held businesses that have no women in senior management has in fact risen to 38% from 35% in 2009. Women currently hold just 20% of senior management positions globally, down from 24% in 2009 and up just 1% from 2004 levels.

Does it matter what country you are working in?
“Having worked in several European countries, I can state that there definitely is a glass ceiling in France and Sweden, but not in Poland,” Ducellier observed. “This  may ironically be a heritage of the former regime. International Women’s Day on April 8 was a communist innovation, after all.”

“With experience working in Portugal, the UK, Belgium, Mexico and Switzerland, I believe there is a great deal of difference in maternity support,” offered Delgado. “The Germanic tradition is that mothers should take care of children, and the current three-month maternity leave in Switzerland was only recently put in place. This means that it is up to the individual corporations to make a difference, and to start establishing a culture of support and development.”

Do quotas work?
Here the panel was clear about the need to distinguish between gender requirements on non-executive boards and executive management.

“After resisting the idea for years, I now believe in quotas for non-executive boards,” said Ducellier.

This was supported by Delgado: “Quotas for boards is about good governance. But not personnel development. Governance requires different opinions.”

Do women lead differently?
Yes, according to Lindquvist: “Men are more focused on P&Ls and KPIs.”

“This depends on personality, not gender,” ventured Ducellier. “Women use both sides of the brain and dare to use their emotional side. Where some perceive weakness, I see a strength in taking more of a global decision.”

“It is dangerous to generalize,” offered Delgado. “But women are in a better position to embrace new leadership requirements. We can see that rational, quantitative, command & control models are giving way to leadership based on purpose, holistic views and multidimensionality – including emotional components.”

“After 20 years with Proctor & Gamble, there must be more reason to have women in
management than just because of the products we sell,” she added.

What about talent development?
Johansson began with an observation: “It’s funny that many people, when considering a woman for an upper management job, will ask ‘Is she tough enough? Can she do the job?’ They never ask these questions about men.”

“What’s needed for talent development is flexibility, mobility, style awareness, coaching and self-awareness,” proposed Delgado. “At our firm we have plans for talent development and succession – a planned succession candidate, a candidate for emergency succession, and the next woman ready. Then we can ask ‘Why isn’t she the next planned one?’”

“In our organization talent management always involves three candidates,” added ucellier. “One you know, one from HR, and one diversity candidate.”

Another tactic is both “mentoring down and up”. A 22-year-old can be effective in mentoring older male managers, so that they learn to stop treating young women like their daughters, protectively.

How does mobility fit in?
The modern goal in corporate life is flexible work, with equal opportunities at all stages of life. Modern telecommunications, among other things, are reshaping the work force.

“Mobility – the ability to have a location-free job – has been more of a boost for women than men,” remarked Ducellier. “Our firm has 550 location-free jobs in Europe now. And both the men and the women enjoy higher ratings than their location-tied peers!”

Do companies that practice gender diversity succeed?
According to Lindqvist they do, because customers are also diverse. “Staff and management require passion and balanced diversity.”

Moreover, the difference in team composition – even at the board level – makes them more innovative, according to Ducellier: “In a recent study of 240 companies in 17 countries, if 35% or more on the board were women, the companies enjoyed higher productivity.”

Written exclusively for AmCham by Robbin Battison, Battison & Partners AB