Benchmarking Progress: The Gender Equality Project’s Next Phase

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BusinesswomanBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

“We’ve been working on our own journey of promoting and measuring progress in gender equality,” explained Pamela Craig, CFO of Accenture. “We’ve always been interested in a global approach – and there are differences among countries. For example, in the Philippines we have a long history of women in leadership. But in other locations – like Japan – it’s more challenging.”

Craig continued, “That’s why it was interesting at this year’s World Economic Forum to hear from Nicole [Schwab], who very much has a global approach – to get to a global standard. It was inspiring to hear her vision and how it’s evolved.”

The Gender Equality Project (TGEP) was launched earlier this year at Davos, with the goal of helping global companies measure gender equality quantitatively and qualitatively across national borders and cultures.

“The approach to TGEP is extremely thoughtful, in terms of how it is intended to measure progress and understand what equivalency is. It is thought-provoking. For me, the light bulb just went on,” she explained.

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Position Yourself for Success: Female Leaders Share Advice at the 2011 Women on Wall Street Conference

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iStock_000012630343XSmallBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

Last night, Deutsche Bank hosted its 17th annual Women on Wall Street conference at the Marriott Marquis in New York City. The event drew over 2,000 people, mainly women in the financial services industry.

Jeffrey Mayer, Managing Director and Head of the Corporate and Investment Bank in North America at Deutsche Bank, opened the evening by pointing out that although the industry is seeing a generational shift when it comes to gender diversity – roughly 20% of attendees were at the Managing Director level or above, while 80% of were either “fresh out of college” or at the director level – “the percentage of women in senior front office roles falls short.”

He continued, “We need to attract, develop, and retain more women who can punch through to the senior ranks.”

The theme of the evening was “Breaking Through to the C-Suite.” Keynote speaker Sharon Allen, Former Chairman of the Board of Deloitte LLP said she believes that the ability to get to the top really comes from within.

“I know what a difference the organization can make because Deloitte was really a trailblazer with our [women’s] initiative.” But, she continued, “No matter what your organization may do to help promote your career, at the end of the day, it won’t matter unless you perform and watch out for your own career.”

She explained that to make it to the top, women must plan their own career, seize the opportunities that come along, and be willing to promote their own accomplishments.

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Senior Women in the City: The Impact of Regulatory Reform on the UK Financial Markets

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Women-working-on-a-computerLast Wednesday, Theglasshammer.com held its first annual event in London for senior women in the capital markets. Our panel’s topic, “How to manage risk and find growth in the new regulatory environment,” opened up dialogue for senior women to discuss how to do business in the financial markets in 2012 and beyond. The event drew almost 100 senior women from leading financial firms in the City as senior women from both the sell-side and the buy-side came to network and participate in a closed-door discussion. The focus of the event was to address how to navigate the markets, find growth, and stay compliant in an increasingly regulated environment.

Moderator of the event, Monica McConville, Partner, Practice Leader, English Law Equity Capital Markets at Shearman & Sterling, invited the panelists to give their perspective on the way capital market regulatory changes might impact day-to-day business.

The panel, consisting of Mary Pragnell, Managing Director, Regulatory Response, GBM Treasury, RBS Global Banking and Markets; Joanna Cound, Managing Director, Government Affairs and Public Policy, BlackRock; and Dr. Sonja Koerner, Partner, Risk, Financial Services, Ernst & Young, tackled a set of questions posed by regulatory reforms in the post 2008 crisis ‘New Normal.” To manage risk and continue to grow as an industry, we contemplated how could we predict, define, and manage some of the unintended consequences of regulators’ actions.

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UK Companies Stalling on Female Board Appointments

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Discussion between two female executivesBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

UK companies aren’t moving fast enough to hire female board directors, revealed a new report released yesterday by the Cranfield School of Management. Professor Susan Vinnicombe, co-author of the report said, “Our review reveals that the number of women in board positions is beginning to creep up albeit quite slowly.”

Six months ago Lord Davies of Abersoch presented an independent report discussing the state of gender diversity in the UK’s top companies. The review suggested that firms were not doing enough to attract and retain women in top positions.

As a solution, Davies called for British companies to set targets for the percentage of women they aim to have on their boards, and recommended that FTSE 100 companies set a 25% target for women on boards by 2015.

The new review by the Cranfield School of Management showed that the percentage of women on boards has grown from 12.5% to 14.2% in 2011. And, the Financial Times notes, “Since the Davies report, women have accounted for 22.5 per cent of appointments – below the 33 per cent he recommended.”

The Cranfield review revealed that only 33 companies on the FTSE 100 are aiming for the 25% target recommend by Davies. According to the Telegraph, in fact, a full two-thirds of blue chip companies have yet to even set out their plans for getting more women on boards. Dr. Ruth Sealy, co-author of the Cranfield report, commented:

“The results from our report suggest the recommendations in Lord Davies’s review have had beneficial effects in terms of reinforcing good practice, but they also demonstrate an institutional inertia, whereby companies persist in their existing approach – or lack thereof – to gender diversity on boards. It is so important that our top companies set the standard for achieving better representation on their boards.”

In his initial report, Davies suggested that if companies fail to set targets to increase the representation of women in the boardroom, the government should enact quotas similar to those in Norway, France, and Spain. Prime Minister David Cameron is reported to be writing letters to the members of the FTSE 350 who have not set targets to encourage them to do so – before government intervention is necessary.

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Seven Tips for Leadership Success – for Introverts

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Confident business woman workingBy Laura C. Steele (New York City)

According to a survey conducted by TheLadders.com, 65% of 1,542 senior managers see introversion as an impediment to reaching higher management levels. That’s because more flamboyant, talkative, or exuberant extroverted employees can catch management’s eye, and tend to be well-known around the office.

In reality, however, “introverts can be better bosses,” especially in a dynamic and unpredictable environment, according to Adam M. Grant, an associate professor at University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School who studies this topic. Amid the uncertainty created by the increased pace of innovation and globalization, Grant adds, it’s probably better “to be an introverted leader now than at any previous time on record.”

Because they often have a very keen understanding about what works for them, introverts can be very effective in the corporate environment. Introverts often have an inner strength and personal commitment that allows them to succeed. Notable CEOs who are introverts include Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Steven Spielberg, Douglas Conant, former President and CEO of Campbell Soup Co., and Larry Page, co-founder of Google.

There’s no need for introverts to fight their own personality traits to get ahead. Here are seven expert tips for introverts on how to succeed as business leaders.

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Delegate Better Now – Four Ways to Perfect Your Skills

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iStock_000013251275XSmallBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

What’s one difference between a manager and a leader? Leadership is about looking outward at your organization, rather than only back at your team. It’s the same thing with delegation – to be really great at it, you need to do it with purpose, looking back at your team, and looking broadly at the organization. It’s not just about doling out work, but it means really thinking about why you’re delegating a task, how it can help you and your team grow, and how it can better position you to be more effective for your organization.

“Sometimes leaders hesitate when it comes to asking for help,” began Mary Edwards, Managing Director and Senior Executive, Health and Public Service at Accenture. “But I think it’s important for every leader to have effective delegation skills.”

For Edwards, delegation is not just a way to get through the day, it’s a way to help her team build skills and make sure she has time and energy left to do the work that can help her company grow. Here are her top four tips on how to become a great delegator – and a great leader.

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Time to Get Serious about Diversity in Law

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Business TeamBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

On Tuesday, the Institute for Inclusion in the Legal Profession convened a group of lawyers and other professionals for a symposium on diversity. While the IILP’s own research on the topic was published earlier this year, the event featured presentations by top researchers and speakers on the issue.

One main point emphasized at forum, held at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in New York City, was the slow pace of change in the profession regarding gender, ethnic, disability, and even more microtargeted diversities.

Floyd Holloway, Counsel at State Farm Insurance and Board Member of the IILP, explained, “We don’t have the luxury of looking at the issue with a pensive state… as we might have done two decades ago.”

He continued, “The pipeline issue is still very much alive today.”

In a profession marked by a commitment to justice, fairness, and equality, he urged his peers to leave a legacy as the generation who made a difference for diversity in their own profession. “Make the difference and carry the dialogue forward,” he said.

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Across Boundaries: What the UK can learn from Australia about Women on Boards

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A Happy business woman with other colleagues in the backgroundBy Cleo Thompson (London), founder of The Gender Blog

As the debate around the use of quotas to increase the number of women on UK boards continues, so does the need to look at what’s working around the world to shift the gender diversity needle.

Earlier this month, the European Professional Women’s Network invited Claire Braund, co-founder of Women on Boards, the leading advocate for improving gender diversity on Australian boards, to a London event to speak about the Australian story and outline Australia’s track record of success around women gaining access to board positions in business, government, community and not-for-profit sectors.

Braund co-founded Women on Boards – which now has 11,500 members – in 2006 and she is currently in the UK as part of her Churchill Fellowship award, a bursary with which she is examining the impact of boardroom quotas in Norway and the progress of the public policy debate in the UK and France.

Hosted by investment services company Mercer, the EPWN audience was welcomed by Mercer’s UK CEO Alan Whalley, who also serves as the executive sponsor of the Vine, the company’s network for women. Braund outlined the introduction and impact of the new Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) regulations, announced in December 2009 and described by Australian federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick as “the first structural intervention we’ve had”. The plan will force companies to publish a gender breakdown of directors and senior employees and to set both objectives and targets for gender diversity.

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Goldman Sachs’ Returnship® Provides Opportunity to Re-adjust to the Workforce

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Woman with portfolioBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

Now entering its fourth year, the Goldman Sachs Returnship® program is returning this fall. Originally specific to Goldman’s New York headquarters, the program has expanded to include Hong Kong, Singapore, Salt Lake City, and New Jersey – and the firm is looking toward a London program as well.

The Returnship® evolved out of research that employers were ignoring an experienced source of talent: women who had left the workforce for a few years, and were eager to get back in. Like an internship, the program lasts for a limited amount of time, and provides seasoned women with the opportunity to see if they are ready to on-ramp back into the workforce. Monica Marquez, Vice President, Office of Global Leadership & Diversity at Goldman Sachs, and director of the program, said, “The beauty about the Returnship® program is that it is a ten-week program. There is a start date. There is an end date.”

In those ten weeks, participants – or “returnees,” as Goldman calls them – work on real business challenges tailored to their skills and experience. Marquez explained, “What we really try to do is work with the hiring manager to identify really meaty projects that these individuals can come in and work on because the difference from a regular summer intern is that Returnship® individuals are very seasoned, very experienced individuals who just happen to have taken a career break and are looking to come back.”

As one returnee remarked, “The ability to play an integral role in a team in such a short period of time was a great validation of my skill-set.”

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Gender and Power: What Christine Lagarde’s Appointment to Head the IMF Means for Women in Leadership

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ChristineLagardeBy Savita Iyer-Ahrestani (New York City)

One could say it’s laughable that, in the year 2011, women are celebrating Christine Lagarde’s appointment as the first female head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). But, says Subha Barry, Senior Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer at Freddie Mac, “every ceiling that we break must be celebrated,” and Lagarde’s appointment is yet another major breakthrough for professional women.

Her progress at the traditionally male-dominated institution that is the IMF “is going to be carefully watched by everyone and will make it so much easier for other women,” Barry says.

Barry, like most women of her ilk, holds Lagarde in high esteem. She has no doubt that Lagarde will be highly successful in her new role, and that she will take the Fund – an institution that scores of people the world over have, for the better part of the past couple of decades, loved to hate – forward on a new course. Her presence at its helm will help a great deal in restoring the Fund’s credibility – even if that effort had, despite his unsavory exit, already been undertaken to a great degree by former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

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