A busy year so far

All things family friendly in 2011

For those interested in all things family-friendly it's been an incredibly eventful start to 2011. It's only May and there have already been enough talking points to get us through the rest of the year.

Whilst the news hasn't all been good it does validate our belief that finding ways to enhance the female contribution to the whole is now a fundamental commercial goal of most businesses.

Let's start with Simon Murray - he's the charismatic, ex legionnaire, business supremo and new Chairman of Glencore, the UK's largest ever floated business. He had nearly everyone up in arms when he suggested women's capacity in the workplace was limited because "pregnant ladies have nine months off" and that women "have a tendency not to be so involved quite often" and are not "so ambitious in business". Whilst he clearly left his tact somewhere back in the East we take some comfort from knowing that Mrs. Murray is a successful, opinionated adventurer in her own right and we believe (hope) he will be given as hard a time in private as he has been in public! We guess his first meeting with Cynthia Carroll (chief exec at Anglo American) might also be a bit frosty!

Awards - the Awards season is hotting up

We're sponsoring the Top Employers for Working Families awards which produces THE benchmark for what a modern flexible working employer looks like. It recently opened for entries.

The Times together with Opportunity Now produced their list of the Top 50 Employers for Women 2011 (we were thrilled to have 12 clients on the list).

Meanwhile a new orgnanisation, Inclusive Employers, came into being - the launch party is on the 24th May (let us know if you would like to attend).

Events - there have been some very successful events

Working Families filled out the House of Lords for their Changemakers evening. It was a brilliant selection of senior and successful people committed to the belief that career and family need not be mutually exclusive.

Working Mums held its "Live" event in Islington where visitor numbers exceeded all expectations. It's fair to say that the list of exhibitors and attendees reflected diversity at its best. All this leads us to believe that momentum really is building but plenty of naysayers remain.

We heard some depressing (realistic?) views at a Women in Banking and Finance event in April. Kathryn Riley, ex HRD of various leading employers, opined that in reality nothing has really changed and nothing will. We couldn't resist challenging that and one of us will be a lot poorer depending on what the Cranfield Report on Women on Boards reveals later this year.

Additional Paternity Leave became a reality in April

One of the absolute keys to the female leadership debate is convincing men to embrace the possibilities of flexible working and their own role as working fathers. So this might be a small step but it's an important one; and from the research also one that many employers have embraced enthusiastically.

The Reports - plenty of reports out already this year from various august bodies:

The Women on Boards report by Lord Davies

This is the one everyone was waiting for. It emphasised the advantages of diverse boards and whilst it didn't go as far as recommending quotas, the demands it makes of listed businesses are still quite rigorous. It blames traditional recruiting methods and old boys' networks for the lack of progress to date and urges companies to look at female leaders from outside strict big corporate backgrounds.

Gender at work

The Institute of Leadership Management's "Gender at Work" study of 3,000 senior managers found that lack of confidence/ambition among women was the main barrier to successful careers.

The centre of policy studies

Meanwhile The Centre of Policy Studies Report by Catherine Hakim caused more than a few howls of protest. She argues that the equal opportunities legislation has worked: only a minority of women want careers above all else and they can and do succeed. Conversely the majority of women want the best of career and family and therefore make compromises. She also, quite compellingly, pours scorn on the apparent success of the Nordic model.

Ben Black
MD, My Family Care

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