Breaking the glass ceiling

By Manohari Abeyesekera

I’ve often wondered why there is little representation of women on the boards of most corporate organisations. Formal monthly board meetings are generally a gathering of men, with a woman only occasionally attending: a recent CIMA survey reveals that CIMA’s female members are six times less likely than its male members to be in senior roles such as CEOs or CFOs.

Is the invisible glass ceiling impregnable?

The glass ceiling

The term ‘glass ceiling’ was originally coined in an article written by Carol Hymowitz and Timothy Schellhardt on the 24 March 1986 edition of the Wall Street Journal. The piece referred to the invisible barriers that impede the career advancement of women in the American workforce.

Some of the questions that come to mind are:

Why do salary surveys reveal that women are paid less than their male counterparts?

Why do women fall back in the corporate ladder after outperforming male peers at university?

Do women concentrate too much on working hard, and insufficiently on networking?

The issues for women

The traditional woman preferred to stay at home and look after the family. However, the present economic environment, coupled with expectations of higher living standards, has resulted in an increasing number of women seeking jobs to earn a living.

Women in general have two main issues:

1. Balancing work and family

2. Being recognised at work in a managerial capacity in a male dominated industry

The dual role of career woman and wife and mother means juggling two to three roles in a day. McKinsey’s report on ‘Women Matter’ highlights this as the ‘double burden syndrome’.

Today’s careers are not restricted to nine to five. Occasionally, you’re required to attend meetings, seminars and cocktails well past traditional work hours. Guilt creeps in when you have to leave home for a long time. We wonder — is this worth it? Do we miss seeing our children growing up?

Neither are we satisfied just being housewives. The years spent on higher education are not put to full use. One cannot afford to take a career break, as there may not be suitable job opportunities when you want to want to rejoin.

Knowledge also changes rapidly. There is a risk of becoming obsolete if you take a career break.

How should we strike a balance between work and family?

Good time management is essential, and family support is a bonus. Organising the day and giving priority to the most important tasks is a must. Devote ‘quality time’ to your family.   

The Asian woman is fortunate to have the immediate family — parents and in-laws — to support her in looking after the kids while she is at work.

How can you stand out from the crowd in the workplace?

Working hard and putting in long hours is not the only way to advance your career. Build a good reputation in your company, take up challenging assignments, and pursue higher education to become a rising star.

Showing your skills set

In today’s context, soft skills (for example good PR and communication skills) are becoming more and more important than paper qualifications. Women need to portray an image of confidence to their superiors and colleagues.

Leadership skills needs to be developed. Ensure you have a vision with a clear strategy, the ability to inspire and lead your team, and an awareness of when to show empathy. You need not be a ‘yes’ person to your seniors, but disagreement needs to be conveyed in a polite manner. Always uphold your integrity and values.

Think twice before saying ‘no’ to an opportunity given by your bosses, even if it is outside your comfort zone. In order to succeed, you sometimes need to take calculated risks.

Networking is crucial in today’s business world. Devote time to building networks with your fellow colleagues in your profession. Understanding of different cultures, particularly when dealing with foreign business partners, is also highly important.

The CIMA centre of excellence at the University of Bath School of management recently summarised the strategies for career development in business as below:

Strategies for career development

The glass ceiling can be broken, so be assertive and confident of your skills. Develop the ability to speak out in meetings. Be passionate of your career goals, with a role model or mentor to guide you.

It is critical to be a ‘team player’. Most finance professionals are at loggerheads with marketers in pruning their sales and advertising budgets. Therefore, you need to look at the big picture and what it takes to increase revenue, rather than just concentrating on cost cutting.

Remaining solely in finance can also be a hindrance; explore the possibility of switching to general management or marketing in order to help you reach the top.

A good mix

McKinsey research has shown that companies with 30% or more representation at board or senior management level produce the best financial results. A combination of men and women helps ensure better decision making, as women bring in a different dimension when seeking solutions for complex business problems.

‘Boards with 30% or more female representation produce the best results’.

Many corporate videos are becoming more emotive, revealing how their products and services are touching human lives. Gone are the days where the corporate video’s were product centric. Significantly, women are the driving force behind 70% of purchasing decisions, even in traditional ‘male’ product areas such as cars: for example, research has shown that women influence 60% of new car purchases in Japan.

Naturally, not all women may want to reach the top (which is actually quite a lonely spot); they may opt for middle management careers. It is however clear women should be better represented in decision making roles in the corporate arena. Let us hope that more aspiring women are able to take up leadership roles in the business world in the future, finding the ability to strike the right balance between family and work.

(This article was originally written to CIMA Global Thought Leadership News letter. Source: CIMA edge, March/April 2011 Source: www.cima.global.com)

(The writer is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, and of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (FCA). She holds an MBA from the University of Colombo, winning three gold medals during her course. She also possesses a first class honours degree in biological science from the University of Colombo. Manohari is employed at Hayleys PLC as manager for strategic business development. She was adjudged as the CIMA young star silver medal winner at the maiden CIMA Janashakthi pinnacle awards programme, held in 2004.)