Executive teams “in control” of building female talent pipeline
21 October 2014
Building a pipeline of senior female talent should not be left to company boards as it is executive teams that “hold the reins” when it comes to recruitment and promotion, according to Royal Mail’s chief executive officer.
Tue, 21 Oct 2014
Building a pipeline of senior female talent should not be left to company boards as it is executive teams that “hold the reins” when it comes to recruitment and promotion, according to Royal Mail’s chief executive officer.
Speaking at an event held by executive search firm Egon Zehnder yesterday to launch its initiative to get 25 female CEOs in FTSE 100 companies by 2025, Moya Greene said: “I don’t think you can expect boards to change the executive pipeline. It is not because they are disinterested or they don’t want to. It’s because it is not really their job, and it is not the focus of their attention.”
A board’s primary function is to ensure the structures inside the company work well and the strategy is “attested and the right one for the time,” she said. Boards do have some responsibility for succession planning, but executive teams have the “reins when it comes to “recruitment, promotion, appraisal and development”.
Greene said that the candidate lists she receives from executive recruitment firms are still predominantly male, but that it is her responsibility as CEO to build a more diverse talent pipeline. She urged the audience of senior executives to mentor and increase opportunities for talented women in their teams who show leadership potential.
She added that it was “dismaying” to see how young women view their own ambition and how others “ascribe negative qualities” to openly ambitious women. Women leaders are more likely to be reviewed on personal characteristics, which can be damaging, she warned. “[The media] can help us understand how the portrayal of women and of female executives today can be negative. This is because it can reinforce to young [women] the concern that they gradually get, that if they are ambitious they won’t be liked,” she said.
Egon Zehnder’s 2014 European Board Diversity Analysis, released this month, revealed significant gains in female participation on boards, but women have yet to attain a corresponding share of board leadership roles. Across the European boards studied, less than 3% of board chair positions are held by women – a figure comparable to the average of 3.7% across all other regions. The analysis also found that women now hold just over 12% of committee chair positions in Europe.
Speaking at an event held by executive search firm Egon Zehnder yesterday to launch its initiative to get 25 female CEOs in FTSE 100 companies by 2025, Moya Greene said: “I don’t think you can expect boards to change the executive pipeline. It is not because they are disinterested or they don’t want to. It’s because it is not really their job, and it is not the focus of their attention.”
A board’s primary function is to ensure the structures inside the company work well and the strategy is “attested and the right one for the time,” she said. Boards do have some responsibility for succession planning, but executive teams have the “reins when it comes to “recruitment, promotion, appraisal and development”.
Greene said that the candidate lists she receives from executive recruitment firms are still predominantly male, but that it is her responsibility as CEO to build a more diverse talent pipeline. She urged the audience of senior executives to mentor and increase opportunities for talented women in their teams who show leadership potential.
She added that it was “dismaying” to see how young women view their own ambition and how others “ascribe negative qualities” to openly ambitious women. Women leaders are more likely to be reviewed on personal characteristics, which can be damaging, she warned. “[The media] can help us understand how the portrayal of women and of female executives today can be negative. This is because it can reinforce to young [women] the concern that they gradually get, that if they are ambitious they won’t be liked,” she said.
Egon Zehnder’s 2014 European Board Diversity Analysis, released this month, revealed significant gains in female participation on boards, but women have yet to attain a corresponding share of board leadership roles. Across the European boards studied, less than 3% of board chair positions are held by women – a figure comparable to the average of 3.7% across all other regions. The analysis also found that women now hold just over 12% of committee chair positions in Europe.
