EAE News
Female Leadership and Diversity in the business world
27 de October de 2020
“We have to eliminate the barriers, which are sometimes subconscious, and fight to keep making our organizations grow”.
Increasingly strong and structured, female leadership has steadily become more empowered and visible in the different areas of society. Leadership in general is evolving in terms of equality and diversity.
On 15th October, EAE Business School held another session of its Career Talks series, entitled “Female Leadership and Diversity”, in which 4 experts discussed all aspects of the issues: the moderator and EAE Career Advisor, María Gracia Bandera; Mónica de Francisco Sanz, the Head of Digital Services at Siemens; Aroa Jorge Pérez, the Head of Human Resources at Dachser EL Iberia; and Alba Herrero, the Director of Human Resources at SAP.
Would you like to find out the key insights on this important topic? Let’s get started!
María Gracia Banderas:
What is the role of women in companies?
Mónica de Francisco Sanz:
I do not know any corporations that reject the contribution of women. At the end of the day, what they are looking for is talent. Sometimes, we do not see female talent at the level we would like. One of the barriers we face in this respect is visibility. What measures can we take to ensure female talent is seen? Women’s achievements often go unnoticed and we have to strive to make sure that this does not happen. We have to eliminate the barriers, which are sometimes subconscious, and fight to keep making our organizations grow.
Aroa Jorge Pérez:
For many years, women have had to put up with a secondary role, which was not ordained by companies as such, but rather it was a social issues. It is part of our history. Companies increasingly strive to promote women’s protagonism in a what is traditionally seen as a “man’s world” in which, whether we like it or not, logistics and transportation was seen from the outside as the reserve of men. However, the incorporation of woman in recent years into positions of responsibility has started to sow the seeds of a more latent sense of female leadership in the sector.
Alba Herrero:
People always talk about talent and meritocracy, that women have to shine in their own right, but I do not believe all that. While we may be making progress, for woman, being talented is not synonymous with being successful. There is a cultural issue and bias that we still need to keep working on. I do not think that it is men’s intention not to include women as such, but there is a subconscious bias and it is hard for women to break through the glass ceiling. Unfortunately, women today still face a barrier that, in many cases, stops them from reaching management positions. Women tend to study more but, at some point, their professional life comes to a halt. So, what is happening? Why do we stop moving forward? That is the issue, in my opinion.
María Gracia Bandera:
How have you broken through the glass ceiling to reach your current positions?
Mónica de Francisco Sanz:
We have worked hard and also had a bit of luck. We have had certain opportunities and we have made the most of them. Some women have had the same opportunities and not taken them. That is why this type of event is so important for generating inspiring role models that show that we can be successful professionals and mothers at the same time.
From the perspective of organizations, we have to promote role models that help to inspire and normalize what should be seen as self-evident, that women can achieve their goals in other professional and personal lives.
Aroa Jorge Pérez:
Luck is a combination of being prepared and having an opportunity. In my case, the opportunities that I have had have been really important, but we still face a lot of bias. There is a really significant cultural aspect to it. We have to remember that children also have fathers. Women do not have to do all the housework anymore. We have to find the way to fit each person’s desires together and avoid imposing the same old, outdated roles.
When I interview men, I find it really positive when they ask me about working hours, to ensure they fit in with their childcare responsibilities, because it shows a fair distribution of roles and responsibilities.
Alba Herrero:
The word guilt always seems to come up sooner or later in our lives. “I am not a good mother, daughter, wife, sister”. This is a very female way of thinking and we should eliminate it. If a woman decides to stay at home, that is fantastic, but it is just as fantastic is she chooses not to. We need to have the power to choose without being judged by others. We sometimes demand so much of ourselves that we end up being our own worst enemies. We have to normalize and fight against this sense of guilt so that later generations can choose more freely.
We have to strive to be happier and to do things more simply. Moreover, unless you get the opportunity, it is impossible to break through the glass ceiling, but you also have to look for this opportunity. A man applies for a job if they meet 65% of the required profile. In contrast, as woman waits until they meet 85% of the criteria. If you do not value yourself and fight for a pay rise, nobody else will do it for you. You have to fight for this opportunity, just like men do.
María Gracia Banderas
Why is important for women to be present in management teams?
Mónica de Francisco Sanz:
Diversity has value in itself. Diverse teams make it further than uniform teams. Therefore, the presence of women is fundamental. Moreover, it helps to get a different point of view and reassess things that are often taken for granted.
All the times that we do not raise our hand, that we do not fight for what we want, they gradually accumulate to make a big heap. Therefore, we have to avoid this. Diversity helps us to enrich our lives and to make better decisions that generate greater value.
Aroa Jorge Pérez:
Working into diverse teams generates different things and great opportunities, as each person, with their first-hand insight, brings a different perspective to the table that always has something to contribute. When a woman joins a team of men, they start “making waves” because they bring something else to the table. They are a new element in a previously homogeneous team and, as such, their contributions bring a different perspective that perhaps has not been considered before. That is the power of diverse teams. Equality is an extremely important concept with its own significance. Personally, for me, equality means having the same opportunities, rather than being the same as anybody else, as we are all unique.
Alba Herrero:
Equality does not mean we are all the same, but rather that we all have the same opportunities to be what we want to be. This is what we need to keep striving for: equality from the start.
For instance, by analysing data, we have evaluated our subsidiaries in terms of diversity and looked at the performance of various market units. The ones that get the best results are those that not only have a diversity policy, but also an inclusively policy. So, diversity matters, but inclusivity generates better results. The data shows this. It is not just a theory. It is a fact and now a necessity.
María Gracia Banderas
What strategies can companies implement to attract female talent?
Mónica de Francisco Sanz
More than equality, companies have to focus on diversity and inclusivity. This means companies in which we do not have to stop being ourselves just to be included, enabling us to contribute real value. So, we have to create an environment in which, for instance, nobody expects or wants a man with a top knot to take it out. Difference generates value and must be seen as something that makes organizations grow. This is the kind of policy we have to apply. Inclusivity matters. Including people from other races, genders and beliefs is essential.
What about female talent in STEM careers? It is a shame that the market is so narrow-minded when it comes to looking for women. With this in mind, we run policies that encourage girls to study these subjects and specialize in these fields. Doing this is really important because we cannot allow humankind to waste half of the world’s talent.
Aroa Jorge Pérez:
The crucial thing is to have active policies in place. We often do things and make plans, then things just stay that way, as plans. We have to take action, with dynamic, active policies.
Keeping these policies actives often requires us to raise awareness, and not only limited to men and women. We have to go much further and promote real inclusivity.
Companies reflect what is happening in society. In my case, I do believe in meritocracy, which is why we advocate internal promotion a great deal. We believe that we have to offer all the people we hire opportunities for promotion. It makes people want to work with us.
Alba Herrero
On the one hand, there are the internal policies for attracting, retaining and developing female talent. We have lots of projects under way focusing on leadership, development, visibility, etc. The main issue is that there is a sense that we are moving backwards. One example of this is the percentage of female talent in STEM professions. It is worrying!
The professions of the future are technological. That is where there is good money to be made and, unless we include and entice them into this path, we are condemning girls to a world of unemployment. So, what do we have to do? In our company, we run projects in primary and high schools to ensure that young girls feel that technology forms part of their lives.
The split comes between 8 and 14 years old. At 8, they want to be astronauts and, at 15, they want to be on TV. What happens in the intervening years? We have to focus on that and work socially to ensure that the new generations understand that their future involves technology.
After an hour of conversation, each based on their own experience, the Directors reached the consensus that, to reach positions of leadership, women have to achieve two key aspects: not to hold themselves back and to gain visibility.
How about you? What do you think?