Business, Innovation and Skills CommitteeWritten evidence submitted by Workpond Ltd

I am very interested in contributing to your inquiry into Women in the Workplace. Not only have I had my own personal experiences of being a woman working in the City, but I have now dedicated my career to improving access to flexible employment opportunities for both men and women. I believe strongly that the key to gender equality in the workplace will be through increased acceptance and adoption of flexibility for men and women and at all levels of seniority. To this end, a year ago I set up www.workpond.co.uk. It is a website which helps companies source experienced professionals on an interim, part-time or consultancy basis. We currently have over 500 candidates and have had over 150 roles posted.

In response to your questions.

What steps should be taken to provide greater transparency on pay and other issues, such as workforce composition?

I believe that transparency on pay is difficult as there are so many factors that affect the setting of wages and each negotiation is unique. As far as workforce composition goes, I believe that we should encourage companies, where possible, to employ flexibly (which will benefit both men and women). This is an advantage not only for the employee but to the business, which will benefit from greater productivity, lower attrition and often lower wage costs.

What has been the impact of the current economic crisis on female employment and wage levels?

Many women that have left the workforce to raise a family find it difficult to return to work on a part-time basis. Even if they decide to return on a full-time basis, many will need to return at a lower level of seniority and pay. Due to the recession, there is a greater need for women to return to work to help support their families. We would like to see women have greater choice when they choose to return to work and less compromise.

How should the gender stereotyping prevalent in particular occupations, for example in engineering, banking, construction, and the beauty industry, be tackled?

You first need to understand the underlying reasons for the gender stereotyping. Had I known, when I embarked on a career in Fund Management that a) it would be so difficult to work in any way less than full-time and that b) I would at some point have a family, I would probably have opened up a beauty salon!

What more should be done to promote part-time work at all levels of the workplace and to ensure that both women and men have opportunities to gain senior positions within an organisation while working part time?

I believe that part-time work should be promoted at all levels within the workplace for those that choose it and where it is not harmful to the company.

I believe that people should be promoted on results—this will make it less likely for a part-time worker to be promoted as quickly as someone working full-time, but this is a choice that they have made. I believe that if advantages are given for part-time workers this is effectively discrimination against full-time workers—both men and women.

To what extent have the recommendations in Lord Mervyn Davies’ Report “Women on Boards” (published in February 2011) been acted upon?

To what extent should investors take into account the percentage of women on boards, when considering company reporting and appointments to the board?

I believe that boards should be chosen on the basis of the best candidates available. I am hearing of relatively junior women being approached for board roles on the basis of their gender, not experience. This is not right and not good for our companies and ultimately our country.

Why are there still so few women in senior positions on boards, and what are the benefits of having a greater number?

There was an economist report explaining that 20% of women are focused solely on their career, 20% of women are focused solely on their children and the 60% in between that work to varying degrees (as in a normal distribution curve). I believe that the greatest impact on board composition will come from a) the changes to the right to request flexible working for both men and women and b) cultural changes that are emerging that make it more acceptable for fathers to take on a more hands on roll in raising children. I do not support quotas. I believe in a meritocracy.

I believe that in order to fully integrate our workforce in the shortest time, it has to be for the good of all—not just women and not just employees, but businesses too.

20 November 2012