Judith Beck – Financial Executive Women

There has been a groundswell of debate recently on why it is that women are still under-represented in senior positions and on boards. 

Most notably, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg has been both lauded and criticised  for stating that women limit their ambitions and sabotage their own careers because we are taught from an early age that we do not belong in positions of power.   Whether you agree with Ms Sandberg views or not, she has hit on an important issue, and that is that nothing will really change for women unless we make the change happen.

So what is the solution?  What is it that women can do to help ensure they reach their full career potential?   Quotas are often claimed to be the answer.  But aside from board and intern positions, I don’t believe they will solve the core issue and importantly, are not wanted by most women.

According to 2012 Australian Government statistics, women in the general population are paid on average 17.4% less than men, an increase from 14.9% in 2004. 

But in my 20 years experience as an Executive Search consultant in financial services, not once have I seen a company reducing the salary range for a female candidate.   Maybe the gap is not as wide in the finance industry, but what we know from running a benchmark salary survey for 10 years, is that women don’t apply for new roles as often as their male counter parts and with every move, usually comes a salary increase.  

So what can be done?  With the help of a number of very talented women and supportive organisations, I have recently launched an advocacy program aimed at women in financial services.  

In building Financial Executive Women (FEW), I have spoken with almost 200 women to hear their views on what will make them more successful in their careers.  

Only four believed that quotas were the answer; and those four all had HR backgrounds. The other 192 (all with at least five years plus experience in Financial Services) felt quotas were not productive as promotions may be seen to be undeserved.

These women wanted to get their next role based on their merit. The ‘boys club’ culture was acknowledged by some, however they understood that they needed to be more assertive in going for roles. 

Other issues we identified include that women are more modest in their approach to career development.  They often wait to be offered a promotion and are less receptive to Head Hunter calls.  Women also understate their own achievements. 

Men on the other hand are not afraid to blow their own horn and emphasise their success.  Women also often fear being seen as disloyal if they apply for another role.  This was particularly prevalent during the GFC, which could account for the widening pay gap.  Women feared losing their jobs during this time so may have been more likely to stay in the same role and not ask for a raise.

The post What’s holding women back? Are quotas the answer? appeared first on AdviserVoice.

Additionally, the group says that the most common reason why women are overlooked for promotion is because they simply fail to apply for roles or promote their credentials to their superiors. 

According to the founder of the group, Judith Beck, most women reject the idea of being given a role simply because the company wants to increase its number of senior executive women.

“It’s often the companies that think they need a quota system because it has been pushed by minority groups and government, not the executives themselves.  But women are assets not quotas and most feel quotas categorises them and leads to ridicule from colleagues who may believe they were promoted because of a quota rather than merit.”

Ms Beck is the Founder of Financial Executive Women (FEW) and Managing Director of Financial Recruitment Group.  She said FEW has been established to provide a supportive community that gives women impartial, confidential advice to help them take their careers to the next level, based on merit.

“FEW will support women in progressing their own careers.  We are very excited that the idea is resonating within our industry.   Some of Australia’s most successful women are behind FEW as Founding Members and major financial organisations have come on board as corporate sponsors.

Foundation sponsors include NAB/MLC, Colonial First State/Commonwealth Private, the FPA and Equip Super.

Ms Beck said her 20 years experience in Executive Search within Financial Services had shown her that smart, educated, driven women are often not as effective as their male counterparts in taking their careers to the next level.

“For more than 10 years, I have been managing the FRG salary survey.  What was disappointing in surveying executive managers was the lack of women applying for key internal roles. Often Managers would comment that not one female had applied for roles they should have been lined up for. As a consequence the roles would then go to their male counterparts and sometimes males who were taking a step up.

“When I quizzed women at the firms on why they had not applied, they would usually say it was because they did not think they ticked all the boxes in terms of skill set.  A man does not think like this.  He thinks, I have four out of the ten necessary skills, I’m the best man for the job,” Ms Beck said.

“Women need to stop waiting to be tapped on the shoulder and offered the job.   What our parents taught us was polite as females, does not work in the corporate world.   You can’t sit back and wait to be asked, you have to let them know what you want.’’

FEW will help women by providing a career advocate outside of their current organisation, who will help them in their career by providing guidance, truth and honesty without the conflict of interest issues an internal mentor may face. 

“We will be pairing our members with advocates who hold senior positions and have taken a similar career path in financial services,” said Ms Beck.  

In addition, FEW will help women develop better networks and stronger profiles within their own company and in the market.  FEW has also developed an online forum where members feel free to discuss business issues on a daily basis in strict confidence with other members, who are bound by the same ethics, trust and confidentiality.

Ms Beck said; “FEW wants to ensure women progress in their careers not because quotas need to be filled, but because they are the best person for the role.  We want to ensure they are given the proper guidance by experienced advocates within the industry to give them the best chance of presenting themselves in the workforce and for new positions that they apply for in the future within their own organisations.  We are not the minority, we need to realise that and have confidence to achieve our goals and take charge of our careers.”

About FEW
Financial Executive Women (FEW) was developed to fulfill the need for the industry to provide a base where women who are already successful, are able to obtain advice and guidance in an effort to help them realise their full potential based on merit.  One major difference between FEW and many existing female organisations is that the FEW member base is exclusive and by invitation only. Members need to have specific backgrounds and qualifications to qualify at each level of membership.

The Executives within FEW have already been recognised as successful, but have more steps to go to realise their full potential or wish to confidentially seek advice from like minded individuals who have similar experience. The environment is confidential and guidance is provided by experienced executives outside a members own organisation. FEW is about the detail and providing a confidential environment focused on the day to day issues experienced by women in their careers. Its focus is on applying successful business practices needed by men or women to progress in their career rather than preconceived ideas that there is inequality in the workforce. After all women comprise 50.2% of the Australian population – so why do we need to be a quota in this day and age?  The answer is not one dimensional as there are several reasons that FEW have pinpointed to help break the cycle which has been in existence for many years. Nothing is really going to change unless we change.

The post Australia’s senior finance women call for focus on merit, not quotas appeared first on AdviserVoice.