Rigid career structures and inflexible working hours – top career obstacles for women ‘Up, Out or Different’ – the Career Dilemmas facing UK Women

New research from leading executive coaching company Talking Talent of over 2500 working women in the UK reveals that over 50% of them are at a ‘career cross roads’ – unsure whether to progress up, out or pursue a different career altogether.

The report ‘Up, Out or Different’ – The Career Dilemma for UK women’, with a foreword by Helena Morrissey, CBE (Founder 30% Club) looks at the main ‘pinch points’ challenging women’s careers and hindering their progression, as well as the skills and support needed to overcome these issues.

The report found that 52% of all women in their 20s, 30s and 40s working across a range of industry sectors identified the career crossroads as the lead pinch point, with age or seniority making little difference to their desire to continually re-evaluate their current place of work, role and career trajectory.

The second biggest challenge identified in the research is the ‘maternity transition’. 48% of all women highlighted it as the most challenging point in their careers. Although you might expect this to resonate powerfully with working parents (68% state it was the biggest single challenge) it’s impact is all the more notable for how highly (3rd highest pinch point) women without children rated it. This further illustrates previous work on howGeneration Y are already looking ahead, seeing the challenges faced by peers and colleagues and planning how to do things differently in order to best move their career forward. It highlights the need for businesses to not only support women through their maternity but also prepare female employees who are planning their careers and who may be contemplating starting a family in a few years’ time. This principle extends to all key barriers to progression…how can business make a difference before the challenges occur.

One respondent summed this up well: “I don’t want to start a family now, but might wish to in the next 5 years. Not sure how this will fit with wanting to become Senior Associate and then Partner. More flexible working and remote working would be good”

The roots of these ‘pinch points’ is caused by the lack of flexibility and rigid career structures that exist in many companies. A remarkable 88% of all women surveyed see inflexible and  long working hours and / or rigid career options as a barrier to career progression The problem is mostly keenly felt by women in their 30s with 71% claiming that rigid career options were a barrier and 79% stating that inflexible/long working hours were problematic.

However, the issue of flexible working spans a wide period of many women’s careers, extending for women well into the 40s, as they may face other parenting milestones (children starting/changing school or taking important exams etc) which require a flexible, bespoke approach to their career. Flexible working here does not have to mean working part time, far from it, but the issue of bias against part-time workers comes out powerfully within the research,   “I have been told I cannot expect to progress while I remain part time”.

Chris Parke, CEO of Talking Talent comments, “Eighteen months on from the Lord Davies review into women on boards, the number of females on FTSE 100 executive boards has crept up from 5.5% to 6.6%. More women should be coming through the talent pipelines but to date progression in this area is slow. Yes we are seeing some strong movement in non-executive director appointments but this is not a reflection of an improved talent pipeline. Our report shows that half of all women are rethinking their options – staying, leaving or doing something different – and the main drivers are the lack of flexibility in working practice, narrow career options and a lack of suitable managerial support.”

The research revealed that managerial support is considered the number one factor that could help reduce these barriers. However, 35% of women complained that line management behaviour was an issue hindering career progression and over half (54%) said they wanted greater managerial support to help them move forward. One lady said “Managers aren’t thinking creatively about resources and how they can be best applied to market and client needs. Always wanting to put people in pre-existing boxes’

In terms of the skills and support sought to progress careers, Talking Talent’s report revealed a strong appetite for personal development amongst the women, and identified softer behavioural-led skills as opposed to more functional skills as a key to progression. Self-belief and confidence was ranked as the highest (56%) requirement for all ages, with networking as the second highest priority at 54% and Building Profile/ Brand (40%) third. These latter two skills are often perceived to be areas which men perform better in and indeed give more focus to.  Clearly there is a need to provide greater support for women in these areas and especially with regard the primary skill requirement of self-confidence and belief.  In supporting this self-development, the research outlines greater management support (53%) and coaching and development (48%) as the most important tools to break down barriers and to help women progress, closely followed by that sought after improvement in flexible working (46%).

Parke adds, “Companies need to support women at all stages and introduce interventions that will seek to prevent barriers before they arise, enabling talent to move through the business at a quicker, and more consistent pace.   As the research highlights, interventions such as coaching are greatly sought after and for high potential women in particular it is critical in preparing them for senior roles and the challenges they may face moving through to board level. But they must be only part of the solution. This needs to be a holistic approach which involves the organisation, the managers and the employees. The role of the manager cannot be overstated but they themselves must receive the right support and challenge to ensure they can make good organisational policy a day to day reality. “

“Organisations need to ensure they have the right mechanisms in place to enable managers to make flexible, part time and alternative career paths work. Overlaid on top of that managerial support, each organisation must also evaluate how it can provide more female role models and senior mentors.”

Talking Talent is partnering with a number of companies including Ernst and Young, Deliotte, Citi, and Lloyds TSB to help them create more flexible, bespoke work environments that enable women to fulfil their potential. Six out of ten of the award winners at this year’s Working Families Benchmark and Awards are currently working with Talking Talent.

Helena Morrissey, CBE, CEO Newton Investment Management & Founder of the 30% Club comments:

“Everyday Talking Talent works with women across ages, levels and industries, to tackle the barriers to their career progression. By undertaking this survey they sought to benchmark the themes they are seeing throughout their coaching. The results offer an insight into the present situation for women in the workplace, as they see it, and their thoughts on future solutions and it gives us a pathway for change that is overwhelmingly unanimous; women from their twenties to fifties, at different levels and in different industries are in agreement on what they believe are the challenges and solutions. “

“In receiving over 2,500 responses, the research offers a robust understanding of what the needs of these women are, and therefore a high potential value for the UK businesses willing to invest in them. If businesses can be as clear in their actions in these areas for change as the women surveyed are in choosing them, real progress can continue to be made.”

NOTES TO EDITORS:

About Talking Talent (www.talking-talent.com)

Talking Talent are thought leaders in maximising the talent of high potential women in business. They have a team of expert coaches who deliver leading edge, bespoke modelled programmes across the UK, Europe and the United States. They are also firmly established as the UK’s leading organisation for maternity and paternity coaching specialising in retaining and maximising talent through this stage of the career life cycle.

The company has a proven track record with blue chip clients enjoying long term relationships with the likes of EY, Novartis and Barclays.  In the seven years since its launch Talking Talent has coached over 5000 women through their tailored programmes.

Talking Talent has a business’ strapline of ‘Inspiring Women. Improving Business’ and has a dedicated team with an absolute passion to improve the careers of women in business. ’

For further information, interviews or imagery, please contact:

Laura Lally

T; 01491 821850

E: laura.lally@talking-talent.com