What do women want?
Thu 01 January 1970
, Loyens & Loeff
How to get more women at the top: create a business atmosphere that allows everyone to show the best they can do. A bit obvious? Or is it easier said than done?
Carola van den Bruinhorst about career prospects for women.
The call to encourage more women to climb the corporate ladder in Dutch business has become louder in the last few years. Studies show that diversely composed managements make better decisions and obtain better results. “Men and women will always be different. Use that to your advantage!”, says Carola van den Bruinhorst, a partner at Loyens & Loeff, and chairman of its Diversity Council. Women ask the questions that men don’t often think of. Moreover, if talented women leave work after a few years because their talent was used too little, it’s not efficient.
Personal development
At Loyens & Loeff, there’s still a lot to be done to enhance diversity. Among the youngest employees, 54% are women. That seems a good start. After 3.5 years, this figure declines rapidly. Among seniors, only 33% are women. And, as for partners, a mere 8% of our 121 partners are women. “We have to ensure that we have and we keep the best people particularly now during this economic crisis. We need to provide a work environment that offers all our employees opportunities to develop their skills regardless of gender, religion, ethnic background, skin colour etc. Diversity is important. It affects all aspects of our work: the way we select and recruit new employees, the services that we offer our clients, and an alternative way of management: the so-called inclusive leadership, i.e. leadership whereby different kinds and expressions of skills and behaviour are recognised and valued.”
Feeling appreciated
Women often leave the organisations they work in because they don’t feel appreciated. In many cases that’s due to the prevailing culture and means of communication. Put bluntly: women start to feel that they’re not being listened to at an earlier stage and more strongly than men. They also don’t like the “beating around the bush”, and are more bothered by it than men. They prefer saying what they mean and appreciate transparency. And they really detest powerplay. So what do women like about their work then? They want to have authority too; not by holding back other people but by earning respect. So actually women want the same as men, they just go about getting it differently. They definitely want to feel that they are able to exploit their skills and thereby make the difference.
Humour
A male mentor can play a role in this process. That’s often someone with lots of experience who can advise a woman how to approach particular male colleagues in the most helpful way and how she should act in particular situations. “At Loyens & Loeff we also organise awareness raining courses. First for all partners, later we may train senior associates also. These courses are aimed at raising awareness of the various differences in behaviour so as to allow all employees to feel appreciated and at home in our firm.“ What can women themselves do to climb the corporate ladder? “Be yourself, be explicit about your ambitions and be open and honest about how flexible you’re prepared to be with respect to working hours. And remember, humour’s handy to set things in perspective!”
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