Case Study: Training and Development - Friends Provident

The gender balance of Friends Provident is approximately 50:50, although women are under-represented at management level. There are 2 female Directors out of a total of 20.

The company decided to investigate the reasons why women were not moving into senior management; what barriers they faced (real or perceived); and what could be done to address these. The first stage was to survey employees, then specific actions were developed to address issues uncovered in the survey.

The Women Into Management Survey was sent to all employees in managerial grades, male and female. The return rate was 71%, of which 67% was male, reflecting the approximate gender split at this level. 91% of the respondents worked full-time, again reflecting the practice at this level.

The survey asked questions about career aspirations, flexible working options and barriers to women progressing in their careers. It also provided an opportunity for free format comments. As with many other companies of its type, the results showed that more senior roles within Friends Provident require longer working hours, coupled with travel expectations resulting from a multi-site operation Accordingly, this puts significant demands on the company’s executives, resulting in a perception that fewer flexible working options are available at senior levels. This may make women less inclined to apply for senior roles if these perceptions are considered in the light of caring responsibilities.

Building on the work already being done, the next steps for implementation are:

• Creating a consistent approach to flexible working requests, including training on managing flexible working
• Creating more flexibility for senior roles and raising awareness that flexibility can be considered for senior roles
• Changing the perception that working long hours is necessary for success and career progression
• Improving career development for men and women who wish to progress, including active talent management of high-potential people
• Looking at ways of improving work/home balance
• More comprehensive gender monitoring, with particular regard to recruitment and promotions

Further research has now been concluded on reviewing management working time and its relationship with travel, work/home balance, career, job satisfaction and caring responsibilities. A variety of practical initiatives are currently being considered, ranging from reduced travel for meetings by improving video-conferencing technology, through to Directors acting as role models for reducing working hours