IN THE NEWS
Survey Summaries
In January 2007, two thirds of women with dependent children and 55% with children under 5 are now in employment. In April 2008 parents with children younger than 5 and those with caring responsibilities for adults have the right to request flexible working – Chartered Management Institute.
The ICAS Workplace Practice on Maternity and Retention Annual Survey 2007 found that 20% of public sector respondents believe that their return rate is a source of concern and that the effectiveness of line managers in dealing with maternity-related issues is being questioned.
The average cost to replace an employee is between £8,200 and £12,000 according to the CIPD. This does not take into account the cost of interruption and loss of knowledge. The report goes on to say that the unemployment of women costs taxpayers about £28 billion a year compared to a cost of £8 billion for disabled people.
A report by the Equal Opportunities Commission in 2007 said that only 10% of directors of the UK's FTSE 100 firms were women, while fewer than 20% of people in Parliament were female. The commission calculated that to begin redressing the imbalance, a further 6,000 women should be in top positions. It added that to counter the discrepancy between men and women in top roles, everyone should have the right to request flexible working and more high-quality, well-paid flexible and part-time work needs to be available.
Do Women Make Better Leaders?
Research has shown that the transformational style is the most effective leadership style in engaging and retaining staff within organisations, particularly when companies rely on innovation to stay competitive. Alice Eagly, a professor of psychology at Northwestern University, Chicago conducted research which revealed that men are more likely to use a "transactional" management style.
She suggests that the transformational leadership style may suit women because it includes nurturing aspects and women are traditionally socialized to be nurturers. Other studies have found that women who instead use a tough "command and control" leadership style meet with resistance and suspicion from employees. Women striving for leadership roles may also have to meet a higher standard than men. They may, therefore, adapt their leadership tactics along the way to fit the more effective transformational style.
Karen Burns argues that female leadership styles produce happier and more loyal employees. Women can be superior motivators, listeners, and nurturers, better at working out compromises and consensus building. All this translates to better employee performance, productivity, and innovation.
Karen Burns, Working Girl, is the author of The Amazing Adventures of Working Girl: Real-Life Career Advice You Can Actually Use, to be released by Running Press in April 2009.
