Women at career crossroads

Over 50% of working women are at a ‘career crossroads’ – unsure whether to progress up, out or pursue a different career altogether, according to new research from executive coaching company Talking Talent.

The report ‘Up, Out or Different’ – The Career Dilemma for UK women’, is based on a survey of over 2,500 working women in the UK 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’. Some 48% of all women highlighted it as the most challenging point in their careers and 68% of working mums says it was the biggest single challenge), but even women without children rated it the third highest pinch point. Talking Talents says this illustrates how Generation Y are looking ahead, seeing the challenges faced by peers and are planning how to do things differently in order to best advance their careers. They say it highlights the need for businesses to not only support women through their maternity but also help prepare female employees who may be contemplating starting a family in a few years’ time.

The roots of these ‘pinch points’ is caused by the lack of flexibility and rigid career structures that exist in many companies, according to the research. Some 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.

The issue of bias against part-time workers also comes out powerfully within the research.

Chris Parke, CEO of Talking Talent, says: “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 progression in this area is slow. 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.”

Managerial support is considered the number one factor that could help reduce these barriers. However, 35% of women complained that line management behaviour was hindering career progression and over half (54%) craved greater managerial support to help them move forward. One woman 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.”

The report also 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. 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 to prevent barriers arising, enabling talent to move through the business at a quicker, and more consistent pace. As the research highlights, interventions such as coaching are in demand and for high potential women in particular it can be critical in preparing them for senior and board level roles. 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.”

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