Although the topic of women in the workplace has been widely debated, they are still severely underrepresented in this area.
That is according to a report by the Women’s Business Council, which suggests that increasing the number of females in a firm could bring numerous benefits – including providing a much-needed boost to the UK economy.
In fact, if the same number of females as males were represented in the country’s workforce, the GDP would increase by as much ten per cent, according to the report.
However, very little is being done to encourage more females to take up senior roles or to help them juggle work alongside other commitments – such as caring for a family. This means that career progression among women is often stunted.
Commenting on the issue, co-founder of campaign group Everywoman Karen Gill told HR Magazine: “Women are vital to the economy. Addressing the leaky female talent pipeline will enable a greater representation of women throughout business from the bottom to the top.”
However, despite the fact that HR leaders are keen to get more females into their company, research by Everywoman shows that they do not know where to start.
Another issue is the fact that many women in middle management feel they are not supported in career progression and as they begin to feel frustrated this contributes to many dropping out of work altogether.
Females should be encouraged to take on more significant leadership roles in a company and through the right support they will be able to better juggle different aspects of their life, such as looking after children.
Offering mobile working is one solution to this issue as it allows working mothers to conduct business from home.
Ms Gill advised companies: “Encourage female middle managers to take greater responsibility for their careers. Giving women the tools and resources they need to take charge of their development is one of the most effective ways of doing this.”
