Organization’s initiatives to break through the
glass ceiling
A case study of five companies’ gender diversity management
By Linda Steijn Fraunhoferstraat 34-1 1098 LS Amsterdam The Netherlands Phone number: (+31)617380156 E-mail: l.steijn@student.rug.nl Student number 1336037 August 2007
Master thesis, Msc BA, specialization International Business & Management University of Groningen, Faculty of Management and Organization
Faculty Supervisors:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ABSTRACT
This thesis examines the glass ceiling phenomenon by investigating the barriers of women’s advancement and the activities organizations can undertake to lessen these barriers. Although a lot of research has been done to investigate the glass ceiling phenomenon, little improvements have been achieved by companies to advance more women to top management. This research therefore tries to gain a better understanding of how diversity should be managed in order to advance more women to the higher echelons of the organization. Open in-depth interviews were conducted with managers of five companies; Delta Lloyd, DSM, IBM, Nuon and PricewaterhouseCoopers, to gain more insight in the glass ceiling phenomenon and the role of the organization in breaking that glass ceiling. The results of this study show the necessity of top management commitment and complete diversity awareness throughout the organization for a diversity programme to succeed. This can be achieved by creating a relevant business case for diversity and integrating diversity into the business plan. Ensure that commitment and the business case are communicated throughout the organization to create awareness. Targets must be formulated and measured, and managers should be held accountable to achieve these targets. Moreover, the human resource cycle must be adapted to diversity. At last, companies should create an open organizational culture that values diversity. Recommendations are provided to successfully implement these diversity activities. The results of this research are useful for organizations to implement or optimize their diversity initiative in order to advance more women to top management.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...2
ABSTRACT...3
1. INTRODUCTION ...6
2. CONTEXTUAL BACKGROUND ...8
2.1 Barriers of women’s advancement ...8
2.1.1 Feminine characteristics ...8
2.1.2 Prejudices and stereotypes ...9
2.1.3 Discrimination in organizational policies and practices...10
2.2 Costs of failing to address diversity management ...14
3. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND ...15
3.1 Suggestions to break through the glass ceiling ...15
3.1.1. Change by top leadership commitment ...15
3.1.2. Diversity as part of the strategic plan...17
3.1.3. Employee involvement...18
3.1.4. Accountability ...18
3.1.5. Recruitment...18
3.1.6. Women development initiatives ...19
3.1.7. Evaluation and measurement ...21
5.6 Human Resource tools ...38
5.6.1 Selection- and appraisal system ...38
5.6.2 Flexible work arrangements ...39
5.6.3 Mentoring ...41
5.6.4 Succession planning and leadership development programmes ...42
5.6.5 Diversity resources ...43
5.6.6 Exit interviews ...43
5.7 Women’s networks ...45
5.8 Diversity programmes of the cases...47
5.8.1 Most important facets...47
5.8.2 Possible improvements...47
5.8.3 Percentages of female employees in organizations ...48
6. CONCLUSION ...49
7. RECOMMENDATIONS...53
7.1 Further research ...56
1. INTRODUCTION
In the last decades, women have progressed on the work floor of multinational companies, as they now represent 40 percent of the global workforce (Wirth, 2001). On average, women now make up half of the labour force. Also in management functions women are more and more present. However, when looking at top management of corporations, equal female representation is still lacking. On average, women make up 8,5% of corporate boardroom seats in Europe (European Professional Women’s Network, 2006). However, when excluding the Scandinavian countries, this percentage is even lower. Due to legislation, women are twice as likely to obtain senior management jobs in Scandinavia as in other European areas (Wirth, 2001).
Women’s personal preference does not seem to explain the low number of women in top management (Powell & Graves, 2003). Although women seem to place less emphasis on objective career success, there appears to be a great number of qualified lower-level female managers that are interested in advancement to higher management functions. Early sex differences in career patterns do not provide a sound explanation for the low female representation in top management teams either. Something more is going on in the decision-making process about who will advance in management and especially who will be promoted to top management. The glass ceiling is limiting women’s access to top management solely due to being a woman. Women are not permitted to mobilize upwards the hierarchical management structure as far as men with the same credentials (Powell & Graves, 2003).
Deducted from the above information, the following research objective and research question will be used throughout the research:
Research objective
The objective of this research is to gain more insight in the glass ceiling phenomenon and how companies deal with this phenomenon.
Research question
In this paper, the following research question will be explored:
‘Which actions should be undertaken by companies in order to minimize the glass ceiling phenomenon?’
This main research question can be divided in the following sub questions: 1. What is the glass ceiling phenomenon?
2. What are the costs of the glass ceiling phenomenon? 3. How can companies break through the glass ceiling?
4. How do five companies with an active diversity programme beat the glass ceiling?
5. Do the actions that five companies undertake to beat the glass ceiling correspond with the given organizational actions from literature?
6. What can be learnt from literature and case studies?
The glass ceiling can be defined as ‘artificial barriers based on attitudinal or organizational bias that prevent qualified women from advancing upward in their organization into (senior) management level positions’ (US Department of Labor in Snyder, 1993: 1).
2. CONTEXTUAL BACKGROUND
In this chapter, a contextual background about the glass ceiling phenomenon is provided in order for the reader to better understand the subject. First of all the known barriers of women’s advancement which are divided in three general causes are described in paragraph one. In paragraph two, the costs of failing to address diversity management for companies are provided.
2.1 Barriers of women’s advancement
In the past decades, progress has been made in the advancement of women in work. Currently, women make up half of the workforce. However, they are still underrepresented in the higher ranks of corporate life. A lot has been written about the barriers that women prevent from ascending to higher management positions, also called the glass ceiling phenomenon.
Three theories have been developed to explain women’s under representation in the higher echelons of management. The first theory states that feminine characteristics handicap women in the male corporate environment. Most research, however, shows little or no difference between the capacity, qualifications and motivation of managerial women and men. The second claims that women are hindered by the prejudices and stereotypes that men have of women: the word ‘manager’ is usually related to ‘masculine’ traits. The third theory focuses on the deeply rooted discrimination in the policies and practices of organizations that hold women back from advancing to senior management (Wirth, 2001).
2.1.1 Feminine characteristics Behaviour and communication styles
out of the spotlights. This can be explained by the externally and internally driven explanations for success and failure. Often, women explain success by external factors while they explain failure by internal factors. This is completely the opposite with men, as they explain success by internal factors and failure by external factors. Hence, women’s qualities are often overlooked and invisible in contrast to those of men (Mixed, 2004; Oakley, 2000).
2.1.2 Prejudices and stereotypes Gender-based stereotypes
Gender stereotypes are ‘shared beliefs about the psychological traits that are characteristic of each sex’ (Powell & Graves, 2003; 37). Women and men are expected to adopt roles that are consistent with gender stereotypes. Gender stereotypes have been generally stable overtime. Since the 1970s there has not been a change in the beliefs about sex differences, despite considerable changes in the workplace concerning the roles of women and men. In general, the female gender role is lower in status than the male gender role in Western societies (Powell & Graves, 2003). Additionally, there exist negative assumptions in organizations about women, their abilities and their commitment to careers. Women are often seen as less analytical, less emotionally stable, less consistent, and possessing poorer leadership abilities than male managers do. Women are perceived as less capable to accomplish a management function compared to men. However, in the last years not only masculine, but also feminine characteristics like teamwork, good communication skills, intuition and emotional intelligence are more and more valued within organizations (Powell & Graves, 2003; Wirth, 2001).
Another striking stereotype is the one of beautiful women being brainless. Research showed that for women, good looking is an advantage, but looking attractive however, is a disadvantage, due to the assumption ‘attractive women cannot be smart’. Attractive female managers are on average functionally rated lower than unattractive female managers or attractive male managers (Mixed, 2004; Oakley, 2000).
Preferred leadership styles
environment and will probably drop out before the selection process (Catalyst, 19998; Mixed, 2004; Oakley, 2000; Powell & Graves, 2003). As long as men remain in the majority in the higher management positions, the masculine leader stereotype is likely to maintain, and women in organizations will be expected to behave like men (Powell & Graves, 2003).
Although it is perceived that men are better suited for leadership positions than women, there are discrepancies in results on the best management traits being masculine or feminine. According to Dobbins & Platz (1986), few differences exist between male and female managers in being successful. This was also found by Powell & Graves (2003), who found no difference in the effectiveness of male and female leaders.
2.1.3 Discrimination in organizational policies and practices
The third barrier for women not to advance is described as the discriminating policies and practices of organizations. These policies and practices that hinder women’s career are described below.
Training and career development
In many organizations, career development and succession planning for women is lacking. This results in limited line experience in marketing or operations which is important to reach the upper echelons of management (Catalyst, 1998; Oakley, 2000). Another important aspect of career development is the provision of mentors. The lack of mentoring for women is therefore another factor of the slow advancement of women (Powell & Graves, 2003). Besides, corporations often do not hold managers accountable for the advancement of women, so that there is no need for managers to advance women (Catalyst, 1998).
Promotion policies
Women who desire both a family and a career often face high responsibilities in both domains. Combining a family and managerial work is almost impossible considering the required extending working hours to gain recognition at work and eventual get promotion. Organizations rarely offer diversity policies that effectively lessen the barriers for women to ascend to upper management positions. One of this is the lack of part-time jobs that still offer women opportunities to advance (Oakley, 2000; Wirth, 2001). Additionally, benefits systems and productivity measures do not take into account flexible work arrangements.
Powell & Graves, 2003). For example, research conducted showed that people tend to make the most positive evaluations about people whom are similar to themselves (Powell & Graves, 2003). This is especially seen in top management and is called ‘homosocial reproduction’ (Powell & Graves, 2003). Furthermore, decision makers often have an idea about the ideal applicant. This may include traits that are specifically linked to one sex. If these traits are masculine, which is often the case; men will be seen as more likely to succeed (Powell & Graves, 2003). Besides, a Canadian study showed that higher standards of performance are often applied to women than to men. A woman has to demonstrate her competence to do a particular job while a man could be offered a function based on faith in his potential (Wirth, 2001).
Compensation practices
Appraisal and compensation systems are most of the time not uniform for men and women. Female managers earn substantially less compared to male managers which makes it less likely to advance to the top (Catalyst, 1998; Oakley, 2000).
Old boy networks and maintaining the status quo
An old boy network is an informal social network of powerful men reaching within and across organizations. ‘The old boy network functions as an efficient distribution system that reinforces a system of obligations and reciprifications’ (Oakley, 1998: 8). Employers make use of networks to recruit new employees or to receive information about applicants. Women are mostly excluded from these networks. One of the reasons for this is that women can bring threats to the average compensation for CEOs, as women on average earn substantially less then men. This results in women missing significant information about new jobs and not being referred to as interesting possible applicant (Catalyst, 1998; Mixed, 2004; Oakley, 2000).
Opportunity, power and numbers
Kanter (1977) identified three aspects that tend to explain the slow movement of women in organizations:
1. Opportunity 2. Power 3. Numbers
Opportunity refers to expectations and prospects in vertical mobility in an organization. The structure of opportunity is determined by promotion rates, ladder steps, career paths, access to increase in skills and rewards and the career prospects in relation to his/her counterparts. Employees can be high or low in opportunity which means that they have respectively a high chance of vertical career mobility or a low chance of vertical career mobility. Being high or low in opportunity has effects on people’s behaviour. People low in opportunity tend to limit their aspirations, have lower self-esteem, seek satisfaction in activities outside of work, and are looking for relationships within a company. People high in opportunity, on the other hand, tend to have high aspirations, have a high self-esteem, be more committed to the organization, be competitive and be more attracted to people high in power.
The second aspect, power, refers to the ‘ability to get things done, to mobilize resources, to get and use whatever it is that a person needs for the goals he or she is attempting to meet’ (Kanter, 1977; 166). The structure of power is determined by both formal job characteristics and informal networks. It is said that people low in organizational power tend to have lower group morale, behave in more authoritarian ways, try to retain control, and try to hold back talented subordinates. In contrast, people high in organizational power tend to have higher group morale, behave less authoritarian, and be better liked by others.
People with such a minority status have to deal with three perceptual tendencies: 1. Visibility
2. Contrast 3. Assimilation
First, due to the minority status, tokens have higher visibility compared to the dominants. A group member’s awareness share declines as the number of group members increases, because each individual becomes less and less surprising.
The second tendency is contrast. In a uniform group, people may never become self-conscious about the common culture, as it is taken for granted by everyone. However, when one or two persons join the group, the self-consciousness of the dominants suddenly increases due to the presence of the minorities. They become more aware of their difference from the token. This results often in the dominants protecting their commonality by making a boundary and trying to keep the token outside.
Assimilation is the third tendency and involves stereotypes and generalizations about the social type of a token. People in minority are different from the dominants. Due to this, they are more easily stereotyped compared to dominants.
Tokens face higher visibility, contrast, and this result in typical responses of tokens. Visibility leads to higher performance pressures. The token does not have to work hard to have her presence noticed, but she does have to work hard to have her achievement noticed. This creates high performance pressure on the token. Contrast results in dominants heightening their boundaries, leading to isolation of the token. Finally, assimilation results in the token’s role encapsulation. The characteristics of tokens as individuals often do not fit the already existing generalizations about their type as a group, what is called assimilation. These biased assumptions about how tokens must behave and what they must be like, force tokens into playing limited roles.
2.2 Costs of failing to address diversity management
After discussing the three theories, it can be concluded that the obstacles that hinder women’s advancement in the workplace have negative effects on organizations. These effects are discussed below.
All statistics show that women leave organizations more frequently than men at the same stage (Opportunity in Bedrijf, 2006). Most of the time companies think this is due to the desire of women having and raising their kids. However, studies demonstrate that women leave due to unsatisfying career perspectives at work or better opportunities and conditions elsewhere; such as increased compensation, new or greater advancement opportunities, greater flexibility and more appreciation for their work (Catalyst, 1998; HRMagazine, 2004; Opportunity in Bedrijf, 2006). High turn-over rates however, result in devastating costs for a company.
3. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
In this chapter, existing theory about the glass ceiling phenomenon and gender diversity management is outlined. Important facets in developing a gender diversity programme to break through the glass ceiling are presented. A conceptual model is presented to graphically illustrate the theory about how companies can break the glass ceiling.
3.1 Suggestions to break through the glass ceiling
As can be seen above, it is acknowledged that barriers exist for women to reach high management functions and the costs of losing high potential women can reach high levels. Therefore, some authors, institutions and companies have looked at ways to diminish these barriers. The most important suggestions to break through the glass ceiling are the following:
1. Change by top leadership commitment 2. Diversity as part of the strategic plan 3. Employee involvement
4. Accountability 5. Recruitment
6. Women development initiatives 7. Evaluation and measurement
3.1.1. Change by top leadership commitment
According to Dobbs (1998) and Mixed (2004), most organizations should change their organizational culture when implementing diversity programmes successfully. Without an organizational culture that understands and values differences, diversity programmes will result in misunderstanding and decreased organizational effectiveness. According to many authors (Dobbs, 1996; Oakley, 2000; Ragins, 1998; Valian, 1998; Wirth, 2001), commitment of top management, especially the leader, is crucial for change to succeed. If an organizational culture does not fit the values and morale of the organization anymore, it is the task of the leader to recognize the functional and dysfunctional elements of the existing culture and to control cultural change so that the organization can survive in times of change (Schein, 1992).
stereotypes include the perceptions of typical female and male managerial characteristics. Mostly, these stereotypes are negative for women. Social identity can be described as individuals perceiving themselves to belong to a certain group. Gender is one of those identity groups and these identities can harm women as the male group often dominate (Dobbs, 1998). According to Kottke and Agars (2005), the social-cognition factor is the most important factor a company has to deal with, as social cognitions are the basis of much of the thoughts, behaviours and attitudes of organizational members, which will finally determine whether or not any organizational attempt succeeds or fails. Other authors claim for the same intervention. Valian (1998) argues that people in organizations, especially those who have authority to make decisions, should learn about gender schemas and its consequences as this is an important step in fighting against systematic error in perceptions of others. It is therefore crucial that managers’ stereotypes, which are most of the time unconscious, are made conscious, will women’s advancement be successful. Companies must therefore first give diversity trainings to top management so that they learn how to deal with gender issues. Diversity training can help an organization’s management and staff, increase their awareness and understanding of diversity as well as help them develop concrete skills to assist them in communicating and increasing productivity.
When organization’s top management is completely committed, the first thing to do is to identify the organizational culture and the elements that hinder and facilitate gender diversity be determined. By looking at behaviours, traditions and norms, but also through focus groups that discover men’s and women’s perceptions about the organization’s culture, their career expectations and what drives them to stay or leave the organization, the culture can be identified. Map the strengths and weaknesses of policies and programme Chief Diversity Officers (HRMagazine, 2004), thereafter, the action plan for change that favours women’s advancement can be developed and implemented (Dobbs, 1996).
Before changing the culture, the leader must provide the workforce the disconfirming information that initiates the change process, and he has to induce the anxiety and guilt to motivate change. In this case, disconfirming data could be the enormous amount of women quitting their job. At the same time, a connection of the disconfirming data to important goals and ideals causing anxiety and/or guilt are necessary for organizational members to see the importance of the problem and to prevent perceptions of unfairness. At last, enough psychological safety, by demonstrating the utility of the organizational change effort, is necessary. When the change threatens people; for example when an organization wants more women in top positions, there will be less space for men, what men can view as a threat to their position; they will deny the data and the need for change (Kottke and Agars, 2005; Schein, 1992).
they systematically pay attention to. If leaders are aware of this process, then being consistent in behaviour and consistent in paying attention to certain things becomes a powerful way of communicating a message. Thus, in this way directors can clearly communicate their own priorities, goals and assumptions and eventually these will become organizational ones.
Five mechanisms are strong methods by which leaders are able to embed their own assumptions in the organization’s culture;
1. Through what they pay attention to and reward 2. Through the way they allocate resources 3. Through the role modelling they do
4. Through the manner in which they deal with critical incidents
5. Through the criteria they use for recruitment, selection, promotion, and excommunication. These are the primary mechanisms and by these means leaders communicate both explicitly and implicitly the beliefs they deeply hold. All of the primary mechanisms must be used, and all of them must be consistent with each other. Besides primary, there are also secondary mechanisms, namely the messages in the organization’s structure, its procedures and routines, its rituals, its physical layout, its stories and legends, and its formal statements about itself. But these means are less powerful, more ambiguous, and more difficult to control. However, these mechanisms are necessary as reinforcement of the primary messages and to sustain cultural changes (Schein, 1992). This will be explained more in depth later on.
If what a leader proposes works and continues to work, what once was only the leader’s assumption gradually becomes a shared assumption. Only when managing diversity becomes a top priority and management is fully committed, a diversity initiative has chance to be effective and change will occur
3.1.2. Diversity as part of the strategic plan
3.1.3. Employee involvement
Including employees in the planning and implementation of changes that impact them is a basic principle in change management (Dobbs, 1996). Employees may become involved in their organization’s diversity management efforts by forming employee diversity task forces, councils, boards, and networks to identify issues, recommend actions, and help develop initiatives all important for the advancement of women (Eyring & Stead, 1998; GAO, 1995). Employee participation and involvement is necessary for the success of the diversity programme. Companies with employees who understand that the diversity programme and the strategic mission of the company are integrated are more likely to succeed than those that fail to link diversity initiatives with the business case (Catalyst, 1998). Especially female employees should be aware of the taken actions by their company to break the glass ceiling (Eyring & Stead, 1998; Wirth, 2001). Diversity training can be given to employees as these trainings can provide employees with an awareness of their differences and an understanding of how diverse perspectives can improve organizational performance. Organizations also should teach employees about the importance of the organization’s diversity goals and the skills required to work effectively in a diverse workforce. In addition, to increase employee effectiveness in a diverse environment, organizations should include teambuilding, communication styles, decision making, and conflict resolution in the diversity training programme (GAO, 1995).
3.1.4. Accountability
Accountability is a key element for organizations to ensure the success of a diversity management effort. This can be done by linking managers’ assessment and compensation to the progress of achieving diversity goals resulting in managers feeling responsible for diversity in their organization. When an organization makes managers’ performance ratings and compensation dependent in part on their success in achieving diversity-related goals, managers will be more dedicated to the gender issues and the advancement of women. As a result, women will feel being taken more seriously what enhances their self esteem (Eyring & Stead, 1998; GAO, 1995; HRMagazine, 2004; Ragins, 1998; Snyder, 1993). To ensure accountability, clear roles of the CEO, senior line managers, other managers, human resource professionals and individual employees in the diversity initiative must be determined (Catalyst, 1998).
3.1.5. Recruitment
who are similar in style, assumptions, values, and beliefs to present employees. Organizational beliefs can be confirmed by hiring the right people which fit into the organizational assumptions. The success of the culture lies therefore in the success of the recruitment effort. Organizational assumptions are further reinforced through criteria of who does or does not get promoted, who is retired early, and who is being fired (Schein, 1992). It is therefore important that organizations not only communicate their willing of more gender diversity in the organization, but also act accordingly.
Organizations should therefore pay more attention to their attraction and selection procedures. They need to reduce the perception that some jobs are only suitable for men. Frequently, both masculine and feminine traits are necessary for (management) jobs. Therefore, recruiters should be trained in unbiased selection processes and selection processes should be formalized and standardized (Powell & Graves, 2003). Another action to support women is making use of an objective performance appraisal and compensation system that minimizes gender bias (Ragins, 1998; Snyder, 1993). Proper evaluations are important in equalizing men’s and women’s advancement. Undervaluation of women’s performance is one of the biggest problems in the disparities between men and women. Therefore, proper evaluators, who get training in unbiased evaluating, and objective and structured performance criteria and compensation practices are necessary for equal career opportunities for men and women (Wirth, 2001). Moreover, evaluations should get enough attention and time, as reliance on gender schemas can decrease by having more time and paying more attention to it (Valian, 1998).
3.1.6. Women development initiatives
There are three initiatives to warrant the development of women in organizations that are given below.
1. Leadership development programmes
Succession planning is a strategic process for identifying and developing potential future leaders in an organization. Companies can make sure that women move upwards in the organization by identifying female employees of high potential and helping them gain visibility and experience through challenging assignments (Wirth, 2001). Organizations should thereafter build succession planning processes to monitor and support women in their career (Eyring & Stead, 1998; GAO, 1995; Snyder, 1993).
implement management development programmes for women. These programmes should include challenging and international assignments, if applicable (HRMagazine, 2004).
2. Mentoring programmes
Furthermore, organizations should assist female employees by offering mentoring programmes (HRMagazine, 2004; Mixed, 2004; Ragins et.al., 1998; Snyder1993). A mentor can give support and advice and this enhances self confidence and improves the functioning of a female manager, resulting in improved promotion and retention of female employees. By giving women influential mentors, preferably active in an old boy network, women can be introduced to the network or to other influential men that improve their chance of being asked for a higher position (Mixed, 2004; Powell & Graves, 2003; Wirth, 2001).
Companies should also acknowledge successful female senior managers as role models. If women can see that advancing to top management is possible, they will be more encouraged to work on full capacity. Moreover, organizations should support the entrance of women to the old boy networks and the development and utilization of women’s networks inside and outside the organization (HRMagazine, 2004).
3. Work-life balance and flexibility initiatives
Dreher (2003) conducted a study to examine the effects of sex ratios and work-life programmes on female leadership at the top. He found that the higher the number of women on lower- and middle-level functions is, the higher the number of senior female managers in an organization. This was also noted by Valian (1998) in her book about women’s advancement. She stated that research showed that women will be more fairly evaluated when 25% or more of the group is female. ‘Seeing a variety of women in leadership positions encourages people to see leadership not as a masculine trait but as a human trait’. Thus, the number of women in the organization, especially in line management positions, seems to positively influence the number of women in top functions in organizations. Companies should therefore emphasize the importance of women acquiring (line) management experience (HRMagazine, 2004).
sharing of family responsibilities. Research demonstrated that flexible work arrangements decreases absenteeism and increases productivity (Catalyst, 1998). Promoting a positive view of the concept of the part-time manager enhances women’s career possibilities so that organizations should take flexible work arrangements into account (Catalyst, 1998; Mixed, 2004; Powel & Graves, 2003; Ragins, 1998; Wirth, 2001). ‘It is important that companies ensure the viability of their work and family programmes by bearing in mind that the most effective and efficient employees and mangers are often those who are confident of managing responsibilities in all spheres of their lives’ (Wirth, 2001; 116).
3.1.7. Evaluation and measurement
The progress of the managing diversity effort must be continuously monitored and evaluated to ensure that the desired results are being attained. An organization can track data on its workforce to evaluate the effectiveness of the organization’s diversity management efforts and the progress it is making in those efforts. In addition, organizations can also collect qualitative data derived from interviews, focus groups, and surveys for identifying employee perceptions. Both quantitative and qualitative data can help organizations assess how their diversity initiatives are progressing in achieving organizational goals and objectives (HRMagazine, 2004; Wirth, 2001). If necessary, the diversity initiative must be modified.
3.2 Conceptual model
The information from the theoretical background is illustrated in a conceptual model which is presented below. The conceptual model presents a graphic illustration of the relationship of diversity management and the glass ceiling phenomenon. On the left, the major components of diversity management are presented. These components have an effect on the degree of breaking the glass ceiling which in turn has an effect on the degree of advancement of women in organizations.
Diversity management Degree of leadership commitment Degree of diversity integrated with strategic plan Degree of employee involvement Degree of accountability Degree of objectivity recruitment
4. METHOD
The research undertaken for this thesis is a qualitative research using literature study and multiple case studies. Case study research is used, as case studies are useful when ‘how and why’ questions are asked and when contemporary events are examined. The case study can help when complex topics are explored (Yin, 2003). Moreover, an exploratory research design is used, as this is useful to find out ‘what is happening; to seek new insights; to ask questions and to assess phenomena in a new light’ (Robson, p. 59 in Saunders, et.al., 2003). Therefore, a qualitative method is used to gain in-depth insight into the phenomenon (Ghauri and Gronhaug, 2002).
4.1 Data collection
Data for this research is collected from five companies active in different businesses; DSM, Nuon, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Delta Lloyd, and IBM. With the exception of Nuon and DSM, the companies were chosen from the database of members of Opportunity in Bedrijf.
After consultation with Opportunity it was decided to contact 6 companies to participate in the research. The choice for these companies was made on basis of the information available at Opportunity. All six companies had an extensive diversity programme which made it likely that the companies could provide the needed information for the research. At first, Opportunity sent an email to the six companies to introduce the research and to ask permission to participate in the research by allowing three interviews; one interview with the diversity manager, one with a male manager and one with a female manager. Three companies; Delta Lloyd, IBM and PricewaterhouseCoopers were willing to cooperate. Opportunity provided the contact information of the three HR/Diversity managers of the three companies. To enlarge the number of case studies, as three case studies were too few to draw real conclusions, it was tried to find other companies that were willing to cooperate as well. Contact was made with DSM as they effectively manage diversity for a couple of years. Nuon was contacted as well, as diversity is an important subject for Nuon since two years. Both companies were willing to participate in the research.
To learn more about the diversity programmes of the companies, interviews with the diversity managers or HR managers of the various companies were conducted. After the first interview, the manager was asked for two other participants. Although permission was given beforehand to conduct three interviews, except for Delta Lloyd, all managers allowed only one interview with another manager. After the first interviews, appointments with the other managers were made and the interviews were conducted. All interviews were open in-depth interviews and the same interview questionnaire was used for all interviews. The interview questionnaire was based on available information from theory and can be found in appendix II.
Due to consistency and the fact that all respondents were Dutch native speakers, all interviews were conducted in the Dutch language. Before the start of the interview, respondents were asked their permission to use an audio recorder to ensure that all answers were saved properly. All respondents gave their permission to use the recorder. Furthermore, the diversity managers were asked their permission to use the company name in the report. They all allowed to use the real company names, although they asked to review the report before being placed in the University database.
With the collected information from theory and various case studies a solution for the research question will be provided.
4.2 Cases
For this case study, five companies participated in the research. Except for Nuon, all companies are international or multinational companies. Delta Lloyd, DSM and Nuon are Dutch companies, IBM is an American company and PwC is a British company.
Delta Lloyd
and mortgages as well. Delta Lloyd Group comprises of eight divisions; Delta Lloyd Insurance, OHRA Insurance, ABN AMRO Insurance, Delta Lloyd Asset Management, Delta Lloyd Property, Delta Lloyd Banking, Delta Lloyd Germany and Delta Lloyd Life Belgium. The various activities of these units support each other and therefore ensure a strong group as a whole (aviva.com; deltalloydgroup.com).
Interviewees
For the research interviews with Iris Mesland, Manager Human Resources; Bob Gerritsen, Manager Leven Operations Delta Lloyd; and Nathalie de Geus, Manager Letzel Service Centre were conducted. DSM
DSM was founded in 1902 as De StaatsMijnen to take advantage of the coal mines in the south of The Netherlands. In one century, DSM developed into a leading international plaoyer in nutritional and pharma ingredients, performance materials and industrial chemicals. DSM develops, produces and sells products and services in the human and animal nutrition and health, personal care, pharmaceuticals, automotive and transport, coatings and paint, housing and electrics & electronics markets. The headquarters are based in the Netherlands, but DSM is also located in other European countries, in Asia, Africa, Australia and the US (dsm.com).
Interviewees
Interviews were conducted with the former DSM Diversity Manager, Marina Wielders, and with Vera Aarts, who occupies a management position at DSM Corporate Risk Management.
IBM
IBM was founded in 1910 as Computing-Tabulating-Recording Co. and changed its name to International Business Machines Corporation in 1924. IBM engages in the development and manufacture of the advanced information technologies, including computer systems, software, storage systems, and microelectronics. It operates in three segments: Systems and Financing, Software, and Services. IBM serves banking, insurance, education, government, healthcare, life sciences, aerospace and defense, automotive, chemical and petroleum, electronics, distribution, and communication markets (ibm.com; finance.yahoo.com).
Interviewees
Nuon
Nuon was formed through the merger of four regional energy companies: Nuon, Energie Noord West, Energie en Watervoorziening Rijnland and GAMOG, in 1999. Nuon is now one of the leading energy companies in the Netherlands. Nuon’s activities can be divided in Distribution & Sales the Netherlands, Production & Trade, Grid Management and Other activities. It mainly supplies electricity, natural gas, water, and heat services to retail customers and business customers (corporate.nuon.com).
Interviewees
Interviews were conducted with Max Vermeer, just appointed as Diversity Manager Nuon, and Product Manager Rianne van Dusseldorp.
PricewaterhouseCoopers
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) was formed when Price Waterhouse merged with Coopers & Lybrand in 1998. PwC is one of the Big Four in accounting, along with Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Ernst & Young and KPMG. PwC is active in 149 countries and has its headquarters in New York. It provides services in three lines of business: Assurance, Tax, and Advisory (biz.yahoo.com; pwc.com).
Interviewees
Data was collected by interviewing Astrid Tebberman, Director Diversity PwC; and Ton Jonker, Principal Manager.
4.3 Limitations
A parameter during the case studies was the glass ceiling index as it determines the successfulness of women advancing to the top in an organization. The glass ceiling index measures the thickness of the glass ceiling within an organization. There are two different indices:
1. General glass ceiling index
2. Senior executive glass ceiling index
5. RESULTS
In this section, the results of the five case studies will be presented in different paragraphs. Each paragraph presents an important component of a diversity programme. Differences and similarities between the case studies are presented and analyzed per component and therefore per paragraph. The following different components are:
1. Leadership commitment 2. Business case
3. Accountability
4. Employee involvement/communication 5. Diversity training
6. Human Resource tools 7. Women’s networks
8. Diversity programmes of the cases
At the end of each paragraph a summary is provided in order to briefly present the main findings of the different components of a diversity programme.
5.1 Leadership commitment
When the interviewees were asked about the commitment of top management, they all stated the importance of top management commitment for a diversity programme to succeed. Without commitment of the executives, especially the CEO, a diversity programme will not succeed.
Excellent examples of highly committed CEOs are Jos Nijhuis, CEO of PwC, and Ludo van Halderen, CEO of Nuon, the latter even being inspired by his three daughters. Their role is to inspire the rest of the organization by disseminating the need of a more diverse workforce in the higher echelons of the organization. A diversity initiative must start with full support from the CEO. However, what will happen to the diversity initiative when the committed CEO leaves the organization? Was it just a hype? When Henk van Dalen, the diversity focused former CEO of DSM, left the company, the board paid gradually less attention to diversity. This could be observed at Delta Lloyd as well, when former board member Chris Tesselhoff left the organization.
“Without support of your top management team, you can just go home. Every change project, especially a diversity change project, needs commitment of the top. People are afraid of change, resulting in resistance. Thus you need top management team’s support to lead such change projects”.
Therefore, on the long run, the whole organization, especially the whole executive board, should be committed to diversity. Awareness must be created
at every sphere of the organization about the need for more women in the organization and the benefits of a more diverse top management. The CEO
plays a key role in creating this awareness by communicating the necessity and the benefits in the annual report, company magazines, the company
website, and the intranet. By, for example, becoming a member of Opportunity in Bedrijf and the CEO joining the Ambassadeursnetwerk, the company shows its support to diversity internally and externally.
Summary
It can be concluded that all companies have a board of executives that support gender diversity. Often, only one person, mostly the CEO, is entirely committed and broadly communicates his commitment. However, when that person leaves the organization, attention to diversity often gradually fades away. It is therefore important to ensure complete commitment in the entire top management team and to ensure that they communicate it to the rest of the organization. A visualisation of the leadership commitment per company is presented below. The availability and degree of commitment are derived from the interviews and described above.
Past Now Delta Lloyd DSM IBM Nuon PwC
Table 1. Leadership commitment
Available
Leadership Commitment
Commitment Degree
Low/negative High/positive
“For a couple of years Henk van Dalen, former CFO, was the leading figure in the diversity initiative. He was totally committed and he was responsible for the widely dissemination within the organization. Unfortunately we do not have such a person anymore and then you see that the attention to diversity fades away”.
Vera Aarts, DSM
According to Max Vermeer (Nuon): “Leadership commitment is important to ensure the success of a diversity
5.2 Business case
Top management will only be committed when they are aware of the necessity of more women in the organization and especially in the higher echelons of the organization. This awareness can be created by building a convincing diversity business case that includes all facets of the business. One of these facets, is the financial performance of a firm. According to Ton Jonker it must be quantitatively and qualitatively demonstrated that diversity is relevant and that it is correlated to the performance of the firm, will upper management be committed. Marina Wielders (DSM) referred to a research conducted by Catalyst. Catalyst examined the effect of diversity on firm performance. They concluded that companies with the highest representation of women on their top management teams performed better financially than companies with the lowest representation of women (Catalyst, 1994).
Jos Nijhuis, CEO of PwC, stated in a Dutch newspaper in November of 2006:
“I estimate a 20 million Euros loss in turnover yearly at PwC, due to the lack of women in the top of the organization” (Spaansen, 2006). Financial results form a convincing business case for gender diversity.
Other convincing reasons to establish a business case for diversity are the increased competitiveness in attracting talent and the costs of losing talent, the changing workforce demographics and increased understanding of customers, consumers and markets. According to Mickey Spier the main reason for IBM to pay attention to a diverse workforce is solely an economic reason; a diverse workforce delivers profitability. “IBM’s customers are diverse, so you need a diverse workforce in order to provide the client the best service”. Fehmer, CEO of IBM, once stated in the Ambassadeursnetwerk report 2003: “the complex environment of today asks for female capabilities like better communication, teambuilding, showing of emotions and vulnerability” (Ambassadeursnetwerk, 2003).
Diversity needs to be interwoven throughout organizational operations. Tying diversity programmes to strategic business plans and objectives is the best way to ensure diversity is embedded within the organization. Without providing a correlation between diversity and business objectives, diversity will be viewed as a secondary programme by top management and will not have any effect.
“It used to be ‘diversity, nice to have’, now we have to work hard to make diversity a part of the business” Nathalie de Geus, Delta Lloyd “If you want changes fast, you need to convince the old boys first. Jos Nijhuis on the front-page of a newspaper is not enough. It must become part of day to day operations. To reach this, the old school has to believe in the profitability. The only way to trigger the old school is to quantify the benefits.”
Summary
A convincing business case is essential to create awareness at the top of the organization. Moreover, a business case is useful to convince the rest of the organization as well. Therefore, diversity should be included in the business plan and linked to other objectives, which is necessary to embed diversity throughout the entire organization.
Available Degree availability
Delta Lloyd
DSM
IBM
Nuon
PwC
5.3 Accountability
When the interviewees were asked about quantifiable results, the majority of the interviewees responded with the availability of numbers and targets in the organization. However, they also responded that no one is really held accountable for these results. It was also stated by different interviewees that targets are useful for monitoring but targets must not be a goal on its own.
But why can’t managers be held accountable for hiring and placing at the same rate as the qualified and interested female applicant pool? If a company determines that 30% of the qualified applicants for manager positions is female, why can’t senior managers be held accountable for hiring 30% females into that particular position? Some interviewees indeed answered in line with this, as they are aware of the necessity of making managers accountable in order to realize changes. To be able to make real changes, more is required.Astrid Tebberman wants to formulate teams of BU leaders, human capital partners of the BU and a diversity officer. ‘The BU must be responsible for diversity and the BU leader must give orders to the partners and the directors of the BU. Diversity should become a significant part of the appraisals of the BU, in order to develop diversity into a real business issue instead of being a nice executive board story only.’
Companies can increase or decrease the incentive bonus of managers dependent on the achievement of the targets. Targets can be developed for the number of women on talent lists, on promotion lists and the actual number of women advancing.
IBM formulates targets for their top talent lists. Mickey Spier noted: “For all the top talent lists, we have targets with regard to the number of women. Afterwards these numbers are measured and managers are responsible for these targets. However, managers will not be financially responsible, but they will be asked why some women dropped out, and why particular women did
not advance. The outcomes of these conversations are used
The executive board formulates diversity objectives for senior management, but these objectives are not linked to salary or other working conditions. People are accountable, but not financially, otherwise diversity becomes a goal on its own what brings a negative effect to quality. But if senior managers must report to the executive board about diversity, they do not want to tell them they failed in accomplishing their objectives’.
Marina Wielders, DSM
“Diversity is not an HR event, it must be a policy with measurable objectives and a management that has the responsibility to achieve these objectives.”
Mickey Spier, IBM “If you do not formulate targets and held people accountable for achieving the targets, you are dependent on the willingness of the people in the organization. It will probably not succeed then”.
for further actions. When we observe that the percentage of women on specific talent lists is decreasing, we formulate action plans directly”.
Summary
It can be concluded that targets for the number of women on talent lists, promotion lists and number of women advancing, should be formulated and measured. Managers should be held accountable for achieving these targets by asking their explanation about the achievement of the targets or by tying bonuses to achieving these targets. This is necessary to ensure the awareness of individuals and to ensure diversity will be embedded in the organization.
5.4 Employee involvement/communication
Almost all interviewees agree on the importance of communicating the diversity message continuously throughout the organization. It is important for employees to know that their organization values diversity and acts accordingly. However, you must inform them with positive examples of diversity as well, otherwise employees will not believe the positive effects of a diversity programme. Marina Wielders stated: ‘You must keep on communicating, especially about positive examples and role models, also about men working part-time and fulfilling a high management position. Only by giving these examples, employees will start to believe it.’ Moreover, the positive effects of a diversity programme should be communicated as well, as it is the initial motive of the diversity programme.
Most of the companies communicate their commitment to diversity through their websites, magazines and intranet to the employees. PwC even conducted a diversity questionnaire by interviewing their employees about diversity within PwC, their opinions about diversity and their suggestions to improve the diversity programme. By doing this, a company ensures diversity involvement and diversity awareness of employees. Moreover, Ton Jonker noted that companies should make diversity a repeating subject in company magazines by showing the results of the diversity programme every quarter of a year. This can be done by developing a diversity barometer that measures numbers and calculates the progress of the programme.
The companies differ in involving employees in the diversity initiative. Delta Lloyd has several committees providing advice to the Board and to Human Resource managers and the committees whereby these committees help formulate diversity goals. Managers, team leaders and employees can have positions in these committees. By setting up such a network of committees, the diversity issue can be wide spread throughout the organization. Moreover, day to day issues committees observe on the work floor can be used to optimize the diversity programme. However, there is one critical note as not all employees are aware of the existence of these committees, according to two interviewees of Delta Lloyd. One of them stated: “The concept of these committees is really useful, as you can reach many employees throughout the entire organization. However, more power must be assigned to them as most employees are not aware of the existence of these committees.”
“Diversity initiatives must be adapted to the organization. If you value your people, you listen to them. What do you want in this phase of your life? What are your ambitions? And what can we add to these ambitions as an employer?”
DSM organized round table meetings for a couple of years to involve both men and women in the diversity initiative. During these meetings, several diversity topics were discussed and the outcomes of these meetings were used as input for the diversity programme.
The round table meetings turned out very useful as DSM observed that some sensitive subjects became open for discussion. Additionally, although these meetings are not taking place anymore, the results of the meetings are still noticeable as the organizational culture became more open and women meet each other more often to discuss several topics.
Summary
It can be concluded that involving employees in the diversity initiative is important. Diversity management should be extended to the work floor instead of diversity being a board story. Different ways of communication are used to involve and aware employees of diversity.
Available Degree Delta Lloyd DSM IBM Nuon PwC
Table 4. Employee involvement Employee involvement
“A nice example is a female employee of DSM working in Switzerland who was pregnant and was not allowed to work part time. Then she showed her boss an article in the DSM magazine about flexible working conditions. Her boss made a phone call to the headquarters in the Netherlands and they asked him: Do you think she is good? Yes. Do you want to keep her? Yes. Let her work part-time then.”
5.5 Diversity training
Responses about diversity training differed significantly among the various interviewees. Some companies include diversity in general development programmes whereas others provide diversity training to all its employees on a regular basis. In general, diversity training is not offered to all employees (on regular basis), nor is it part of common training in development packages. However, most of the interviewees noted the importance of providing diversity training to employees in order to create the necessary awareness.
Employees’ awareness of the importance of diversity differs between companies. In general, employees of companies having diversity programmes for a long time are more aware of the benefits of diversity compared to companies having a diversity programme for only a short time. PwC is an excellent example of a company that is fully focused on diversity, by ensuring that almost every employee is aware of the diversity programme and has already had diversity training from the lowest to the highest layer within the organization.
According to Astrid Tebberman, men and women are different in behaviour and communication styles. “Women doubt when they are offered a promotion and openly say they are not sure if they are good enough to perform the new job. In contrast, men directly shout they are interested and point to their perfectly matching skills with the job requirements. Female employees have different values compared to male employees. Women have to learn and understand why men act the way they act and men have to learn and understand why women act the way they act.’ Diversity training is therefore important to educate management and other employees how to understand the differences between gender, how to accept these differences and how to capitalize on those differences to improve the performance of the firm.
“To make sure a diversity initiative is successful, you need both men and women. You can train female employees about diversity and tell women over and over again that they are not crazy. However, if the environment, the men, do not change, it will not have any effect. You have to make sure it is an ongoing process at both sides, doing it together.”
Summary
Few companies offer diversity training to their management and other employees regularly. Specific training to educate employees about diversity is not adapted in regular training packages. However diversity training is important to make people aware of differences between people, how to cope with these differences and how to capitalize on these differences.
Past Now Delta Lloyd DSM IBM Nuon PwC
Table 5. Diversity training
Diversity Training
5.6 Human Resource tools
5.6.1 Selection- and appraisal system
In most organizations, selection criteria for a regular job are clear and objective. However, the criteria for upper positions in organizations are often more
vague and subjective as well as the selection procedure that is often taking place in informal spheres.
Ton Jonker stated: “PwC has an advanced reward system that objectively remunerates people in the organization. However, the higher the position in the organization, the more subjective and informal the ranking and promotion get. Although you might show nice results, the way you will be ranked will be quite different compared to lower positions in the organization. It is more about the X factor, or whatever you may call it. And that is precisely the behaviour women detest. It is a political game”. Due to the informal setting of selection procedures for high positions, capabilities of applicants tend to be very similar to capabilities of men in high positions. These capabilities can be described as hard and masculine, while feminine capabilities are needed as well.
At Nuon, men are generally rated higher during selection procedures compared to women. “This is probably due to the formulated selection criteria which favour men as the selection criteria are mainly based on masculine capabilities. We should take another look at the selection criteria and see if the required feminine qualities must be added as well. However, the people who conduct the selection interviews are equally divided between males and females” according to Max Vermeer.
Some interviewees noted the difference in behaviour between men and women when asking for a promotion. Men tend to ask for promotion themselves, while women wait until they are asked for a promotion.
“If managers are aware of this difference between men and women, they should focus on this difference. Companies should not use their traditional selection criteria, but should search for more employees who are ready to advance but just need a little bit assistance” according to Mickey Spier.
DSM for example examined the competencies needed for high management positions. “Out of ten important competencies, some are hard and some are soft. We therefore paid attention to the competencies necessary for teams. As a result, people at DSM are more aware of the different competencies of people and the necessity for differences in a team. However, it depends on the team
“Women want to be proposed for marriage, but they also want to be proposed for promotion.”
Mickey Spier, IBM
“We are working in a company where men distribute the nice jobs and positions.”
manager if they pay attention to diversity. Some do pay attention, but unfortunately some don’t.” (Marina Wielders).
Summary
Some interviewees acknowledge that required capabilities for higher functions in the organization tend to be masculine, even though feminine capabilities are required as well. Most selection procedures for higher positions are subjective and often favour men. Some interviewees do not experience these inequalities as the companies pay attention to the subject already. Companies should reformulate the needed capabilities and competencies and adapt the selection and appraisal system when necessary.
Objectivity System Delta Lloyd DSM IBM Nuon PwC
Table 6. Selection and appraisal Selection and Appraisal
5.6.2 Flexible work arrangements
When the interviewees were asked about flexible work arrangements, all interviewees stated the possibility of working part-time in a management position. Iris Mesland of Delta Lloyd stated: ‘Flexible work hours and part time work is nowadays quite common at Delta Lloyd’. This is in congruence with the words of Vera Aarts of DSM: ‘Part-time work at high positions is possible now’ and Ton Jonker of PwC: ‘It is possible to work part-time’. However, the overall line of thought of the respondents of the participating organizations is the negative effects of working part-time on your career. Nearly half of the interviewees believe working part time reduces the likelihood of promotion for both men and women. However, working part-time in a company in combination with a position as professor is accepted and does not harm your career.
Vera Aarts noted the following of working part-time at DSM: “Part-time work in a high position is possible nowadays. However, you risk missing the important information that is shared after working hours. You can choose to work part-time, but the likelihood of advancement and promotion reduces
“It is possible to work part time, but I bet Jos Nijhuis would rather see me sitting in front of Jeroen van der Veer than walking in the park with my kids on a Friday afternoon. Working four days a week is possible, it is even stated in our Annual Report, but a person who works four days a week has a lower chance to make his/her next step than the person who works five days a week. It is always of influence on your career.”
due to the informal meetings you miss. Women who have children between their 30’s and 40’s miss the opportunity to advance most of the time, as it is important in that period to move upwards in the organization. In the end, it is always the woman who feels more responsible and will take care of the children. However, I have to acknowledge that times are changing. I feel the new generation acts differently. The modern man feels responsible for his children too and chooses more often to work part-time as well.”
According to Iris Mesland, there are enough possibilities to work part-time at Delta Lloyd. “However, the developments are not going fast enough. Employees must accept part-time work and part-time workers even more, otherwise it will not sustain.”
In contrast, Mickey Spier (IBM) and Nathalie de Geus (Delta Lloyd) are examples of women who have flexible working hours or work part-time in combination with a management position.
Secondary working conditions must be adapted to part-time work, according to Ton Jonker. He thinks secondary working conditions are important when the decision has to be made who of both parents is going to work less. “What if we both choose to work four days? What is the influence of the choice on primary and secondary working conditions like lease budgets, telephone costs etc? What I observe is that PwC made some good steps. For example, if you reduce your working hours by 20 percent, it does not effect your secondary working conditions much.”
Summary
To conclude, working part-time is possible at all companies. However, differences of opinions exist between interviewees about the effects of working time. Some interviewees believe working part-time has negative effects on career advancement. Companies must ensure an organizational culture is created in which flexible- and part-time work is common and accepted.
Possible Degree of acceptance
Delta Lloyd
DSM
IBM
Nuon
PwC
Table 7. Flexible work
