HR teams spend countless hours each week pulling data from different systems to create reports. They copy information from payroll software, paste it into spreadsheets, then cross-check it against recruitment platforms and performance management tools. This manual process wastes time and often leads to errors that could have serious consequences for business decisions.

Integrated HR systems solve this problem by bringing all HR data into one platform, which allows teams to generate accurate reports with just a few clicks instead of hours of manual work. The software combines payroll, benefits, recruitment, and performance data in a single location. As a result, HR professionals can access real-time information about their workforce without jumping between multiple programs or worrying about outdated spreadsheets.

These systems transform how companies handle workforce data and make strategic decisions. Instead of spending days to compile reports, HR teams can focus on what the data reveals and how to use those insights. The shift from manual data collection to automated reporting helps businesses of all sizes operate more efficiently and make better choices about their people.

The Role of Integrated HR Systems in Company-Wide Reporting

Integrated HR systems serve as the foundation for effective company-wide reporting by connecting data sources, processing information in real time, and maintaining consistent records across departments. These systems transform how organisations collect, analyse, and share workforce information.

Automating Real-Time Reporting Processes

Automated reporting removes the delays associated with manual report generation. The HR reporting system updates dashboards and reports as new information enters the system. Decision-makers view current workforce metrics rather than outdated snapshots.

The automation extends to scheduled reports that generate without human intervention. Monthly headcount summaries, quarterly turnover analyses, and annual compensation reviews are produced according to predefined parameters. HR professionals spend less time on repetitive tasks and more time on strategic analysis.

Real-time capabilities allow organisations to spot trends as they develop. A sudden spike in overtime hours or an unusual pattern in absence requests becomes visible immediately. Leaders can address issues before they escalate into larger problems that affect productivity or employee satisfaction.

Centralising HR Data Sources

Integrated HR systems pull information from multiple sources into one unified platform. Employee records, payroll data, attendance logs, and performance metrics all flow into a single database. This eliminates the need to maintain separate spreadsheets or juggle multiple software tools.

Managers gain access to the same information regardless of their location or department. A finance team member can view headcount data whilst a department head reviews team performance metrics. Both access the same underlying information without duplicates or conflicting versions.

The centralised approach also reduces the time spent on manual data collection. HR teams no longer need to request updates from various departments or compile information from different systems. The integrated platform maintains all records in one location, ready for analysis at any time.

Ensuring Data Accuracy and Consistency

Integrated systems apply uniform standards across all data entries. Field formats, validation rules, and calculation methods remain consistent throughout the organisation. An employee ID number follows the same structure whether entered in payroll, benefits administration, or performance management modules.

The single-source approach eliminates discrepancies that arise from maintaining multiple databases. HR teams avoid situations where payroll shows one employee count whilst the attendance system displays another. All departments reference identical figures because they draw from the same database.

Built-in validation checks catch errors at the point of entry. The system flags incomplete records, duplicate entries, or values that fall outside acceptable ranges. This prevents incorrect information from spreading through reports and undermining confidence in workforce analytics.

Key Benefits and Optimisation Strategies

Integrated HR systems transform company-wide reporting by streamlining data access, improving accuracy, and supporting better business decisions. These platforms reduce manual tasks whilst helping organisations meet legal requirements more efficiently.

Facilitating Strategic Decision-Making

Integrated HR systems provide leaders with real-time access to employee data across all departments. HR teams can generate detailed reports within minutes rather than spending hours on spreadsheet manipulation. These platforms consolidate information about labour costs, performance metrics, and workforce trends into a single source of truth.

Business leaders use this centralised data to identify patterns and opportunities quickly. For example, managers can analyse turnover rates alongside performance data to understand retention challenges. The software produces visual dashboards that highlight key metrics without requiring technical expertise.

Data accuracy improves significantly because information only needs entry once. The system automatically updates all connected modules, which eliminates discrepancies between payroll, recruitment, and training records. HR professionals can then focus on analysis and planning instead of data verification.

Access to reliable analytics helps companies plan workforce needs more effectively. Leaders can forecast hiring requirements based on growth projections and current staff capacity. This approach supports proactive decision-making rather than reactive problem-solving.

Enhancing Regulatory Compliance Measures

Integrated systems help organisations maintain compliance with employment laws and data protection regulations. The software automatically tracks required documentation and flags missing records before audits occur. HR teams receive alerts about expiring certifications, overdue training, or incomplete employee files.

Built-in templates and workflows guide staff through compliant processes for various HR activities. These features reduce the risk of human error during sensitive tasks like payroll processing or benefits administration. The system maintains detailed audit trails that document who accessed or modified records and when changes occurred.

Organisations can generate compliance reports quickly to demonstrate adherence to legal requirements. The software standardises data collection across all locations, which proves particularly valuable for companies operating in multiple regions. Automated reminders help ensure that managers complete mandatory reviews and assessments on schedule.

Reducing Administrative Workload

HR staff spend less time on repetitive tasks because integrated systems automate routine processes. Payroll calculations, time tracking, and benefits enrolment happen automatically without manual intervention. Employees can update their own information through self-service portals, which reduces requests to HR departments.

Document management becomes simpler as the system stores all files in one searchable location. HR professionals no longer need to maintain separate filing systems or search through multiple databases to find information. The software eliminates duplicate data entry across different platforms.

Teams can redirect their efforts towards strategic initiatives that add value to the organisation. Administrative time savings often translate to cost reductions and improved employee satisfaction. HR professionals gain capacity to focus on talent development, employee engagement, and other high-impact activities that support business goals.

Conclusion

Integrated HR systems fundamentally change how companies handle their reporting needs. These platforms connect data from payroll, attendance, performance reviews, and other HR functions into one accessible location. As a result, businesses can generate accurate reports quickly without the manual work that fragmented systems require.

The shift to integrated solutions helps companies make better decisions through real-time access to workforce data. Organisations that adopt these systems typically see improvements in efficiency, data accuracy, and compliance management across all departments.

In today’s dynamic and increasingly complex business landscape, the caliber of executive leadership can make or break an organization. Effective executive leaders set the tone for company culture, define strategic direction, and inspire teams to perform at their best. However, identifying and attracting these high-caliber individuals is no easy feat — which is why executive recruitment has evolved into a critical, strategic function in modern organizations.

The Importance of Executive Leadership

Executive leaders — including CEOs, CFOs, COOs, and other C-suite roles — are the strategic
architects of a company’s vision. They are responsible not only for operational efficiency and
profitability but also for building strong internal cultures and adapting to rapidly changing
markets. The right executive leader can:

● Drive Innovation: They foster an environment where innovation thrives.

● Steer through Uncertainty: In times of crisis or disruption, effective leaders are the ones who make bold, informed decisions.

● Build Resilience: Strong leaders create resilient organizations that can withstand economic
downturns and industry shakeups.

● Inspire Teams: They communicate vision, build trust, and lead by example, ensuring alignment from the top down.

The Strategic Nature of Executive Recruitment

Gone are the days of hiring executives based solely on industry tenure or resumes. Executive
recruitment today is a rigorous, research-driven process that emphasizes strategic fit, cultural
alignment, and leadership potential.

1. Defining the Role and Strategy

Executive recruitment starts with clarity. Organizations must understand not just the
responsibilities of the role but also how it aligns with short-term goals and long-term vision.
Stakeholders must define:

● What strategic outcomes this leader is expected to drive

● What leadership style will succeed within the company’s culture

● What gaps the new hire should fill in the current executive team

2. Casting a Wide but Targeted Net

Top-tier executive candidates are often not actively looking for new roles. Executive search firms and internal talent teams use discreet outreach, market mapping, and personal networks to identify and attract passive candidates. Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) also play a critical role, ensuring the leadership pipeline reflects the values of the modern workforce.

3. Evaluating Leadership Potential and Cultural Fit

Executive interviews go far beyond skills and experience. Today’s recruitment processes often
involve:

● Leadership assessments and psychometric testing

● Scenario-based interviews and stakeholder panels

● Cultural fit evaluations with board members or peers

● Reference checks that go beyond the resume to reveal patterns of behavior and impact

4. Onboarding with Intention

Even the best hires can struggle without proper integration. Effective onboarding at the executive level is not just orientation — it’s strategic. It includes:

● Defining early wins and performance metrics

● Facilitating introductions to key stakeholders

● Coaching and support to navigate internal dynamics and expectations

The Future of Executive Recruitment

Executive recruitment is increasingly shaped by technology, data, and global access. AI-driven
platforms can help identify hidden talent. Data analytics can predict leadership success. Remote work has widened the pool of potential candidates beyond geographic constraints.

Moreover, leadership itself is changing. Emotional intelligence, adaptability, and inclusive
thinking are now as critical as operational acumen. The future executive is not just a boss but a builder — of culture, strategy, and sustainable success.

Conclusion

Executive leadership is the backbone of any successful organization. And executive recruitment is the artery through which this vital talent flows. As companies face accelerating change, the partnership between leadership and recruitment will become even more essential.
Organizations that invest in finding, developing, and supporting the right executive leaders will be best positioned to thrive — not just today, but well into the future.

In today’s competitive business world, many organizations are choosing to focus their growth strategy through mergers and acquisitions. The value proposition for leaders is that by joining forces with another organization, growth can be more exponential and accelerated when compared with attempting to expand organically. When an organization is considering a potential merger or acquisition, they often place a priority on evaluating the prospect’s industry segments, geographic footprint, revenue, and service offerings. While this is critically important to achieve the desired goals, if the people & culture component is overlooked, there is a significant risk of turnover, low engagement, and low performing teams which in turn affects the experience for clients and ultimately organizational performance. This is where HR leadership has a critical role to play.

Before we dive into some best practices, I’d like to take a moment to differentiate between a merger and acquisition as these words are used interchangeably. A merger occurs when two organizations agree to join forces to create a new, joint organization. The recent merger of BKD and DHG to become FORVIS is a good example of a merger. Conversely, an acquisition is where one organization is absorbed by another. The recent agreement for tech giant Oracle to acquire Cerner is an example of this type of transaction. It is important to note that since an acquisition can have a negative connotation as a “takeover”, it is sometimes informally referred to as a merger, leading to the use of these terms interchangeably. Now that the business lesson has concluded, let’s return to the topic at hand.

Regardless of the type of transaction that is taking place, it is essential to have people strategies as a central component, particularly at the onset of conversations between two organizations. For this to occur and for HR leaders to be invited to this conversation, a prerequisite is for these individuals to establish credibility as a strategic business partner so they can have a seat at the table. For more on this topic, visit my blog and download the whitepaper “How to Get a Seat at the Table”.

To truly put people first, here are five best practices to consider for your next merger or acquisition:

Conduct People Strategy Due Diligence

At the onset, a people workstream should be formed to conduct due diligence for the prospect organization. This team’s responsibility is to evaluate the following elements of the potential transaction:

• Cultural Values
• Benefits Structure and Philosophy
• Compensation Structure
• Critical Policies
• Personnel Structure
• Performance Processes

The focus of the people workstream is not to look for 100% alignment in all of these areas, but to envision what the future state of the organization would look like given this information and how it would impact the employee experience. Even if the prospect organization would be forced to transition to the acquiring organization’s policies and practices, how would this transition play out and would differences have an impact on employee morale and retention? Alternatively, would there be elements of the prospect organization that you’d want to adopt? These are just a few of many questions that you’ll want the people workstream to dig deeper into.  

Develop a Consistent, Repeatable Due Diligence Process

Especially if you are an organization that plans to have significant M&A activity in the future, there is great benefit to having a well-thought-out process that can be replicated and scaled up/down as you look to evaluate a variety of different prospects for a merger or acquisition. It is important to have an “apples to apples” comparison process so that you are consistently looking at the same metrics of each organization being evaluated so that you can be objective in the decision-making process. This does not mean you would need to have similar size organizations you are evaluating, but rather a consistent set of principles to operate from as you do the due diligence. For example, if you are looking at three different organizations, using the same principles for evaluating benefit structure and philosophy will help you clearly identify the best fit given your goals for the transaction.  

Develop a Robust Internal Communication Plan

Likely one of the most important elements of the M&A process is communication, and more specifically, internal communication. There are two components to this: the announcement and the integration. During the announcement phase, important elements will need to be considered such as how and when your employees find out about the deal, who they hear it from, and what type of medium the information is being disseminated in. Moving forward to the integration, employees need to feel as though their organization cares about them, regardless of what side of the transaction they are on.

Below are three key goals that should drive your communication plan:  

1. Engagement and Retention: How will you provide the opportunity for team members to stay informed, feel invested in the change, and have a compelling reason to stay?
2. Career Planning and Development: What will you to do help your team members connect the dots between now and the future as it relates to their career growth?
3. Team Building & Connection: When the transaction is complete, what will you do to empower your leaders to facilitate high performance and connection within newly formed teams?   

Create Great Onboarding Experiences   

Particularly in the case of an acquisition, it is essential to have a thorough onboarding process. This begins with the sharing of basic organizational information, operations, and benefits, but extends beyond the first day to help new employees become assimilated into a new culture. During their first 90 days, employees will begin to form opinions about their role, their leader, and the organization overall. How they feel about these components will drive the likelihood of retention. As a result, there is a great opportunity to create a world-class onboarding experience for new employees to include elements such as the following:

• Local social gatherings
• Team building events
• Exciting project opportunities
• Intentional coaching conversations
• And much more!

If you can envision the first 90 days like a “red carpet” treatment where each employee is taken through a personalized experience, the chances of that person feeling engaged and connected is high and the probability of them staying is increased.

Mergers & Acquisitions: Closing Thoughts

There’s no way around it; mergers and acquisitions are hard. Having been through many of these through my career as an HR leader and employee, I can attest that there are always challenges to overcome and varying perspectives to navigate. But the one thing you can control is to have a well-thought-out plan in place that puts your people first. If you do this, your chances of success will only increase.

If you are looking to learn more about mergers & acquisitions or are getting ready to go through one and would like a guide to lead you or your team, I’d love to help!

Throughout my article series, The Role of a CHRO in CEO Transitions, I’ve discussed how the CHRO can be an influential part of a major leadership transition. I’ve shared strategies for creating a connection, educating on the HR function, and integrating the CEO into the organization. Once these steps have taken place, a relationship has been formed between the CEO and CHRO that creates the opportunity for collaboration on a strategic level.

At this stage, the question becomes: How do you best collaborate with the top leader of an organization on people initiatives? The short answer is that each scenario will be unique, depending upon the circumstances.

Speaking personally, our new CEO Tom Watson and I have been colleagues at BKD for quite some time and have developed an effective working relationship. Tom understands my priorities for our people, and I have also taken the time to understand his strategic priorities in his role as a Regional Managing Partner and now as a CEO. This type of relationship enables me to approach him with new ideas and bring him in easily when we launch a major HR initiative. If you don’t have experience working with your new CEO in the past as a colleague, or if the new leader is an external hire, your challenges may look completely different.

Regardless of your circumstances, there are four guiding principles that can be applied across the board to collaborate effectively with your new CEO or other senior leader:

Understand the Business

First and foremost, it is critical that you have a deep understanding of the business you are operating in. This includes the core business model, operations, competitive landscape, and organization strategy. When you understand how the business works, you can work with your CEO more effectively and have productive conversations about how people initiatives will influence the overall success of the organization and increase its competitive advantages.   

Connect the Dots to Their Strategic Priorities

In the first article in this series, Relating to Your New CEO, I shared the importance of learning the new CEO’s top strategic priorities and vision for the future. When collaborating with the CEO, connect the dots back to these priorities when you are collaborating with them on HR initiatives. Here’s an example of how you might frame up the connection between an HR initiative and a strategic priority:

“I know the organization is looking to expand and has some aggressive growth goals in the next fiscal year. I think to accomplish this, we will need an increasingly diverse workforce that can provide a variety of perspectives and connect with a wide range of clients. As a result, we’d like to put together a specific HR strategy to attract diverse talent to our organization.”

Speak Their Language

Along the same theme of connecting the dots to strategic priorities, it is important to speak in terms that the new CEO will resonate with. The highest executive within an organization will likely be focused on the following key elements (along with others):

• Revenue growth
• Business expansion
• Profitability
• Shareholder returns

When you are working with the CEO, it will be important to incorporate these concepts into the planning process when you are discussing your goals and aspirations with people initiatives.

Ask for Their Input and Implement It

One of the most important aspects to building a connection with a senior leader in an organization is to actively seek out their input. By doing so, you are communicating that you understand the value of a different perspective and are open to feedback. Secondly, and more importantly, strive to implement their feedback into your strategy and initiatives. As an HR leader this will help communicate a sense of unity between you and the CEO to your team, which supports your credibility and gain buy-in from your team.

Collaborating with Your New CEO: Questions to Ponder:

1. What could you be doing differently to collaborate more effectively with your CEO?
2. What challenges have you overcome in collaborating with your CEO?
3. How have you worked to understand your business as an HR leader?

Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!

First, there are all the employees who make it their duty to ensure their activity, even with fear in their stomachs. The fear of getting sick, the fear of infecting their loved ones. Employees are very often “forgotten” because their job seems so secondary at a time of intellectual services. Thanks to this crisis, their role has regained its full meaning. How will they be considered afterwards? Will they once again be workers in the shadows?

The current crisis is causing heckling among staff in companies

Then, there are all the employees who juggle the constraints of home schooling, of cohabitation with a spouse who has his or her own business, and those of telework deployed on a forced march. They mobilize without counting their hours, experimenting with autonomy, agile decision-making circuits, and meetings which tend to last less time. Thanks to this crisis, they are empowered. How will they be recognized professionally afterwards? How will they be managed? How will mutual aid and collective action continue to manifest themselves?

And, there are all the employees who have been deprived of activity for long weeks, worried about getting their jobs back. Some of them are in fact at risk of finding themselves without a job. Others will have to recover their place in a team, work with customers… How will they flourish under new conditions?

HR directors can take advantage of this time to prepare a return to companies that take care of the well-being of their employees

It is unlikely that anyone will emerge psychologically unscathed from the health (and economic) crisis and the period of containment it imposes. A variety of strong emotions will manifest themselves, explicitly or implicitly. They will have a definite impact on relationships. Managerial habits will be challenged.

The agility that prevails in emergency situations is a precious resource. The empowerment and autonomy expressed in telework are vectors of commitment. The ability to decide in uncertainty, allowing for mistakes, is a motivating factor. The solicitation of collective intelligence, the audacity to invent new products/processes are levers of innovation…

And yet some managers indulge in slow decision-making that makes them feel like they exist. Other managers still feel an almost visceral need to control everything, seeking reassurance. Still others show a level of demand, of sclerosing perfectionism.

It is possible, during these few weeks, to set up support systems

Rethink the system of objectives and remuneration… to focus on management style and expected results. Review the training plan… to adapt the contents to the new world. Rely on relationship professionals to listen, welcome, recognize the right to be human… to best accompany the expression of emotions and limit the risks on relationships and quality of life at work. Use professional coaches in individual and collective approaches… to best accompany the expected change in managers’ behavior.

It is crucial to anticipate the return to what, in the same place, will no longer be the same in order to limit psycho-social risks.

It will have taken an unprecedented pandemic to realize the damaging effects of several decades of strategies which were certainly profitable in the short term, but which created multiple dependencies, ultimately destroying value in the long term. We can measure today the impact of localizing 80% of the world’s production of masks in one province in China, a country in which 70% of smartphones’ production is also located. We are rediscovering today the full meaning of the word value, which comes from the Latin valor, value, derived from valere, to be worth, to have value, to have virtue.

In 2018, by measuring the human capital of each country and comparing it to the one it had in 1990, with an indicator that combines the skills, experiences and knowledge of a population with its state of health, a study(*) concluded that there is a correlation between investment in education and health, and better GDP growth.

Beyond public policies at the level of a country, looking at corporations, the effects of the pursuit of profit at all costs have been measured more than once in the 21st century, from the Enron scandal in 2000, to more recently the most serious crisis Boeing has ever gone through in 104 years of history with the crash of the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX. The choices of investments of companies as well as those of States contribute or not to the common good, and to sustainable value creation. There will undoubtedly be a “before” and an “after” coronavirus, which will push States as well as businesses to question their long term strategy and their wider purpose.

About the Author: Nandini COLIN

Senior Advisor, thought leader, change maker. Click to view Nandini’s short bio

A recent straw-poll questionnaire highlighted the varying views and general confusion about the role of a Business Development Executive and especially their use to SMEs.

This article may help you if you are considering the benefits of a Business Development Executive for your company or if you would like to offer your services in this type of role.

The Business Development Executive’s role has been described as the following:

• Sales professional.
• Marketing and pre-sales professional.
• Sales, Marketing and related PR-Communications professional.
• A Project Leader.

The Business Development Director’s role has been described as:

• A sales and marketing expert
• A COO / Manager of change and administrative development.
• A General Project Manager / Director.
• A capable Strategist, with special focus on the combined application of Sales, Marketing and related PR-Communications and B2B alliances.

For SMEs a capable Strategist generally proves to be the most useful fit.

The importance of Business Development Executives for the SMEs

The importance of Business Development Executives for the SME sector is becoming more widely recognised. Their appointment, role, responsibilities, liabilities and remuneration are a source of frequent debate, but for SMEs they are more frequently being employed as multi-skilled professionals in preference to a sales professional, a marketing professional and perhaps an external PR-Communications firm. In most small enterprises the core management team should comprise the Company Secretary, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Marketing Officer/Business Development Director.

There are up to 30,000 medium-sized companies (10 to 250 employees) in the UK. Arguably Business Development Directors (BDDs) are already playing a vital role in a large proportion of these SMEs, especially in the newer industries such as hi-technology and new media.

So, how do you find the most suitable Business Development Executive for your Company? A lot of appointments are still made through the ‘old boys’ network’, a somewhat unscientific approach to what will be a key role within the Company. The pitfalls are obvious: no systematic matching of skills/experience/qualifications; little reference checking; and no opportunity to short-list suitable candidates for comparison/assessment. Often this results in a short-list of one!

In the past I have been a Key Speaker and chaired panels on Business Development and was asked how Directorates find a good BDD.

Engaging a BDD is, in some ways, similar to the process of finding a good Non-Executive Director. Seek a professional with a background of success in a similar sized business, with applicable skill sets. Don’t be blinkered in seeking someone solely with experience of exactly the same industry sector and role. A good BDD must be able to understand quickly your company’s aims, objectives, products and services, have access to any/all research and become privy to/part of the Directorate’s development planning.

Look for independence of spirit, but avoid appointing someone who wishes to work independently and for more than one client; a BDD must be 100% focused on developing your company.

Don’t appoint the ‘salesperson-with-attitude’. Appoint a strategic thinker with a proven track record of implementing marketing, PR and communications initiatives and projects.

Avoid being impressed by someone from a big name Corporate. Do they have the multiple skills and mindset which will be required to deal with the many aspects of a project and also the ability to work solo as well as with a small team on a low budget?

Selection

Decide what you want from the relationship and the outcomes you wish to achieve in the short, medium and long term. The abilities of a Business Development Executive to think strategically and see the wider picture are of great significance but are often overlooked by too much focus on the fine detail of a specific functional role.

Start by analysing the skills/experience which are required to strengthen the existing team. The BDD will reflect your Company’s image so don’t be afraid to aim high in the quality stakes. Look for ‘agents of change’ and give them the opportunities to bring about beneficial changes – involve the Board from the outset to minimise resistance.

Contractually

Check that the BDD does not have any conflicts of interest in working with your company.

If you are worried about the cost of engaging the best person for the job and cash is tight, consider utilising shares.

Ensure the fee is appropriate for the amount of time committed. Get good value by ensuring the BDD is used correctly and that he/she contributes fully – plan their time with you, and ensure they are provided with adequate resources and support.

Create mutually agreeable objectives and measured performance but recognise that a lot of their contribution may not be visible in the short term. An ineffective Business Development professional can be more of a problem/distraction than simply an addition to the overheads!

Approach the arrangement in a professional way: don’t offer ridiculous ‘commission-only and share-option’ contracts and hope for a quality candidate and one with loyalty.

Length of appointment must be discussed at the outset (anticipate a 2-3 year contract). There should be a formal review plan with the understanding that the BDD should be the engine driving the business forward and upward; the CEO is the driver; the CFO the money-holding, clock-watching passenger; and the Company Secretary watches for road signs.

A BDD should be a core part of the Management Team/Directorate and, should the company expand, they should not be casually replaced once targets are met. On the other hand, a BDD who is successful with SMEs may not be so successful once a company grows to a larger, corporate size, therefore detail your agreement of appointment with short, medium and long-term vision”.

Summary

It’s hard for SMEs to go it alone in these days of rapid change and increasing competition. A BDD can make a real contribution and represent excellent value for money; they are often worth two or more ‘specialists’ due to their expertise in various disciplines.

If you decide to add a BDD to your Board, prepare the ground well and ensure a rigorous, professional search and selection process is carried out.

As with any senior appointment, time and effort spent on appointing the right person will reap dividends, so don’t forget to ensure their relevance and background to your company’s aims and size.

A mutually rewarding relationship is the aim.

International Organizations have laid down principles, and taken a rising number of initiatives to foster respect for cultural diversity and equal opportunities. But how? Here a practical example by Pascale Etemad how to foster equal opportunities and respect for diversity.

Some of the most powerful people of today’s world are women. They are leading nations and fortune 500 companies and are holding up extremely well in a male dominated world, bringing change and new perspectives to the established ways of doing politics or business and setting new standards. There are numerous examples where women did prove their business acumen and ability to tackle the odds of a global business world – on many occasions, with considerable more sensitivity and foresight as their male counterparts – and with better results, as noted by a study (Catalyst, 2007, Grant Thornton) : In his study, companies with a higher proportion of women on their board had significant higher returns on invested capital, returns on equity, and sales.

Underrepresentation of women in business

And yet – the representation of women in CEO positions in Fortune 500 companies lies still below 5%.

Why – in a modern, allegedly equal and liberal society – is it so hard for women to access these top jobs?

The stereotype answer to this question lies on hand: because they chose the family way over their career. True for some, but looking at the whole picture, one will find, even with the same education and willingness to succeed, most women stay miles behind their male colleagues.

Same work, same pay?

Starting with the salary: women are paid on average 25% less than their male counterparts – and this is not just due to the generously quoted fact that women often work in lesser paid industries, such as education, healthcare etc., as this only equates for a portion of the gap. Looking closer, the pay gap stays true when comparing functions within one industry: same work, same position, less salary.

As a matter of fact, the pay gap winds its way through all levels and sectors, and gets worse the higher a woman climbs in the hierarchy of a company. It is also true for the film and art industry.

A sad state of the affair, considering that its more than half a century ago, when the first women went on strike to fight for equal pay.

A recent study in Germany revealed that although over 80% of the jobs in the book industry are occupied by women, only 4% hold well paid executive positions. This inequality continues with the novelists itself. Although women novelists are clearly ahead of their male colleagues, when it comes to their representation on the top places of bestselling lists (paperback), they are rigorously underrepresented in the classy hardcover section and prestigious literature reviews. Looking at awards, it seems that the best entry ticket to win a book prize is a male name.

Lack of recognition

Which brings us to the next point of the dilemma: Recognition.

Parallel to the lack of recognition in the world of literature, women struggle hard to get the same recognition and respect for their (same) contribution to the success of a company as their male colleagues. This boils mainly down to biases towards women, both conscious and unconscious, equally from men and women.

The number of prejudices against women (and men) in our societies is huge and although many of them would not hold up against reality anymore, the people hold on to them, due to their socialisation.

I am not just talking about blunt prejudices such as: “women are no good at math, cannot take strategic decisions and are unable to park a car without denting it”. I am talking about the small underlying biases that tend to keep women in their place as perceived rightful by society.

The old mind-set

To give an example: a friend of mine, a very successful mother of three and top executive has to go on business trips on a regular basis. While her husband has no problem taking over the children and household when she is away, her mother keeps reminding her, that she ought to be careful with all those business trips, as one day, her husband might be gone. A worry her mother never aired at times when her husband joined the frequent flyer ranks. You might argue, that her mother belongs to a generation, where gender equality was still in its baby shoes, but what about her 10 years younger neighbour, who instantly offers to cook for her poor abandoned family as soon as my friend steps out of the house carrying a suitcase. A very kind, but nevertheless annoying offer, as it promotes inadvertedly the silent understanding, that a fulltime working woman needs no support caring for a family next to her job, while the same task is unacceptable for a man. This perception does not stop at her mother and neighbour, it follows her in form of the frequently asked question: “Oh, you got kids? Who is looking after them, while you are away?”

A question by the way, her male colleagues never will hear.

A question that nurtures her bad conscience towards her family, although her husband is perfectly fine looking after her children.

A question, that clearly indicates her perceived role in society and shuts her in the drawer “mother, not fully dedicated to business, not reliable”.

It’s a mind-set, so tightly woven in our perspectives that we can rarely free ourselves from the consequences: clear, linear career path for men, disrupted, then stagnant career for women. Worsened by the lack of sponsoring endured by women, though undeniably inevitable to progress to the very top. Furthermore, whereas men sponsoring men is regarded as normal, when a woman benefits from the same type of sponsorship it is often linked to a romantic interest beside the business matter.

Old fashioned? Sadly not. It’s still a typical reaction to female sponsorship, coming from both, men and women.

Assertiveness and vision versus adaptability and sustainability

Women tend to be more willing to take a step back if ought to be needed, to adapt to a changing situation and to put the interest of a community ahead of their own. Thinking in sustainability terms, these attributes should be highly sought after to lead the changing global business world into a sustainable and liveable future. Yet, it’s the lack of assertiveness and pushiness that holds them back in second and third row, while men step to the top, elbows out, a visionary goal in mind and focus rather on their own achievement than the greater worth for the company, humanity or environment. Strangely, a man displaying assertiveness is regarded as a being strong; a woman displaying the same assertive attitude is easily cast as being difficult.

But – while assertiveness can be learned, to become visionary is hard to train.
Without visionary pioneers though, the world would be at a standstill. But visionary business tycoons, who set short-term goals above long-term liveability and sustainability, act irresponsible to present and future societies. As we see well at the current state of our environment.

Out of the trap

There is one important question to ask: how can women (and men) get out of this trap?
There are many aspects to consider, many keys to turn. To begin with: changing the mind-set, where women are less able, less worthy, less important and solely responsible for childcare.
Children are the fuel oft the world, they are the future of any society; they are the most important people in any parents life. And still, when it comes to step back from a career path to raise them, men tend to disappear and hide behind the importance of their jobs not being affected, as their jobs are the better paid ones. (Remember point 2 – same work, same pay…)
In Germany, the state set a clear signal in the right direction: Women can take up to 3 years unpaid leave to look after a child and must be taken back into their old position without penalty to her career. A nice try, but what happens? Now women in the dangerous child bearing age, are less likely to be chosen for top jobs and set career paths, as they carry the risk of extended leave. Also, the state finances paternity leave, to enable shared responsibility. Still, so far this offer is rarely taken, mainly for fear to miss out on the next promotion or to weaken ones position within the company.

To change the mind-set, both, men and women have to consciously question their stereotype reactions in business situations and remember themselves again and again, that these days, there are more women than men with a University Degree out there and modern fathers are fully able to equally share household and childcare tasks. Doing so, the burden of disrupted careers no longer lies on women shoulders.

Stay true

While women should be more assertive and fight for their rights and careers, they should stay true to themselves. To copy male behaviour to become successful is pointless. Women and men are different and this is of great benefit to any company. The moment, when one or more women enter the boardroom of a company, the overall behaviour of the board will change, because the dynamic of the board will change too. Perspectives will become diverse; the board will be more inclined to see different angles of the overall picture. That’s the winning approach: to join forces (see Catalyst Study).

Bringing together the strengths of both gender will lead to the best results. Boards and C-Level positions should be equally placed with men and women and therefore, companies should create an environment, where equal pay and equal opportunities are more than phrases on a mission statement. It’s time that men not just hold the door open when entering a restaurant with a woman. It’s the doors in the heads and the doors to the boardrooms, that need opening.

About the author: Janet Clark studied in three countries, collected three degrees and started a promising career in Brussels. Then she tapped into the “woman trap”, got children and her career came to a sudden stop. It took her 5 years to get back on track. Since then she held positions as Vice-President Marketing Europe and Marketing Director before she joined CEO Worldwide as International Marketing Director.

“You can’t send a duck to eagle school”

You have to admit,  when you saw the headline of Colin Thompson’s short article. Ducks? Eagles? What’s this to do with business? But you will be simply stunned by the truth behind this kind of funny sentence. What about you? Do you think you can train a duck to become an eagle?

A few years ago I had lunch with a top executive from a company known for their legendary retail service. My wife and I are both huge fans, and over lunch I shared with him some of the great service stories his people had provided the Thompson family.

I said, “With the service your people give…you must have a training manual 2 inches thick.” He looked up and said, “Colin, we do not have a training manual. What we do is find the best people we can find and we empower them to do whatever it takes to satisfy the customer.”

Then he said something I’ll never forget. He said, “We learned a long time ago that you cannot send a duck to eagle school.”

“Excuse me,” I said. He repeated… “You cannot send a duck to eagle school.” He said, “You cannot teach someone to smile, you cannot teach someone to want to serve, you cannot teach personality. What we can do, however, is hire people who have those qualities and we can then teach them about our products and teach them our culture.”

As long as I live I will never forget this simple analogy about hiring people. It is branded on my brain forever. And since that day, with every hiring decision I’ve made, I find myself asking the question: “Am I hiring a duck thinking they will become an eagle?”

I can also honestly say that asking this simple question has saved me from making some important hiring mistakes. I just wish I’d heard it 20 years sooner.

About the author: Colin is a former successful Managing Director of Transactional/Print Manufacturing Plants, Document Management/Workflow Solutions companies and other organisations, former Group Chairman of the Academy for Chief Executives, Non-Executive Director, Mentor – RFU Leadership Academy, Mentor – Coventry University, Mentor – The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, helping companies raise their `bottom-line` and `increase cash flow`. Plus, helping individuals to be successful in business and life in general. Author of several publications, research reports, guides, business and educational models on CD-ROM/Software/PDF and over 1000 articles published on business and educational subjects worldwide. Plus, International Speaker/Visiting University Professor. View Colin’s short bio