A panel discussion with CEO Solutions

Mohd Ashraf Iqbal
David Fuller
Datuk Peter Wentworth
Dr Hamidah Marican

Tony Heneberry acted as the moderator for this session. The first question he fielded was: ‘Why should there be more women in businesses?’, ‘ Why should there be more women board members?’

Peter Wentworth: We need more women in order to capture the full benefit of diverse thinking, debate and problem solving. There are very different ways of thinking about issues, of making decisions and of managing strategies. Women bring a different perspective and are valuable to businesses.

It is culturally difficult for women to be leaders. We therefore need to give women more leadership positions to bring about change. That is why BP is working on a programme of Diversity & Inclusion. In order to prepare the company for the global marketplace, we have to diversify our employee base with particular respect to local representation of women and minority groups. I am very pleased to say that BP’s efforts have recently earned recognition with a Catalyst Award - an award that honors the company’s efforts in the recruitment, development and advancement of women.

BP recognises the need for diversity and inclusion of women and minority groups for a successful business. Knowing this challenge, BP is at the beginning of a journey to doing something about it – to making it a reality. (This was followed by a video presentation of successful women employees in BP.)

How can women help themselves?
Mohd Ashraf Iqbal: If women don’t feel that they are empowered, then there can be no change. Women must be assertive and take charge and not allow themselves to be bullied out.

On the issue of women wanting more maternity leave: The main aim of a corporation is to maximise productivity. Maternity leave therefore is a direct cost to the company, as the cost goes up – in order to increase maternity leave, companies will either have to maintain or increase productivity. 

However a positive opportunity can be achieved, if organisations can change their outlook on the issue. For example, a company was forced to address the issue of maternity leave and by doing so increased its productivity from 20mil to 68mil, just by sorting out their internal problems.

Maternity leave is not a negative thing but a positive one if you look at it as a means of giving people a chance – training opportunities for employees standing in for their colleagues that will be away. It creates opportunities and forces companies to look at other means of productivity. 

Dr Hamidah Marican: There are huge development opportunities for women for training, learning and acquiring skill sets. Women therefore have to ask themselves what they can do to enhance their skills to further their development. There is also a need to change leaders’ frame of mind in order to develop growing opportunities for women.

Women are better multi-taskers, account managers and etc. Are all stereotypes negative?

David Fuller: The best companies have the best people because they move away from stereotypes. For this, Diversity programmes are essential. In Malaysia diversity programmes have to look at age, culture and not just gender. In the old days, successful global companies had board members that were purely ‘transatlantic’ but now, a lot of female and Asian people sit at the top, both in government and the private sector. Success has to start at the top. The top levels of an organisation are responsible for the success of their company and as such need an open/broad view – where they need to open the business to a broader group of people regardless of gender, ethnicity, race or religion.

Peter Wentworth: If you stick with the old ways, you limit yourself to a narrow set of decision making. The more women there are and the more diverse the company, results in the availability of different solutions and perspectives to decision making. There is unlikely to be change if you ask the same old people the same questions. Broaden the workforce through diversity forces change.

Mind set. How much does fear and guilt govern women? How do they change, limit or expand their own opportunities?

Dr Hamidah Marican: Guilt gets especially loud when women have children. Most women feel bad and bring it into the workplace. This makes them lousy co-workers and lousy leaders. Women therefore have to decide if they want a career, and if so, they have to make sacrifices, learn how to manage time and prioritise. Of course it helps when you have the support of a good spouse and extended family. There are also systems at the work place that women can make use of.  The workplace must be flexible enough to support working mothers. For example, working from home. If the support system is not there then women need to speak up and say what you need, the resources you require etc.. And remember, it’s not what you say but how you say it.

Mohd Ashraf Iqbal responded: Flexibility exists. Women have the skills and are themselves flexible making them a greater resource than men. Women don’t mind taking 6 month contracts while men tend to confine themselves to long term opportunities.

Women at executive of mid-management level – What are two or three things that they can do to advance themselves?

Dr Hamidah Marican responded: Know who you are and what you want. Write it down, clearly identifying and defining your goals. Now is the time and there are support mechanisms in place to help you.  The workplace is very dynamic. Therefore know your skill sets. Ability to grow and learn new things is important – on your own. Don’t wait. Go and get it. Networking is critical in being successful - with people who have special skills or knowledge, people who can help you. Move away from your comfort zone, make time and make sacrifices

What advice do you have for women at the CEO level of a large organisation?

David Fuller: Set targets to the end point you want to get to.
Set time frames.

And what about small organisations?

Mohd Ashraf Iqbal: Even small organisations need to get with the programme or they will be wiped out. This is based on the fact that gender will no longer be an issue when today’s organisations evaluate employees through ‘performance ranking’.

Economic reality – productivity and diversity does make a difference. Great leaders include looking at an individuals IQ and well as EQ. Women are consistently top scorers of EQ. Women in management do bring a different perspective to solving problems and often a better one.

Dr Hamidah Marican:
Take a look at people processes that were compiled 30 years ago (more often than not, by a group of men) and you will find bias. Identify the bottleneck and bias, acknowledge it and make a change.

ceo solutions, diversity and inclusion, Womens Summit 2006 Malaysia