Career paths and management planning
The majority of managers are recruited through internal promotion and networks. The process is often informal, and today this appears primarily to favour men since the majority of managers are men and they tend to choose other men. If this pattern is to change, structured and transparent processes are required to ensure that professional skills rather than gender determine who is suitable.

The following list can help you develop a better, more gender aware management planning process.

Transparent career paths
A gender perspective for job descriptions
Pool of potential managers
Appoint female line managers
Several women at the same level of seniority
Twin leadership and management for limited and defined periods
Start early
The role of the immediate superior
Good role models

Transparent career paths
In many organisations, visible opportunities that allow people to seek promotion are limited. People generally wait until they are asked. A Swedish study shows that 70 per cent of senior managers were offered a job or encouraged to apply for one. This situation is probably the same in other countries. The key to moving up the career ladder is a broad and functioning network, and a high profile.

Career counselling should be a structured process and should highlight alternative paths. Its main aim is to help the individual develop by showing the direction in which he or she should be heading.

Ensure that information about career paths and vacant positions is made available, and that the mechanism of the promotion system is transparent. This makes it easier for individuals to take charge of planning their careers. People thinking about taking on new challenges want to know what they are applying for and what the job requires.

Job descriptions
Carefully prepared and designed job descriptions are a good basis for recruiting managers. Be consistent, and work from the organisation’s management management philosophy when preparing clear and carefully written job descriptions. (If your management philosophy has not been documented, then write down your views of management and demands made on existing and future managers.

Widen the recruiting pool by questioning previous requirements, particularly from a gender perspective. See also under recruiting.

Consider the following:
- Must new managers have the same educational qualifications and experience as their   predecessors?
- Do we consider the composition of the whole leadership team when appointing a new   member?

Pool of potential managers
Many organisations have structured processes for management planning. The process often starts with peer review sessions between managers and their subordinates, at which employees can express their ambitions and managers provide their view of the opportunities available. Suitable candidates are then subjected to an appraisal process that includes interviews, tests etc. This in turn can lead to investments in skills enhancement and/or the candidates being placed in a pool of potential managers. When new managers and other key persons are to be appointed, they are selected from this internal pool of potential managers.

Those who manage the pool of candidates need to be gender aware so that they can nurture women identified as potential managers and give them the same attention as male candidates. They can encourage candidates to accept new areas of responsibility, and support them. This includes providing career opportunities for women with children who start careers when their children are older.

Appoint female line managers
Many women become managers in the Human Resources, finance or information fields. This has been one way for women to obtain management positions, but it is now time to take the next step and promote more women to operational positions. Studies show that lack of experience of line management with operational responsibility is one of the greatest obstacles to women pursuing careers as senior executives. It is therefore important for those who work with training and management planning to consider which women would be suitable as line managers, and to support them as they plan their careers. It is also important to support women who are middle managers by giving them positions and responsibility that can enhance their career prospects.

Is the internal recruiting pool too small? Employ a number of well-qualified young women and ensure that they gain broad experience.

Encourage women to sit on internal and external boards of directors. Offer training in board membership. Ensure that women are given responsibility for important projects and that they participate in management groups and working groups. This gives individuals a higher profile and equips them with good qualifications and experience.

Always more than one woman at the same level of seniority!
A lone woman in an executive team is in a minority situation. Some women can deal with this, but it can also result in the woman being seen as ‘different’ and as a representative not just for herself but for her sex. So, recruit more women to the same level or group at the same time. Once they have become established, conditions will be right for additional women to apply to join the group.

Twin leadership and management for limited and defined periods
Many managers look for alternative career paths and use the image of a climbing frame instead of a career ladder. The climbing frame allows mobility, and because nobody gets stuck, people move in a way that is not possible in a hierarchy. Individuals can adapt their careers so that they themselves benefit and the organisation benefits as well. This model also consider the various stages in life. Sideward or downward steps are not important, as they are seen as a way of gaining skills – a natural part of career development. One way of formalising this system is to make people managers for a limited period. Not only do the people who accept these posts, and their colleagues, know that the post is temporary, but the system also provides the opportunity for several people to try their hand as managers without losing face if they decide to do something else later on.

Another solution is ‘twin managers’. This involves two people sharing a management post. The work can be shared full or part time, all areas of responsibility can be shared, or they can be split between the two participants.

Think carefully about how salary structures are affected when managers rotate. Some companies pay a basic salary with an increment for the managerial post.

Start early
Create a bridge between working life and schools. The image of a company or sector is often shaped in schools and universities. Discuss with students what constitutes good management and why you want more women in management positions. Take every opportunity to give talks about management at universities, and make sure you are represented by somebody who is a role model for the business.

Trainee programmes can be an excellent way of providing the organisation with new management talent. It should be remembered that programmes without a gender perspective risk reinforcing existing perceptions. Make sure, therefore, that the programme includes information about the significance of gender and the different conditions that apply to men and women. Ensure, too, that both men and women managers and speakers participate in the programme.

Immediate superiors
Several studies (6) have shown that people’s first manager is a key figure in the development of their careers, both because this person influences how the new employee’s abilities and potential are seen and confirmed, and because the manager is the only person marketing the new employee in the organisation. It is therefore important for individuals themselves to choose a good manager and ensure that their abilities are clearly perceived.

The employer can further support managers by explaining why it is important to have women in senior positions, and insist that managers promote women. It is also a question of finding out which managers have a positive attitude towards helping women grow, and focusing on them. It is therefore important to promote the right men, too!

Immediate superiors may need support and training to help staff in their career development. Be aware that women and men can show their interest in different ways. A study of Swedish and British companies showed that young men maintain close contact with their manager to show off their accomplishments. Women demonstrate their abilities through working well, and believe that the manager will notice their good work. Unfortunately, this is not always the case.

As a manager, then, you need to ensure that you are aware of how all your staff work. Raise the question of a future in management during career discussions! Is a mentor or some other partner needed? Many women are never asked if they are interested in promotion, because their manager does not believe they can cope, due to family commitments. Managers should not presume to make such decisions: it is and must be the decision of the ndividual concerned.

A common misapprehension is that women’s self-esteem is poorer than men’s and that they need more acknowledgement and encouragement if they are to focus on what they are actually capable of, and not just on their deficiencies. Recent surveys show that women want to pursue a career as much as men do. Younger female and male employees in particular show the same desire to get ahead.

Some women need more time to make up their minds about a management career and so decline the first time they are asked. Give them time to think the matter over, and encourage women to take the step! Find out why they said no – it may be due to factors in the company structure or culture that women dislike.

This is useful knowledge and providesopenings for seeking changes in the organisational culture, for example, or for bringing in other women at the same level.And if they still say no? Discuss the matter again within the year – they may have changed heir minds.Remember that all individuals behave differently. If you meet women who immediately accept promotion, do not be shocked or expect them to need persuading! And there are just as many men as women who do not want to be senior managers.

Good role models
Accurate description of the manager’s job is important.
A survey of how the media portrays managers shows how subconscious expectations are passed on and reinforced daily. This has consequences both for managers and for those who are thinking about becoming one.One example is the myth that senior managers are supermen or superwomen. This was the description of a manager who died at his workplace: “It was always best to ring him after normal working hours, about seven in the evening. He even answered when he was at the gym. He never worried about the time. You could ring back at ten in the evening without himthinking it odd.”

A study of the media image of women shows that the same actions are described differently depending on whether a woman or a man is involved. A woman who is good at restructuring and clearing up after a crisis is quickly referred to as ‘the cleaning lady’ or ‘iron ady’. A man in the same position is called a ‘company surgeon’ or somebody who ‘rides out the storm’.

Consider:
- How do you think a manager should be, how should work and leisure be divided?
- How do we talk about managers?
- What are our preconceptions of femininity and masculinity?
- Do these preconceptions tally with real managers?

Appoint female managers as mentors and coaches. Draw attention to managers who deviate from gender stereotypes in internal and external communications. For example: senior managers who do their job during normal working hours and who take parental leave, a woman who admits that power and responsibility are fun. Ensure that they receive support if they are criticised for their choices!

Men are important role models for women. With this in mind, men need not see women as a threat, and gaps can be bridged through exchanges of experience. Older male managers can become mentors and sounding boards for both female and male younger colleagues pursuing a career.

There is a need for more good examples of how more women can be brought to the top. One of the most important reasons given by companies participating in Women to the Top was that they saw gender diversity as a success factor and something that improved their company’s image. Share your success stories! You don’t have to be good at everything to be proud of something.