2. profile of respondents ► 806 managers responded from 22 organisations ► 5 focus groups ► 13% of respondents from public sector, 82% from private sector, 4% from education sector ► 64% of respondents were male and 36% female ► 70% of women and 85% of men married/cohabiting ► 43% of women and 71% of men have children ► 2% of the respondents considered themselves to have a disability ► 4% of the respondents come from a Black or minority ethnic group ► 15 diversity professionals responded, a response rate of 68%

3. employers have not yet made a convincing business case ► 92% of managers believe that they understand their organisation’s values and policies on gender equality/diversity ► 46% of managers believe that their employer has made the case to them for the importance of gender equality/diversity to the effectiveness and success of their organisation

4. resources invested by my organisation will bring following benefits

5. different perceptions ► 93% of women and 81% of men consider women to have valuable leadership skills ► 90% of women and 76% of men consider that women bring a unique perspective to decision making and problem solving

6. failure to make business case credible ► 87% believe understanding and implementing organisations gender equality/diversity policies is important to their management skills ► 62% of managers believe that their organisation views this as important to their success as a manager ► 83% of managers consider their accountability for meeting their own and their organisation's gender equality/diversity objectives an important influence on their behaviour ► 26% have equality/diversity-related objectives in their personal objectives ► Performance on these goals is linked to remuneration for just 10% of managers

7. senior leaders ► 80% of managers view the behaviour of senior managers as an important influence on their behaviour But there is a gender gap: ► 87% of male managers believe that their senior leadership demonstrate through their behaviour that they are committed to equality and diversity ► 67% of female managers believe this ► 15% of male managers considered a lack of senior commitment to equality and diversity as an important barrier to equality ► 29% of women believe this

9. line managers - hurdles to applying good gender equality/diversity principles

10. diversity professionals – hurdles managers face

11. management responsibility Support from above… ► Only 8% of women and 2% of men view a lack of support from their own line manager as a hurdle to applying good gender equality/diversity principles ► But 60% of diversity professionals view this as a hurdle to managers ► Face-to-face briefings from their own managers are the least used way to communicate information about gender equality/diversity vision, values and policies to managers; organisations prefer to put this on the intranet ► Only 56% of managers claim that their own manager offers guidance and support on managing flexible working ► 88% consider support from their line manager to be the most helpful strategy employers could offer to managers dealing with flexible working issues

12. management responsibility Communicating down… ► The most popular means of communicating equality and diversity values and polices is through their behaviour and through face- to-face briefings with their team ► However, only 58% of managers considered that they are responsible for doing this at all ► 80% of diversity professionals believe that managers are responsible for doing this

13. responsibility ► 31% of managers believe that they are not responsible for communicating information about equality and diversity to their staff ► 11% do not know whether they are or not knowledge 19% do not believe that they have a good understanding of the law relating to employment, discrimination and flexible working accountability…

14. goals, appraisals and remuneration

15. influence of accountability? ► 82% of managers believe that accountability for meeting their own/their organisations goals and objectives is an important influence on them ► 67% of diversity professionals think it is important

16. factors which influence manager’s behaviour re gender equality and diversity

17. training and development Managers consider training and development important: ► Learning and development opportunities are ranked by managers as the second most useful method of support which is offered by their employer ► 78% of managers consider learning and development as an important influence on their decision-making with regard to equality and diversity. But some managers have not had training opportunities in the last 2 years: ► Learning and development ranked as only the fourth most frequently offered method of support to managers.

18. line managers - days training in the last 2 years

19. specific training needs ► Managers need better training to deal with instances of bullying and harassment ► 74% of male managers and 59% of female managers feel that they have had sufficient training to handle an instance of bullying and harassment in their team ► 21% of female and 14% of male managers have witnessed instances of bullying and harassment in their team in the last 12 months ► 16% of women and 8% of men have experienced bullying and harassment themselves in the last 12 months ► 17% of women and 7% of men considered bullying and harassment a barrier to equality in their organisation

20. specific training needs Managers need better training to manage flexible working ► 72% of both male and female managers indicated that they would find this sort of learning and development helpful ► 63% of diversity professionals claim that their organisations offer this training but just 25% of managers think that this is the case

21. line managers – what you employer provides to help you manage flexible working

22. work life balance? ► 75% of managers work over 45 hours a week and 18% work over 60 hours a week ► Women often work shorter hours: 63% work over 45 hours compared with 83% of men 73% of women consider women’s need to balance work and family as a barrier to equality compared with 46% of men 57% believe that the perception that women are less committed to work due to family responsibility is a barrier to equality compared with 19% of men

23. where is the pressure coming from? ► 55% of managers feel able to balance work and personal commitments ► 64% of managers agree that their manager supports their efforts to balance work and their personal life ► 80% of managers are happy that they are able to support the efforts of those working for them to balance their work and personal commitments

24. diversity professionals see it differently ► 53% of diversity professional believe that managers are just not interested in equality and diversity, compared with 3% of managers ► 78% of managers believe they understand how to apply best practice. 80% of diversity professionals believe less than half of managers do ► 93% of diversity professionals believe the behaviour of fellow managers is an important influence on managers decision making compared with 67% of managers ► 82% of managers consider accountability and important influence compared with 67% of diversity professionals

25. recommendations ► Develop local diversity structures ► Use performance management ► Measure success ► Put competencies in recruitment and selection as well as appraisal and promotion ► Leadership ► Gender champions ► Role models for senior women ► Role models for work life balance ► Communication ► Learning and development ► Help managers to manage within the law ► Help mangers to manage flexible working

26. thank you Judith Cherry 5 October 2005

29. line managers – support they would find most useful