Harman calls for women on financial firms' boards
Share
Equalities Secretary and minister for women Harriet Harman says women must sit on the boards of financial services companies to ensure firms understand and are representative of their customers.
Speaking at a Treasury select committee evidence session on women in the City on Tuesday, Harman said financial services firms that discriminate against women are “artificially blinkered”.
She said: “The financial services industry is delivering to a customer base of individuals and businesses which have got women participating in them as well as men and therefore a men-only leadership of financial services does not understand the female customer base.
“If you are only looking at half the population, then you are only looking at half the brains and half the commitment and we are not being meritocratic because you are artificially blinkered.”
Harman disagreed with comments by JO Hambro deputy chairman Nichola Pease from last week’s evidence session in which Pease said that legislation and protection was turning the hiring of women into “a nightmare”. Harman said: “I do not accept that. I think it is necessary for financial services and all companies to be able to draw on the talents of women and men.”
Anand Associates managing director Bhupinder Anand says: “I have nothing against positive selection but it must go alongside merit. The people on the board are not making the day-to-day decisions about target markets though so I am not sure Harman’s point quite adds up.”
If you enjoyed this article, sign up here to receive daily email updates from Money Marketing and Follow @_moneymarketing
Readers' comments (2)
Lee Clarke | 10 Nov 2009 8:59 am
I'd love to see more women on the boards, and in the front line of financial services, however they have to want to do it! After 44 years in the business during which I've worked with many women, there's no shortage of talent and nor is there any shortage of opportunity. There's simply a shortage of female applicants. Ms Harman needs to grasp this very simple point. You can't frog-march women into jobs they don't want!
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Phil Castle | 10 Nov 2009 10:45 am
You can't hammer a square peg in to a round hole however much you want to. I run a small firm and whilst some of the best staff have been women and some of them would have made good advisers, you can't make them do a more pressurised job (that is what is often required) when they prefer a simple admin role and to be the main parenter of their children. The women prioritise as far as the job they want to do much more than the owners of the business.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment