Women are vital

Retaining and encouraging talent
Creating an environment where women and men want to work involves many elements. Sheila McCaffrey, Director of Kite, a technology company based in a remote part of Northern Ireland, has demonstrated the benefits her organisation enjoys by integrating the provision of childcare into the very heart of its business.

Kite has given over 45% of its office space to childcare and has a daycare licence that enables them to provide subsidised care for children aged 6 weeks to 16 years. Her overwhelmingly female employees remain with the company for about six years. By comparison, her competitors retain staff for only 11 to 12 months. Her business has grown at a fast rate, and her steady, happy employees have, she believes, given her a competitive advantage. Other potential solutions to address the problem were considered, including: childcare vouchers, affordable government-funded childcare and tax relief for employers and employees.

Further changes to the workplace culture pinpointed the role and competence of managers. Bosses are always going to take some flack, but there were heartfelt calls for them to adopt greater understanding of employee workloads and improved knowledge of how to manage them, using technology in an appropriate and effective way. Listening to employees and fostering a two-way flow of ideas between staff and management were considered vital, as was an increase in the amount of women managers, role models and mentoring programmes in the workplace.

Government surveys suggest that younger women believe they are disadvantaged in terms of pay and promotion. They’re not wrong. In 2002, women working full-time earn 18.8 percent less than full-time male employees and the number of female executives, although much increased, is still only 22%. The call for equal pay legislation ‘with teeth’ was echoed by many at the event.

Self-development and training initiatives is a crucial factor affecting staff retention. And the encouragement of entrepreneurial skills within companies is an important method of building self-confidence and developing crucial, transferable business skills.