Gold Winner – Sandcastle Water Park

Silver Winner – The Science Museum

Bronze Winner – Eureka! The National Children’s Museum

Highly Commended- Calvert Trust Exmoor
One Great George Street
Hoe Grange Holidays

Further information on these award winners can be found at the VisitEngand website at:

http://www.visitengland.com/ee/Access-for-All-Tourism-Award-2013/

“A study published in the May issue of the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology provides a compelling example of how important female role models are to women’s performance. Participating in the study were 149 Swiss students, 81 of which were women and 68 men. Each was asked to give a speech arguing against higher tuition fees. Some of the students gave their speech with a poster of Hillary Clinton on the back wall, others saw a poster of Angela Merkel, some saw a poster of Bill Clinton, and the rest had no poster in the room at all.”

“The female students who gave their speech with Hillary Clinton or Angela Merkel on the wall spoke for significantly longer than those that didn’t (an increase of 49% and 24% respectively). Their speeches were also rated as higher in quality by observers who weren’t aware of the presence of the posters, and the women themselves rated their own performance more positively. The performance of the male students on the other hand was the same, regardless of who was on the poster or whether the posters were in the room or not. The study demonstrates that female role models have a significant impact on women’s performance. ”

The full article can be read at:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/women-in-leadership/2013/may/13/real-models-not-role-models?CMP=

Jo Swinson MP has written a blog on the launch in which she says:

” I’m a firm believer that combining business and equality is a recipe for success. In my view, as Minister for Business and Minister for Women and Equalities, it’s simply good business sense to be treating people fairly, creating more inclusive and modern workplaces and ensuring we are drawing on the talents of everyone if we are going to bring sustained growth to the British economy”

and on the vital importance of gender equality:

“I also think being more open and transparent about gender issues will drive forward real change. That’s why we created our “Think, Act, Report“ initiative which encourages companies to report on action to improve gender equality in the workplace. More than 90 companies, covering over 1.6 million employees, have already signed up. I hope they will inspire many others to follow suit.”

The full blog together with a link to a download of the Booklet can be found at:

http://www.britishchambers.org.uk/policy-maker/blog/jo-swinson.html

The full Bulletin can be accessed here.

Women 1st launch “Little Book of Diversity”, a practical guide to supporting women in the workplace.

The book provides realistic advice to businesses in the service industry who want to support talented female employees and increase the number of women in senior positions. The book has many case studies from companies such as McDonalds, PepsiCo, Shell and IBM and also includes useful Tips in side panels throughout the text.

Sharon Glancy, founder of Women 1st and co-author of the book together with Sam Mercer and Karen Roberts, said at its launch at the Cafe Royal:

“The guide is aimed at both HR professionals and business leaders. It is designed to help you wherever you are on your journey to achieving gender balance within senior management teams, whether you are starting out or looking for ideas to improve your own programmes. We hope we can inspire, encourage and equip you to take action in your own business.”

The book quite rightly starts with the business case for gender equality, highlighting the five key business benefits from being gender diverse:

Improved business performance
Reduced risks and costs
Better decision making
Mirroring the customer’s perspective
Accessing the widest talent pool
It then looks at the issues holding back women, such as dominant masculine cultures, gender bias and balancing work and caring responsibilities at the practical steps that can improve gender equality. Increasing the female representation on boards is the present hot topic but this can only happen if there is a sufficient female talent pool at senior management level. As Prue Leith says in the foreword:

“For most employers, increasing women’s representation on boards isn’t a problem easily solved. This is because women have failed to progress into the senior management pool from which board members are drawn. Every industry is now looking at how to improve the number of women in its talent pool. This means employers can no longer afford to ignore or fail to develop talented women, or they will lose them.”

In order for employers to develop this talent pool, the book offers practical guidance on such issues as flexible working, leadership training, networking, mentorship and improving recruitment and retention practices.

The Little Book of Diversity is available in hardback for £14.99 and can be ordered from http://www.women1st.co.uk/LBD. An ebook priced at £9.95 will soon be available from the same address.

Helena Morrissey on her campaign for Gender Equality in the workplace

In an interview with the Evening Standard Helena Morrissey, CEO of Newton Asset Management, mother of nine children and founder of the 30% Club encouraging increased female representation on Boards, has talked to the Evening Standard about the need to continue to press the case for gender equality in the workplace:

“Chairmen and business leadership get the issue but a lot of middle managers think the ‘women issue’ is just political correctness. We need to highlight the business case for diversity: a larger range of people make a more representative board. I am anxious that semantics are overtaking the issue — amid all the debate about ‘Are you a feminist?’, people are missing the point that the fact is a stronger team is made up of more different types of people and that needs to be recognised in business”

She also laments that although Margaret Thatcher was remarkable, her success did not lead to a greater change in attitude:

“She was an extraordinary woman. But it was disappointing that her role didn’t lead to a broadening out, with more women in the Cabinet and other senior roles.”

The full interview can be read at http://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/city-dynamo-and-mother-of-nine-helen-morrissey-on-her-campaign-for-equality-in-the-workplace-8578017.html

Support for working mothers most important two year in

Melanie Richards, a Corporate Finance Partner at KPMG, has written in the Guardian on the importance of support for working mothers, particularly at the point two years after their return from maternity leave when they may be thinking whether pursuing a career fits in with their work/life balance. She says:

“Our risk and management consulting practices offer mentoring and coaching schemes for mothers of young children, which can start from up to two years after women have returned to work.

“It is at this point that many women want to ensure they are managing their careers and may be considering a second child, which compounds the work/family balance pressure. Of course, everyone has a responsibility to choose the path that is right for them and their family, but we have found that mentoring and coaching can create a positive and supportive environment in which to make those decisions. From my own experience, and the experiences of the women I coach and mentor, it is apparent that when women are fully engaged and fulfilled by their career, making decisions about work and family balance become clearer.”

Melanie Richards’s full article can be read at http://www.guardian.co.uk/women-in-leadership/2013/apr/25/working-mothers-continued-support-benefit

The shortlisted nominees are:

Woman of the Year
•Jenny Body OBE – President-Elect, Royal Aeronautical Society
•Julie Moore – Managing Director, Green Gourmet Ltd.
•Michele Moore – Head of People Development, Elior UK
•Margot Slattery – Managing Director Ireland and Northern Ireland, Sodexo
•Carrie Wicks – Operations Director, Firmdale Hotels Plc

Lifetime Achievement (sponsored by Unilever Food Solutions UK and Ireland)
•Jenny Body OBE – President-Elect, Royal Aeronautical Society
•Elena Salvoni – Retired, Little Italy Soho
•Julia Sibley – Chief Executive, Savoy Educational Trust
•Sara Jayne Stanes OBE – Director, Academy of Culinary Arts
•Gill Tynan – General Manager, Service Operations, Go-Ahead London

Rising Star (sponsored by McDonald’s)
•Babs Coombes -Black Country Area Manager, Centro
•Charlie Cousens – Hotel Manager, Strattons Hotel
•Emma Cooper – Finance and Marketing Director, The Ambrette
•Laura Davis – Sales Manager, Smart Hospitality
•Rachel Phillips – HR Director, Marriott Hotels

Stepping Up
•Laura Garton – Learning and Development Director Worldwide, Orient-Express
•Sarah Jones – Head of Customer Services, Centro
•Katy Maddison – Interim Commercial and Finance Director, Sodexo Cyprus
•Sarah Prentice – Business Development Manager, Bartlett Mitchell
•Sarah Swaysland – Marketing Manager, Be At One Cocktail Bars

Outstanding Entrepreneur
•Cleopatra Browne – Managing Director, Celtic Coast Coasteering
•Ciara Crossan – CEO, WeddingDates UK
•Carolyn Pearson – CEO, Maiden Voyage.com

Mentor of the Year
•Liz Chandler – Director of Corporate Development, Merseytravel
•Debrah Dhugga – General Manager, Dukes St. James London
•Lin Dickens – Marketing Director, Bartlett Mitchell
•Tracey Rogers – Managing Director, Unilever Food Solutions UK and Ireland

The shortlist for company award recognition is as follows:

Small Business
•Dukes St. James London
•Farm Stay UK
•Green Gourmet Ltd.
•Purple Cubed

Large Business
•Addison Lee
•Bourne Leisure
•McDonald’s Restaurants
•Merlin Entertainments

“I’m absolutely anti-throwing a cheque at something and walking away – that’s rubbish,” he adds forcefully. “Lots of big organisations do that and call it CSR [corporate social responsibility]. My interest is in how to make organisations more successful. Of course I care about fairness,” he adds, “but nobody cares whether I care about fairness really, that’s not going to motivate anyone to do anything. What does motivate organisations is the bottom line.”

“You want CEOs to be embarrassed because their performance is poor because they’re not using all the talent properly,” he says. “That’s the biggest commercial driver.”

and he says that the potential pay off is huge:

“If you look at the whole globe, and the unutilised economic potential of women – sorting this would solve the poverty crisis three times over. It’s the biggest lever you could pull by miles and it’s at the heart of banking.”

The full article can be read here

The employer consultation event will be held at One Queen Anne’s Gate, London on Wednesday 1 May from 2pm. People 1st will be asking employers in hospitality, passenger transport and travel to express their opinions on all areas of apprenticeship content and delivery, but in particular it wants to understand how apprenticeships can be designed to better meet their needs.

Further information and contact details here.

Melanie writes:

“Our risk and management consulting practices offer mentoring and coaching schemes for mothers of young children, which can start from up to two years after women have returned to work.”

“It is at this point that many women want to ensure they are managing their careers and may be considering a second child, which compounds the work/family balance pressure. Of course, everyone has a responsibility to choose the path that is right for them and their family, but we have found that mentoring and coaching can create a positive and supportive environment in which to make those decisions. From my own experience, and the experiences of the women I coach and mentor, it is apparent that when women are fully engaged and fulfilled by their career, making decisions about work and family balance become clearer.”

Melanie’s full article can be read here

“I’ve had so many people say to me that they find the Paralympians to be even more inspiring than Olympians, many have personal stories to tell on how they overcame adversity before becoming elite athletes. It’s put Paralympians firmly on the map as household names.”

“There was a lot of talk about the legacy that London would leave and whether expectations could be met, in my opinion both been excelled. Paralympic sport has seen an increase in the number of people getting involved, whether it’s a child trying something for the first time or as a volunteer. ParalympicsGB is now holding Sport Fest days where people can try a variety of sports and meet some of their Paralympic idols (the next event is on 26 and 27 April in Sheffield). Initiatives like these give everyone the chance to become elite athletes and, if they want, to strive for the pinnacle of their chosen sport: a Paralympic Games.”

More of Josie’s blog can be read here