UK organisations actively recognise the importance of retaining experienced and talented women in the workforce; at the same time a great many women wish to pursue long, successful careers. One could be forgiven for thinking that the "female talent retention" problem was solved. And yet, it is not news that women are under-represented in the workplace, particularly at senior levels. As the seniority levels rise, the proportion of women in them declines steadily. As an illustration, in the City of London women account for nearly half of the graduate intake at most big employers, and top earners continue to be split approximately 50-50 until the age of 29. After this age however the proportion drops over the next 14 years to just 28%.

This is the time when women typically start their families. According to the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT, October 2014) 67% of women surveyed are worried about the impact having children will have on their career. Nearly half of the 2,000 UK women polled consider that their current employment doesn't offer them the flexibility they would need to care for a family TWEET THIS. This is worrying - if a return to work after maternity leave is perceived to be difficult and incompatible with continuing career fulfilment and progression, women won't return. Indeed the AAT survey reports that balancing childcare and work commitments is cited as the main barrier to staying in employment for new mums. Nearly a quarter of new mums surveyed (24%) changed jobs after the birth of their babies and 67% considered retraining to another job entirely as a means of having greater flexibility at work. In more junior roles the picture is similar; after the birth of their babies women in such roles are significantly more likely to take less demanding part-time roles than return to their previous jobs.

For the many women who are not freely choosing to stay at home or to return to part-time work, this represents a frustrating dilemma - to be fulfilled and successful professionally or fulfilled personally - but not both. If organisations are serious about retaining talented women, at all levels, there must be changes in the way they support women to return to work after maternity. Implementing active steps to make it easy to return, for example in providing flexible hours, nursery provision, return to work bonuses and maternity coaching all play an important role.

We'd love to hear about your experiences - good or bad - either as an employer or as a parent.

For further details on our maternity coaching programmes and how we can help your organisation retain its valued women employees, check out our programmes, or phone or email us.

If you have been affected by redundancy, and particularly if you are now settled into a new job, it is likely that you are keen to put the experience out of your mind and move on. Unfortunately it is not possible to guarantee that redundancy never happens to you again; indeed in modern careers, the experience of redundancy is increasingly expected. However, there are a number of considerations to think through in your next role that may reduce the risk. Here are 5 key steps you can take:

1. Be prepared. If it happens again don’t let it take you by surprise – redundancy is rarely a complete surprise to those affected. Keep abreast of company and industry developments. Look for indicators such as a downturn in company profits, loss of a major customer, wider political and economic issues, etc. Put together an action plan now before the situation becomes pressurised and emotional. Cultivate your personal contacts network; it will become very important in any future job search. Keep your basic CV up-to-date.
2. Keep your skills relevant to the job and keep developing them. Be aware of the wider market and trends within your business/profession. If your role is in an area that is likely to be outmoded, for example, by new technology, a cheaper workforce, etc., look around for different roles in which to apply your skills.
3. Ensure your performance meets, and preferably exceeds, those standards set in your appraisal/performance objectives. Think with your employer’s “hat” on – if redundancy were looming what would seriously make them want to keep you? (Try to be objective – people commonly believe that the company could not do without them, usually that is not true). Maintain a good record of punctuality, reliability, low sickness rates (where possible), and so on. Be seen as a good, personable employee.
4. Keep aware of developments within your industry and stay abreast of current vacancies, salary rates and so on. If you consider that redundancy is on the horizon you may then be better prepared to find a new job before it happens.
5. Maintain control and ‘ownership’ over your career, throughout your career. Do not allow that focus, or dependency, to shift to your employer. No one will ever care more about your career than you do.

In the fourth and final article in our series on influencing at interviews we look at the psychological features that commonly affect interviewers and may bias them for or against a candidate. Understanding this may help you in your interview preparation.

Warning - Jargon Alert! The following article contains some... But of course you won't be using any at the interview!

Primacy and recency biases: Research indicates that interviewers tend to remember the start and end of the interview but are somewhat vague about the middle, so a strong starting and ending performance is important.

The primacy effect becomes transformed into the expectancy effect where the interviewer forms an expectation of the candidate from their application form and initial verbal and non-verbal behaviour. These early impressions strongly affect the final appointment decision.

The contrast effect indicates that the interviewer's decisions are affected by those whom they have seen before you. They pay particular attention to any information (good or bad) that is unusual or out of the ordinary.

The personal liking bias suggests that interviewers select people they like and they allow their ratings of a candidate’s ability to be affected by such liking. The greater the perceived similarity between yourself and the interviewer, the more they will interpret your behaviour as reflecting attitudes that are similar to their own.

​The interviewer’s confirmatory information-seeking bias may lead them to actively look for evidence to support their initial impression and thereby to avoid contradictory evidence.

It is important to give good explanations for any less than positive elements of your career history or CV. This is because people assume that we deserve our status, success, rank, etc. Similarly we assume that others are less fortunate because they deserve to be (“people get what they deserve”). The effect is that unless you use such explanations appropriately you will be blamed for your perceived failures. Remember that negative information about a candidate disproportionately outweighs positive information, particularly if this impression is given early in the interview.

​Many employers will seek to overcome these biases in order to be more objective and fair to candidates. They may use structured and competency based interviews, and involve two or more interviewers. This helps to reduce the impact of these biases to some degree although it should be noted that they will still be in operation.

In the third of our series of articles on influencing at job interviews we look at what you should be aware of at the interview itself.

As we have outlined in an earlier article, there are three essential impressions to convey during the actual interview:

• that you are capable of doing the job
• that you will fit in
• that you truly desire the job and will be an asset to the team and company

So it is important to be mindful of these points throughout the interview and to recognise that your goal is to effectively persuade the interviewer that you can meet all three. In a number of studies, successful interviewees were found to be more likely to demonstrate certain behaviours:

1. Be Assertive
An assertive style will be more effective than a passive one. Being assertive might include asking the interviewer questions, clarifying a question, arguing a point and taking the initiative in raising topics for discussion.

2. Use Positive Language
Successful interviewees were found to be more likely to demonstrate certain behaviours. For example, they make use of positive and concrete language, give support or evidence for the claims they make, and are able to identify with prospective employers.

3. Avoid Long Pauses
Avoiding long delays in responding to questions and general hesitation was considered helpful for interview success.

4. Be Dominant!
Interviewers liked candidates who revealed a degree of dominance at certain points in the interview (e.g. when the interviewer did not allow the candidate enough time to complete their response). Beware though of displaying arrogant or aggressive behaviour.

​What are your experiences of using influencing skills at interviews? What has or hasn't worked for you? Share your stories with us - we'd love to hear from you.

If you’ve been following the advice on our career transition programmes, your efforts at developing a good CV and applying for appropriate roles will result in invitations to job interviews. [If you are struggling to get interviews there is a problem at one of these earlier stages].

Most of us experience a degree of nervousness around interviews and when the job in question is one you are really keen to get, this can become more intense. So, assuming you are following good interview preparation practice (as outlined in our career transition programmes and in other articles here) what else can you be aware of that might help you land that job offer?

Over the last ten years or so, a number of studies have looked at the interview process and have identified a number of non-verbal and verbal ‘influencers’. Here we are looking at some key non-verbal influencers.

Interviewers have been found to believe that candidates’ personalities can be deduced from the non-verbal cues they give. In the interview situation, it is said that non-verbal behaviours can account for more than 80% of an applicant’s rating. Many of these sound rather obvious but you might be surprised by how many people trip themselves up over some of these at interview. Job interviewers pay attention to:

1. Appearance – dress and neatness are important, with interviewers consistently linking a candidate’s image and capability to his/her appearance. Additionally good grooming and appropriate dress was felt to show respect for the company and the role itself.
2. Posture – Leaning forward (with your bottom lodged in the back of the chair) was seen to indicate enthusiasm and a sincere interest in the job. Interviewers liked candidates who shifted posture when there was a change in topic or when the conversation touched a high point. They did not like quiet, motionless people and they interpreted these people as “holding things back”. Changing posture or leg position from time to time was seen to indicate alertness, confidence, respect and energy. Most interviewers wanted an assertive candidate.
3. Rapport – this was consistently found to be the most important factor. Rapport describes the relationship of two or more people who are on the same wavelength as each other (or in synchrony with each other). People in close rapport may share posture shifts, smile at each other, and even match leg positions. This is supported by eye contact. Making appropriate eye contact was felt to indicate a candidate’s honesty, confidence, self-pride and determination.

​To learn more about career coaching or career programmes, or to make a free initial one-hour consultation, contact us.

If you’ve been following the advice on our career transition programmes, your efforts at assessing your strengths, skills and preferences, identifying the right job market for you, and developing a great CV will mean you are ready to make successful job applications. [If you are struggling with these earlier areas it will impact your success at the later stages and career coaching may be helpful].

Over the last ten years or so, a number of studies have looked at job interviews and identified a number of things candidates can do to maximise their chances of success. This is the first in a series of articles in which we will look at each in turn. Here we are looking at how to favourably influence the chances of getting an interview.

People like people like themselves
Until such time as selection is carried out without human involvement, and despite the best efforts of many interviewers, the selection process is subjective (and in some cases highly so). It is therefore susceptible to being influenced by the well-informed candidate. Here are some important things to bear in mind:

1. Organisational Fit
This is very important. ‘Fit’ concerns issues such as an applicant’s attitude, personality, values and appearance. For many organisations (e.g. John Lewis) the selection focus has moved away from just matching applicant’s skills to a particular job and more towards matching individuals with their future work and interactions with a wide range of colleagues. The view taken is that an organisation can help an employee develop appropriate skills with training, but cannot do much to enhance attitude or fit. The person offered a position needs to be able to fit into the social environment of the company’s culture, its customers and suppliers. Your CV (or application form) is the first impression the organisation has of you. The way your CV looks, the content of your profile and the kind of attributes and style you describe, will be used to form this initial impression. It is important therefore that you get it right – in other words that it accurately reflects you and does you justice, and describes the characteristics they are looking for (and of course those two things should overlap otherwise you shouldn’t be applying for the job!)

2. Selectors' Aims
​Studies consistently indicate that selectors are looking for broadly similar attributes in candidates. They are looking for successful (“winning”) people and those with the potential to be successful. This means people they perceive to be appropriately intelligent, assertive, creative, knowledgeable, optimistic, enthusiastic and confident. They want to weed out those whom they feel do not have this potential. With this in mind review your CV or application form: does it reflect a confident, successful person (or someone with the potential for success)? Or does it reflect a bland, unconfident person or someone who is underplaying his or her achievements or skills?

3. Application Form and CV
Selectors form impressions from the early information they receive, therefore information presented at the start of your CV affects how later information is interpreted. If the selector first reads positive information at the start of the CV, later, less positive, information will have less of a negative impact. Again, review your CV to ensure that the top third of the first page contains the information you consider is most influential to this application. This will certainly include your Contact details and your appropriately worded Profile or Personal Summary. You should then consider what section should best follow. There are no hard and fast rules to CV layout. So for example if you have excellent and recent qualifications and the employer has specifically asked for them or if you know that the employer is a stickler for qualifications, you might follow your Profile section with your Education and Qualifications section. Equally if your qualifications are not so impressive or relevant, you might place this section at the end of the CV.

In the next article in the series, we will look at influencing during the interview itself.

​To learn more about our career coaching or our career transition programmes, or to book a free initial one-hour consultation, contact us.

A report published on 30 October 2014 by the Institute for Fiscal Studies revealed that graduates who have been privately educated consistently earn more than their state educated contemporaries. Three and a half years after graduation, the pay gap is around £4,500.

​The subject of private education in the UK often triggers much emotion and heat, focusing as it often does on the perceived privilege and power of one social class over another. This is unfortunate as the heat generated by these polarised positions obscures some of the real reasons underlying the difference.

The research found that even when they compared graduates attending the same universities, studying the same subjects and entering the same careers, the privately educated were earning around 6% more. This is frequently explained away as a result of the benefit of the "old boy network" and socio-economic background. What is rarely, if ever, referred to is self-confidence and "roundedness" - something private schools frequently excel at and which many state schools do not specifically address. In my experience working with graduates and students from both private and state school sectors, I have consistently seen much focus and attention paid to the development of self-confidence in private schools through encouraging public speaking and debate, involvement in community activities, the development of social skills, competitive sports, endeavour and initiative programmes, and so on. In my experience such activities typically result in students who are more poised and appropriately confident i.e. are willing to try new things, be bold, and risk failure.

The strong link between self-confidence and career success is well established. It shouldn't be a surprise that being more confident at work can mean more promotions. A study at the University of Melbourne found a correlation between confidence levels as early as primary school age and success in the workplace as adults (as measured by increased promotion). Being confident has been shown to significantly increase the likelihood of success in an argument or negotiation (studies from University of Edinburgh and University of California - San Diego). A lack of confidence is associated with a person being less willing to take risks, less likely to accept new challenges, and less likely to stretch themselves outside of their comfort zone. Healthily confident people are much better prepared to step up. Whilst not all privately educated students will emerge into adulthood 'healthily confident' the research would suggest that more of them do so than their state educated counterparts.

Contrary to popular opinion, the stereotype of the "arrogant public school boy" is not significantly evidenced in the research. Other research from the US and the UK indicates that arrogance or over-confidence frequently leads to failure. This may be because it causes the person to overestimate their ability and under-prepare, and consequently perform badly.

The evidence suggests that state schools can and perhaps should learn from the private school example. For adults - whether state or privately educated - self-confidence is a key factor, not just in the achievement of a successful career, but in life more generally.

Coaching is known to be an effective and successful means of developing self-confidence - if you consider that you are lacking in confidence, coaching can help you to turn it around. Contact us for a free consultation to see how we can help.

Over the next six years women are expected to take two-thirds of highly skilled roles in the UK, according to a recent report by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills. By 2020, 49% of women are predicted to have degree level qualifications and they already form a significant proportion of those in professional roles. Among professional women, 45% cited maternity as the key pinch point in their careers.

For both organisations and individuals, specialist maternity coaching provides an important and effective intervention at this critical time. It enables women to make appropriate career choices to suit their situation, preferences and aspirations, and enables organisations to retain their talented performers and their investment in their development and future potential. [In 2006, the CIPD calculated the cost of replacing such employees as being between £8k and £12k per person].

Our maternity coaches provide specialist support and a confidential sounding board to executive women. Being outside the organisation, they have no agenda on the woman's career and provide an objective detachment to help each woman find the best solution to their particular circumstances: whether that means a rapid return to work or a delayed or indefinite return.

​We provide comprehensive and 'light' maternity returner programmes, and will also tailor a programme to meet your organisation's specific requirements. To learn more about the programmes and how your company can benefit call or email us.

I can’t get through a working day without receiving emails, tweets and advertising messages about ‘living your dream’, ‘be whatever you want to be’, ‘let nothing hold you back’ and so on.

Recently a sports coach who had suggested to one of his young football players that he would never be "equally great with both feet because he wasn't born with that talent", was severely criticised by another coach. Her position was that anything can be taught and achieved with the right support and coaching.

This whole notion of “be great at anything” is troubling and seems to be on the increase. It is an example of the self help industry hijacking bits from the positive psychology movement and taking it off into another dimension. Everything is possible, everything is positive and everything is achievable providing you have the right mindset. This is neither true nor a healthy approach. Its downside is that if you don’t achieve your impossible dreams you are at fault. [I am reminded of a story from the US in which a cancer sufferer had turned in desperation to a new age therapy in search of a cure, had ditched the conventional medical treatment as instructed, and subsequently died. In the furore that followed, her husband was told that the reason the new age treatment had failed was because she hadn't put enough faith into it...]

Even with the best coaching in the world I would never have beaten Serena Williams at tennis. I wasn’t born with the appropriate potential (physiology or base talent) which could be developed sufficiently to reach those particular heights. And that's fine; we are all different. When we overly fasten onto the ‘nurture’ side of the situation in this way we miss the fact that the ‘nature’ side is pretty critical too. We are all born with an inherited series of characteristics (such as our physiognomy, base IQ, etc) which give us certain potential. With the right support and development we can realise that potential and be the best we can be. That is what coaching is all about: effective coaching is built on uncovering and developing potential – not turning you into someone else or seducing you into thinking that with the right financial investment or effort you can be anything you choose. Our young football player may never be the best “two-footed” player but he can improve his feet skills and be the best he can be.

​It seems unpopular to say the least, but we simply can’t be anything we want and to suggest that we can, particularly to children and young adults, is unfair and misleading. A life just spent chasing impossible dreams of achievement or perfection is not a fulfilling one. To be clear, I am not saying don’t dream or don’t follow your dreams, I am saying add a middle piece – 'sense check' your dreams, get realistic by translating them into stretching, but not impossible, goals. Aim high, don’t aim impossible: and then work smartly to achieve those dreams…

​Many people dread having to attend interviews and feel nervous and uncomfortable at the prospect. When you consider that interviews are one of the least effective ways of selecting people for jobs, that anxiety seems even more pointless! But for now it seems that interviews are here to stay, so it is worthwhile ensuring that you don’t miss out on a good job by a poor interview.

Studies suggest that the five most common reasons people fail at interview are:

• lack of awareness of the company
• lack of preparation
• lack of/over enthusiasm
• personal appearance (!)
• turning up late

All of these reasons boil down to the same thing: lack of preparation. So, what can you do to ensure you are well prepared?

First and foremost, think with the employer’s “hat” on and attempt to see things from their perspective. Recruitment is an expensive and risky process. Employers want to ensure that they select the right person for the job and the company. They are seeking to satisfy themselves in three areas:

1. Can you do the job?
2. Will you fit in here?
3. If offered the job, will you stay and perform well?

Your role in the process is to provide the evidence to be able to satisfy them on all three questions. The interview provides you with the opportunity to do this.

Suitable preparation therefore includes an understanding of the role, the company, how the company works and its culture (ie. how they do things, their ‘style’). [If you prepared the earlier stages of your job search thoroughly, these things will have formed part of your checklist when choosing which jobs to apply for].

You should prepare real examples from your experience and achievements which demonstrate your skill and fitness for the role. For example, if you know that the role requires analytical skills, you need to provide the best examples you have of a time when you employed your own analytical skills to a work task or problem. You should be prepared to describe the situation behind the problem or task, outline what action you took (in some detail and being sure to identify your abilities and characteristics) and then describe the positive outcome or result. You should do this for all aspects of the job’s requirements. In this way you can ensure that you are providing the interviewer with a clear, positive picture of yourself.

Being thoroughly prepared and in possession of your previous accomplishments and attributes also means that you don’t have to “swot up” for the interview by rote learning a 100 possible questions and hoping that you have prepared the right ones. Because whatever they ask, you already know the answer.

Job seekers: If you would like to share your interview experience or indeed pose a question, I would love to hear from you. Interviewers: what are your experiences? What represents the best and worst in interview practice to you?