A recent report suggesting that women are often given high-powered business positions as a last resort has come under fire.
Recruitment agency Hitchenor Wakeford has called into question the findings of the report, written by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), branding the organisation ‘misguided’.
“I think most women and businesses will find the interpretation of this research as patronising,” said Danny Hodgson, managing director of Hitchenor Wakeford.
“Business leaders and recruiters are more pragmatic than the CIPD gives them credit for. In my experience they appoint the person who will give them the best commercial advantage irrespective of whether they are male or female.”
Hodgson said there is in fact a ‘lucrative market’ for high achieving managers appointed to struggling companies, regardless of gender.
However, the CIPD has defended the report claiming ‘it is simply reporting the facts as they stand and the perceptions of the senior people interviewed’.
In response to the comments from Hitchnor Wakeford, Dianah Worman, CIPD diversity advisor said:
“We are certainly not damning every business leader or recruiter and we absolutely recognise that there are many organisations with excellent and unbiased recruitment practices in place, nor are we saying people don’t want to work for companies facing difficulties.
“We wanted to draw attention to the under-representation of women in the boardroom, investigate why and explore what needs to be done to trigger changes that will benefit both businesses and women.”
Worman said the issue was ‘complex’, with ‘cultural, historical and indeed discriminatory’ factors at play.
© Crimson Business Ltd. 2007
