Bye, bye all boys club*

If several years ago somebody had asked me whether corporations were getting better with regards to inclusion of women and minorities in the workforce, I would have answered that yes, maybe slowly, but clearly surely, a healthy balance is being reached in companies. Unfortunately, I had a very positively-biased perspective of the world.

Back then, I was working in a technology consulting company. I was surrounded by engineers and colleagues that really respected my work. I was part of a team that, at some point in time, was made of 75% women. And I was living in a country, France, where being a woman seemed less of a social burden. In France, people consider that women contribute to wealth by giving birth to the generations that will sustain the future economy. Being born a woman, from that perspective, is not a bad role to have.

Several years ago, I moved to London. What a change! In the technical environments I have navigated, congresses and symposia, the large majority of people attending are men over 40, well into their 50s sometimes. In such environments, I can notice how difficult it is for them to take any of my explanations seriously. 

And then, there is my work place! God bless it! Hopefully, one of the last bastions of all boy-school mentality in Britain, although I am afraid it is not. From the first day, I noticed that it was not going to be easy to fit in. For starters, most senior executives, 95% men but also the remainder of women, would always take me as a personal assistant if I showed any disposition to help them with something they needed help with. I remember this glorious moment when I met a well-known executive. I wanted to explain my role and how I could help him and his team. He did not even let me open my mouth, he said: “Look, don’t speak. I want to tell you several things. I have brought XXX millions into JLL and my time is very valuable. So, listen”. And I listened, not having the opportunity to explain why I was there.

From the beginning I sensed something unusual in the company culture. I could spot a few intelligent, very beautiful women, who, taking advantage of their beauty would manage to minimise the amount of work they had to do, as well as save their position before anyone realised they did not have the skills for what they were meant to do. In certain suspicious circumstances, beauty was not even necessary. In a place like this, being a woman and having a good “personal sponsor” protects you from being dismissed.

After three years in this firm, I have seen how a very diverse team of senior professionals made of women, men, black and other ethnicity is, slowly but very surely, becoming an ‘all  boys club”. Evaluated from outside, it looks horrible. In some months, none of the women and blacks that were part of that leadership group will be there anymore. We could think it is just a coincidence, but I do not believe in coincidences. I do not think that people were particularly targeted and encouraged to leave based on race or sex either. I think it is something deeper than that. There is something that causes this dysfunctional filtering naturally: their corporate culture and values.

A company that runs on politics, where how words are said and who said them is more important than their meaning, where working together has to be financially rewarded, where nepotism is accepted and where employees are afraid of speaking up about unfairness because they fear retaliation eventually has to manage all the negative side effects. Racism and sexism, by selecting only those that are alike, are some of those side effects. All this can easily drive the company to under-perform because the individual interests are prioritised over the progress of the whole entity.

To be completely fair, in this same company, I have also met professionals that acknowledge the challenge and the negative impact of ignoring it. Some of them hold very senior positions and are trying hard to change these unhealthy dynamics. Unfortunately, they are a minority and they are losing the war.

Discussing my experience with friends who also live in London, they have pointed out that this is not a common thing among all companies over here. However, both my female and male friends told me their own experiences with testosterone-driven working environments. Some of them were even more negative than mine. It seems clear to me that this “all–boy club” approach to business is doing more harm than good. It is impacting negatively all workplaces. I would go further and say that the financial crisis and the fact that London’s traditional business sectors are by inertia fostering discrimination will only make going back to a healthy and productive economy more difficult.

*For a definition of the expression, in case it is necessary: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=boys%20club