Brent Council – breaking the glass ceiling

Citation

Godwin, K. (2006), "Brent Council – breaking the glass ceiling", Human Resource Management International Digest, Vol. 14 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/hrmid.2006.04414fad.012

Brent Council – breaking the glass ceiling

Brent Council – breaking the glass ceiling

Godwin K.Equal Opportunities Review, April 2006, Vol. 151 No. 151, Start page: 6, No. of pages: 6

Purpose – Describes the initiatives that Brent Council (UK) set up to tackle gender inequalities within the council, including the lack of women in senior management positions. Design/methodology/approach – Discusses why the council signed up to Opportunity Now, the changes it made to its recruitment practices to encourage more women applicants, how it established a women’s forum, how it tackled harassment, how it piloted a work-life balance scheme, and how it developed its family-friendly policies. Underlines that this was done without compromising the quality of the council’s services. An inset reproduces the council’s guidance for employees who are considering opting for flexible working. Findings – Quotes from Tracy Walters, head of diversity at the council about the lessons learned, including the need to spend time communicating the policies, the need to formalize policies so that they become embedded in the organization, and the need to set baselines and measure progress to establish how well the polices are working. Overall, notes that the initiatives were successful in increasing the percentage of women employed at higher levels from 30 percent in 2001 to 48 percent in 2004. Originality/value – Presents a case study of an initiative to increase the representation of women in top levels of management.ISSN: 0268-7143Reference: 35AL872

Keywords: Equal opportunities, Family life, Local government, United Kingdom, Women