March 13, 2017
Female FTSE 100 leaders require more prestigious academic background than men 0
Only 10 percent of Executive Directors on FTSE 100 boards are female compared with 35 percent of Non-Executive Directors and it seems that those who reach this level require a stronger academic pedigree than their male counterparts. According to preliminary findings from The Leadership 10k1 report from Green Park, women leaders in the UK’s biggest firms are three times more likely than male counterparts to have degrees from either Russell Group or Ivy League universities. The research finds that 76 percent of the total employees in top 20 positions across the FTSE 100 who graduated from a Russell Group university are female while 70 percent of leaders who graduated from an Ivy League university are female. Overall, this suggests that women are three times more likely to need a qualification from a prestigious university to gain a board position in the UK than men.
A majority (84 percent) of British employees use their smartphones at work, with 78 percent regularly responding to text messages during working hours and on average spending as many as 120 hours per year using their smartphones during the working day claims new research. The data, compiled by LaptopsDirect.co.uk, also found that 59 percent regularly take personal phone calls whilst working; 52 percent admit to answering instant messages via platforms such as Whatsapp and Facebook, and 9 percent have sent a Snapchat from their workplace. Employers are not completely against the use of smartphones, though under half (44 percent) permit the reasonable use of smartphones, according to the research; but 14 percent of respondents admit to having been told off for using smartphones at work, and 4 percent have been disciplined for use of their own tech during work time. Of most concern for employers is the fact that more than a third (38 percent) of respondents regularly check their social media accounts while at work.
Demand for construction workers in London looks set to grow due to the completion of Crossrail and the extension of the Northern Line alongside other infrastructure projects. But a new analysis reveals the Capital is struggling to attract and train the workforce needed; with London and the South East having a shortfall of 60,000 people in the construction industry. This is according to a first of its kind analysis of the role of migration on London’s economy by London First and PwC.
Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman introduced the concept of Loss Aversion in 1984, highlighting people’s tendency to strongly prefer avoiding losses to acquiring gains. Most studies suggest that losses are twice as powerful, psychologically, as gains. Lose £100 and we will feel a remorse that easily outweighs winning £100. In a similar fashion we find it very hard to see future positives when confronted with short term loses. We understand easily what we have lost but cannot imagine what there is to be gained. Furthermore, as Frederic Bastiat wrote in an 1850 paper, “That Which is Seen, and That Which is Not Seen”, man has a tendency to “pursue a small present good, which will be followed by a great evil to come, rather than a great good to come, at the risk of a small present evil”. Put these together and it is no wonder that, by and large, the future of work, corporate real estate and the workplace is so widely misunderstood.
