June 2017 Credit Management magazine

FEATURE SPECIAL
LADIES
FIRST
Why aren’t there more women in senior roles in credit and what could be
done to encourage more women into the industry? Sean Feast takes his life
in his hands by asking some leading players.
DESPITE having a woman as our Prime
Minister (at least at the time of going to
press), and a woman as our Monarch,
the importance of women in the
workplace is a constant subject of debate. Why
are women continually under-represented on the
Boards of the FTSE 100, and why are so few at the
very top of the tree? More specifically, why aren't
there more women in senior roles in credit?
Denise Crossley FCICM, CEO of Motormile
Finance UK, believes that part of the problem
is historic: “Sadly, I often feel that women are
still sometimes under-valued in the workplace,
particularly where their line managers are
older men who have been in their roles for a
considerable number of years,” she says. “In
some of the smaller credit business in particular,
some male managers just don’t appear to see a
woman as a true asset.”
While Denise is quick to point out that such
prehistoric attitudes are not true of all men,
her thoughts resonate with others. Dee Weston
FCICM, UK and Ireland Credit Manager for Avnet
says that she started in credit control more by
default than design, and credit was not promoted
as a career: “The first I was aware there was a
title of Credit Manager, was when I saw the role
advertised, but there was nothing to suggest
is was significant or could help my career
development. I applied as it noted supervision of
other personnel, and that appealed to me.”
What became immediately clear, however,
was that the world of credit – at a senior level at
least – was almost entirely male dominated: “If I
wanted to speak to a senior person among our
customers it was invariably male, their secretary
female, and their credit control team, female
too. But that was also reflected in the company I
worked for; the senior roles were all men.”
Claire Aynsley, Head of Regulatory
Compliance and Standards at the Credit Services
Association (CSA), definitely believes that
attitudes are changing: “The dinosaur era days
of men ‘bringing home the bacon’ are long gone,
and equality in the workplace is vastly improving.
“Even within our membership we are seeing
more females being employed in senior and
executive roles. As with the regulatory landscape,
not only are firms having a cultural change in
terms of their activity and their engagement
with customers, but the cultural changes can be
seen throughout organisations, leading to more
diversity. But more still needs to be done.”
Debbie Tuckwood, Head of Education and
Professional Development at the CICM, suspects
that the anomaly occurred because women’s
careers were more likely to be interrupted due to
family responsibilities and employers were less
prepared to offer flexible working: “With new
legislation, more family friendly working hours,
better childcare and increasing necessity for both
partners to work, hopefully more talented women
will continue their career and start to reach senior
roles,” she says.
“Clearly some may be reluctant to take on
roles which require significant travelling if their
families are young. However, as many credit
management departments are changing rapidly,
there are a host of business-critical projects which
require skilled leadership and may better suit
flexible hours. These both develop new skills
and are likely to open up opportunities during
these formative years. Also, better communication
means nowadays many meetings with colleagues
and customers are held remotely and so many
managers choose to work from home for at least
part the week.”
Denise, too, acknowledges that part of the
problem historically is the ‘traditional’ one of
women being primary carers, and the inflexibility
of working practices: “On occasions, women can
be put off applying for full time roles in credit as
the hours are predominantly 9.00am – 5.00pm,”
she says. “Such roles therefore don’t always offer
18 June 2017 www.cicm.com
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