Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 18th April 2024 Issue no. 1110
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One of the subjects that keeps cropping up as I'm out an about chatting to people is the recent publication of the UK Government-commissioned Hampton-Alexander review on gender balance in the boardroom. The imposition of gender quotas was something I had a rant about in this column several years ago when it first reared what I considered to be its 'ugly head'. I argued that women should be appointed to any role - boardroom-related or not - purely on merit, rather than because the company concerned needed to fulfil its quota of women leaders.
My view was - and still is - that insisting upon organisations having a certain percentage of women in management and boardroom positions would undermine the women involved, who might be accused of winning that position because they were female, rather than because they were the best person for the job.
Now we find, according to the report, that women who deserved promotion to the management position are being denied that promotion because the organisations for which they work, have already filled their quota of women!
It's another case of 'great idea in principle, but how will it actually work?' - new legislation designed by people trying to do the right thing, that just hasn't been thought through properly. I haven't seen similar reviews from the other EU member states (also instructed to meet these gender goals) but I'm hoping that companies in other countries are finding their way around this legislation better than we are in the UK. If you'd like to read the report for yourself, it's at: Hampton_Alexander_Review_report
Finally, John & I were invited by Dianna Steinbach, vice president of international services at ISSA (and clearly there on merit!), to join other ISSA members from around the world who were visiting Interclean Amsterdam, on the Heineken brewery tour. As is usual with these ISSA events, 'a good time was had by all', as the images here will show: www.flickr.com/photos
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Yours,
31st May 2018