By Ian McConnell
ONLY nine FTSE-100 companies are run by female chief executives, with four of these groups in the financial sector, research by Robert Half shows.
The recruitment specialist observes this is “despite a drive for diversity at the top and numerous initiatives to support the progression of women in the workplace”. It notes the female chief executives in FTSE-100 financial sector companies are 44-year-old, Italian-born Milena Mondini de Focatiis of insurer Admiral Group, “the youngest female CEO on the list", Amanda Blanc of Aviva, Alison Rose of Royal Bank of Scotland owner NatWest Group, and Anne Farlow of Pershing Square Holdings.
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Leyla Tindall, managing director for Robert Half Executive Search, said: “Despite significant progress by companies to improve female representation over the last few years, there are quite simply not enough female bosses filling the top spot in the UK’s most successful companies.
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“There are a myriad of reasons for this, but the most significant is the shortage of females in leadership positions – so shortlists for C-suite roles are often not as diverse as they could be. While the introduction of shared parental leave and better support for women returners is encouraging, the time spent away from the workplace to care for a family still sets women back, while their male counterparts continue to progress.”
“C-suite” is the group of top executives whose job titles usually begin with “C” for chief, such as CEO and CFO.
The research shows 68% of the current FTSE-100 chief executives “got the top spot via internal promotion”, Robert Half noted. Observing this is up from 46% in 2019, it added that this suggested “businesses are enhancing their succession-planning strategies”.
And the research shows 42% of FTSE-100 chief executives have a background in finance and banking, even though only 19 of the top 100 companies belong to the financial sector.
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