Swindon businesswoman Charlotte Mannion has launched a pioneering programme to encourage women to break through the glass ceiling into the boardroom.
Charlotte, who runs training and coaching company Quicklearn, has become one of just a handful of women in the country to qualify to run the ReNew You programme, a personal development programme for women devised by specialist Jane C Woods of Changing People.
The programme aims to help women improve their skills and give them the confidence to push their careers forwards to become company directors.
A recent report by Cranfield School of Management, which is officially monitoring the issue for the Government, revealed that the drive to increase female representation in the UK’s top boardrooms had lost momentum. Over the past six months, the number of FTSE-100 board appointments going to women has dropped from 44% to 26%.
Charlotte said she was inspired to run the programme through Quicklearn because she came across so many talented women in business who lacked the confidence to promote themselves and their talents.
“Even in 2013 women are finding it hard to progress their careers beyond a certain level, and in part this is due to confidence,” she said.
“The ReNew You programme sets goals which are achievable and tracks their progress over a year. It also highlights the stories of some amazing women, which will really inspire the participants to examine their own careers and work out how they can progress them to the very highest level.”
The programme includes a one-day workshop with a workbook to complete over the following 12 months. Charlotte is hoping business owners and managers who want to nurture the female talent in their organisations will run the programme in-house.
Following the Cranfield report, Women and Equalities Minister Maria Miller said: “The reality is, women are still hampered by inequalities in the workplace. While the gender pay gap is falling, there is still a long way to go, and many women still experience barriers when looking to get ahead – including lack of female role models, the cost of childcare, lack of workplace flexibility, and a lack of transparency around recruitment for senior positions.”
