11:01 am, August 12, 2024
A lack of female representation remains at the ‘very core’ of one of the motor trade’s biggest weaknesses.
That is according to a leading expert, who is leading a campaign to drive up the number of women in leadership positions.
Julia Muir, our latest guest on the Car Dealer Podcast, is the founder of the Automotive 30% Club, a network of automotive CEOs and MDs working to close the gender gap.
The group counts industry big-hitters such as Arnold Clark boss Eddie Hawthorne among its members and aims to make women’s voices heard within the industry.
Muir, who has over 25 years’ experience in automotive retailing, manufacturing, marketing and consulting, says that the club wants to see at least 30% of leadership positions filled by women by 2030.
She said that the automotive industry is currently not attracting enough female talent and not enabling women to progress through the ranks.
She told hosts James Batchelor and Jon Reay: ‘The reason we are known for promoting increasing female representation is because that is at the very core of where we see the weakness is in the industry.
‘We aren’t attracting enough female talent. We aren’t enabling enough women to progress in the sector.
‘It’s based on the premise that women are equally as capable as men. If you look at the numbers of women that are in the sector, which is very few compared to the male population you’ll see that we [as an industry] are very underrepresented with women.
‘That became the first challenge. It was how do we tap into that broader talent pool to make sure that we aren’t excluding women, which we have been in the past.’
Muir was also keen to point out that the 30% is not a quota and is actually a KPI to give the industry something to aim towards.
The target has been carefully selected after extensive research which has found that 30% is the level at which minorities stop being seen differently in the workplace.
She added: ‘Our goal is to increase female representation and leadership positions, and to have achieved at least 30% of leadership positions filled by women by 2030.
‘That’s not just a number that’s been plucked out of the air, and neither is it a quota, it’s a KPI. It’s needed because we’re an objectives-driven industry, that if you don’t have something to aim for, you basically don’t focus on it.
‘We have that number because it’s actually a very important tipping point with regards to group dynamics. Once you get a minority within a group to get to at least 30 percent, then they stop being seen as a minority, their voices are heard and their contributions are recognised in the same way as the majority’s
‘You actually get significant change in an organisation at the 30% level. You don’t actually have to reach the 50 percent before that happens.’
The Car Dealer Podcast, sponsored by JATO, sees an industry guest join our hosts to discuss the motor trade’s biggest headlines of every week.
A full list of the stories discussed on this week’s episode can be found here.
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