Jobs And Careers Autumn 2018 - 37

G U E ST E D I T O R

see something - an idea - turn into something important. You can
also set your own schedule, control your own diary, create your
own culture and work on projects you really like, as opposed to
those you don't like so much.

couldn't think of giving all that up to
become an MP.

In spring you presented Why do Men Earn More than
Women? on Channel 5. What did you discover?

Do something you love - find something
you enjoy doing that will enrich your life.
It's all changed. When I started you
were at the bottom and you went up
slowly and vertically. Now it's a bit
like a web - you do a bit here and then
a bit more over there, which is why
having rounded skills is important.
People do business with people, so
keeping your personality and having the
ability to communicate and interact are
all really important. Remain ambitious
- the only person who can champion
your career is you. If you're young,
hungry, naturally curious, interested and
engaged, you are absolutely employable.
Soft skills - such as interpersonal
communication, the ability to talk, write,
present and being dressed appropriately
- are vital too, but a lot of people come
into the workplace without those skills.

We found that women are paid 14% less than men and in some
industries, such as finance, it's more than 40% less. Women in the
lowest paid jobs are still fighting to be paid the same as men for a
job of equal value. We met one woman who worked on the shop
floor of Asda, and she and her female colleagues were being paid
significantly less than men who worked in the company's
warehouse. She's now going to court to address this.
We discovered that for every £1 a man earns, a woman makes
86p - and it will take 100 years to close the global gender gap.
Also, the proportion of senior business roles held by women in
the UK is just 19% and the percentage of businesses with no
women in senior management at all is 41%. And yet, those
companies where women made up 15% of senior managers
had more than 50% profitability than those where female
representation was less than 10%.
Another huge thing I discovered is that 11% of new mothers
report that they've been sacked, made compulsory redundant or
treated so poorly [during their pregnancy] that they have had to
leave their job. This could mean about 54,000 women are losing
their jobs for having a baby [every year].
The final thing the programme highlighted that really floored
me was that only 7% of women attempt to negotiate a salary
increase compared with 57% of men.
All the above shocked the hell out of me - it was worse than I
thought. But it was also moving to meet the women who were
fighting the big supermarkets, knowing how long it could take
them. This small change for them to be paid the same as men
could really affect their lives for the better.

Will you continue to raise awareness of this issue?
It's important for women to highlight the issues by talking about
it and to make it easier for the next generation - and I will
continue to do this.

Do you think the UK should go the
way of Iceland and make it illegal
to pay women less than men?

People do business
with people, so
having the ability
to communicate is
really important

For jobs of equal value, yes - but I don't
think it's likely to happen here. Equality isn't
going to happen by itself, though, and we
have to get tough on the gender pay gap.
Since April this year, companies with
more than 250 employees have had to list
what their male and female employees are
paid, and report their gender pay gap data. I'm hoping this will
shame companies into doing something about it - but I don't
think it has so far and a lot more needs to be done.

Are you interested in going into politics as an MP
so you can make change happen more quickly?
No! Well certainly not in the short term - with everything I'm
doing and also being an active member of a business society, I

What is your advice be to those
about to join the job market?

What do you think are the most
important skills a school, college
or university leaver should have
when they start work?
Enthusiasm is absolutely vital, as are
all types of communication skills and
some leadership skills. What I look for
is someone with motivation and drive
who is a decision-maker, who is able
to work in a team, is adaptable and
has analytical thinking skills. I look for
someone who can work creatively to solve
problems and has a strong work ethic.

Have you achieved everything
you want in your life?
I don't think anyone ever thinks they
have achieved enough - and I'm still
hugely ambitious. But you can only be
stretched so far, so I'm concentrating
on doing the things I do as well as I
can. I'm proud because I'm doing the
things that I love and I'm doing them
well. I have respect for the things I do
and things that I do respect me. I'm
playing my part, so yes - I'm pleased.

If you could change one thing
about your life, what would it be?
I'd make it so there were more hours in
the day. I can't understand where time
goes - it's flying by!
JOBS & CAREERS /// 37
Jobs And Careers Autumn 2018

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