Women are fantastic!

27 February 1998



The laundry industry should be in the vanguard of the development of women in management, says David Coulter.


Society is seeing a major change in work patterns and the increasing influence of women and women's values. Businesses recognise the increasing independence of women and their buying power.

Although "women in management" is regarded as an important issue, I see the real issue as using the talents of people.

Women are as diverse in style and character as men. Where I feel businesses have been lacking in the past is in not recognising the strengths that wom#en can bring to the management of an enterprise.

Women have not helped themselves by playing their traditional role of being subservient to men or putting themselves in a weak position by not having enough belief in themselves.

In the laundry industry, we employ a high proportion of women in our work force and should be at the forefront of the development of women in management.

I have always sought out the natural leaders to promote into management.

A friend of mine has a policy of having all staff and prospective staff complete a Belbin questionnaire. This is an exercise based on work done by Meredith Belbin on individual characteristics in team roles. It has been found that its results break down, almost without exception, on a sexual basis.

Typically, the women in an organisation are very strong "implementers" and "complete finishers" but these characteristics are the weaker ones of men who tend to be predominantly "shapers" or "specialists".

"Clearly this is a sign of the very female trait of liking to get the job finished and sorted, whereas men like to get things started but are not so good at sorting out the details," Meredith Belbin states.

"These personality styles tend to be controlled by the working environment and therefore it is possible that our culture, which has a number of 'entrepreneur' male types with lots of wild ideas but little organisation or dedication to see them through, has necessitated the ladies taking the 'law into their own hands' to make sure that the job gets done." I th#ink women are fantastic.

For the majority of my life they have supported, cared and worked for me. The less I have done personally, the more they have done for me. They seem to be able to accomplish so much, yet underrate themselves. It is illogical, but they often are—which helps to make them frustrating, infuriating and fascinating.

As a young manager, I was very fortunate to have worked with an extremely forceful manageress. The numerous laughs and arguments we used to have are lasting memories for me. We were a dynamic partnership. I was the "nice guy" and she was the "tough disciplinarian".

When we started our laundry—with a domestic washing machine—my partner and I were the two "parents" or leaders. I was the entrepreneur, the driver. For the first seven years, I actually did the driving for the collections and deliveries. My partner was the natural people leader.

Her original coaching and correcting, reprimanding and praising## developed a highly motivated and committed work team. I was the boss and she was the decision-maker.

After my partner left the business, I became less effective. Our management structure became male-dominated. When, in the early 1990s, we went for the Investors in People award, we discovered that our production supervisors were better trained than most of our senior management.

Senior management had not broadened their knowledge and skills, Rather, they tended to rely on past experience and knowledge to rea#ct to situations instead of anticipating them. Many in junior roles were frustrated. They had far more drive, ambition and determination than most in senior management.

I think that men thrive on appreciation, women on communication. Women pass on their knowledge and information by talking. Women are far more likely to involve others in decision-making.

We scrapped our management system and introduced a team formation throughout the company. Team leaders had to apply for the new positions that were created and we unearthed a wealth of untapped talent within the company that was to lead it forward with vigour.

This created dynamism: 50% of the team leaders were women. All had begun their careers in our business sorting dirty linen. They understood the culture of the company: enabling rather than controlling. A culture tha#t has led to a very low staff turnover and absenteeism.

Two of the leaders returned to work on a part-time basis in the evenings. The skills that they had developed as mothers—managing the home—were similar to the management skills I believe in. They:

• Controlled the finances in a very firm, unselfish, positive and logical manner.

• Set patterns of working, providing enough flexibility to adapt to the needs of the "children".

• Organised time: deadlines had to be achieved on a daily basis.

• Had a desire to delegate: they wanted the "children" to become more independent, to relieve them of some of the "housework".

Without being taught, they had learned how to manage.

The most natural synergy is that of a male and a female. I capitalised on it. This synergy, using the strengths of both sexes in teams, had worked. By 1996, we employed 260 people, net profit exploded towards £1.5m—and it is still growing.

When one helps another, then both are strong.



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