Mums Gaining Ground In The Workplace

'Right-brain' skills normally associated with women such as intuition and creativity are now more important in the work place than 'left-brain' skills associated with men, like logic and analysis. These are the key findings of the Living Britain report which reveals the growing influence that women are enjoying in the office.

The report conducted by The Future Laboratory, in association with Zurich Financial Services also uncovered that more than 50% of mums with children under five are back at work, suggesting women are passionate about proving their abilities in the workplace.

Women are now on the increase within the workplace and their influence is even spreading to senior levels of management - women directors on the boards of FTSE 100 companies have increased from 57 to 77 since 2001.

With corporations such as the NHS keen to incorporate flexible working schemes into the culture of their organisation, it looks as though the future is bright for women wanting to have a family and carve a career at the same time.

This trend is greatly helped by the number of corporations now taking a matrix approach to company structure, rather than a hierarchal template which wouldn't offer as many opportunities to women looking to strike the perfect life/work balance. Glenda Stone, chief executive of Aurora, a London City based company comments "It's all about teams working together based on their skill set rather than seniority in the company."

For more information visit www.zurich.co.uk/livingbritain

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