The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has launched a new initiative alongside Timewise aimed at driving gender diversity in retail managerial roles.
According to the BRC, two thirds of the 3 million retail employees in the UK work part time and flexibility is a key attraction for these roles.
Despite the majority of these employees being women, a recent study by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) found that men were three times more likely to hold a senior management role than women.
Sixty-five per cent of part time retail employees stated that they would want to progress into a management role if they could maintain a flexible working pattern.
However, they currently face barriers due to lack of part-time managerial roles in the industry.
“As the largest private sector employer in the UK with around three million people working across retail and wholesale, the pay and progression of our staff is incredibly important to us,” BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said.
“Our Retail 2020 research revealed that flexibility is the second most important reason to work in retail, but in some cases this is a trade-off which may hold some people back from fulfilling their potential or optimising their pay.
“It is important that these part-time workers are able to progress within organisations when they choose to and we‘re working in partnership with Timewise, to support retailers with the task of delivering these opportunities in flexible ways.
“Such collaboration is important to ensure retail remains an attractive industry to work and grow in.”
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