COMMENT

Almost three-quarters of women say they lack confidence at work on a regular basis, something happening across the board, regardless of industry sector or size of business, new research finds.

The two areas making most women nervous were ‘asking for a pay rise (43 per cent) and ‘standing in front of an audience to make a presentation or speech’ (40 per cent).

Other areas they found difficult were - networking (34 per cent), ‘being intimidated by my boss or other colleagues’ (27 per cent), ‘competing with work colleagues’ (20 per cent) and ‘chairing a meeting’ (19 per cent).

The survey 62 per cent of women who had taken a career break felt less confident on their return to work.

The online survey involved interviews with just over 300 women from a cross-section of sectors and company sizes, with a significant number of respondents (30 per cent) from large companies with more than 1000 employees.

It was conducted to mark the launch of My Confidence Matters, a new service aimed at boosting women’s confidence at work and help them overcome

“One of the important ‘take home’ messages is that women are motivated to improve self-confidence through training and networking”

DR GERALDINE PERRIAM