Careers for Women: Booz Allen Hamilton

Adrian Barrett talks to Isabella Erb-Herrmann about how Booz Allen is encouraging women to aim for the most senior roles within the organisation.

With offices in over 100 countries and staff representing more than 90 different nationalities, Booz Allen Hamilton is one of the most diverse organisations operating in the consultancy sector. However, despite its strong record of recruiting and retaining a relatively high proportion of female staff, the firm still faces the challenge of convincing high potential women that consultancy can offer a viable long-term career. 

Can you give us an outline of your own background and career?

I originally trained as an industrial engineer before moving into consultancy. After a year of working I decided that I wanted to broaden my knowledge base by taking a PhD in innovation management. However I didn't want to return full-time to academia, as I felt that I would miss the speed and challenge of the business world, so I carried on in my consultancy position while I studied. After completing the PhD, I moved to Booz Allen and I've now been here for about four and a half years focusing on operations management topics specifically in the healthcare industry, based in Munich, but working on projects across both Europe and North America. I was promoted to Principal six months ago and, at the same time I took on formal responsibility for diversity issues for the firm in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

How did you become involved in the development of women at Booz Allen?

We live in a time when women are searching for more challenging jobs across a wide range of industries and when they're looking for opportunities to take their careers as far as they will possibly go. Although women are fairly well represented in the professionals services sector and in particular at Booz Allen, they still only account for a relatively small percentage of top management positions and that seems to be especially true here in mainland Europe. Part of the problem has been that many high potential women have been put off the sector by the perception that it has an impenetrable glass ceiling. However I think this is a genuine misreading of the true situation. Of course, working in professional services can be tough and demanding and in consultancy there is the extra factor of high levels of travel. However the very nature of the work offers freedom and flexibility that other sectors cannot.

Most of the work that we undertake is project based rather than repetitive or cyclical and consequently it can be easier to take a leave of absence or to plan your time around the demands of a family. It seemed to me that one of the most important challenges was to communicate this and to start bringing more women through the system so that they would feed into senior management positions over a period of time, creating something of a "virtuous circle". Because I come from an engineering environment where I was always out-numbered by around twenty to one, I knew from my own experience what can be achieved if you put your mind to it. So, along with a colleague, I approached senior management some four years ago about setting up new strategies for women in the German speaking offices and was given the go-ahead almost immediately.

What is Booz Allen's overall attitude to the development of female staff?

We're very fortunate that Booz Allen is completely committed to increasing the percentages of both women and minorities in its client staff and that's something that's embedded from the very top downwards. The belief is that the more diverse our teams are, the more creative and effective they will be and the better they will mirror our client base around the world.

Two specific initiatives that the firm has put in place are the Senior Women's Board and the Women's Core Team. The Senior Women's Board is a body of senior women from within Booz Allen, which gets together regularly with the Top Management of the firm to discuss priorities and strategies relating to women in management consultancy. The Core Team is tasked with increasing the recruitment, retention and advancement of women worldwide and has divisional leaders, like myself, who look after key geographical areas.

What measures have you instituted since you became divisional leader for the German speaking offices?

Given the fact that a lot of women will face the need to juggle work and family, we started off by conducting a survey of part-time staff right across the region, looking at what it takes to make the idea of part-time work successful, what gaps need to be plugged and what is needed to make this sort of model more attractive. The results of this have allowed us to develop a concept paper which will be the first step in improving the way we structure part-time opportunities. We've also taken a long hard look at the recruitment process and addressed a number of small, but telling, elements such as making sure that every female applicant gets interviewed by a female Booz Allen employee to reinforce the message that this is an environment of genuine equal opportunity. Finally we've instituted a mentorship scheme for a group of high potential students, providing ten per year with sponsorship to study abroad while receiving guidance and feedback from a dedicated Booz Allen mentor.

How do you see the future of women in consultancy and in particular at Booz Allen?

It takes time for changes to make their mark, particularly at senior levels, but we're already starting to see more and more women in managerial positions within the firm - you're talking to just one example right now!

One of the most important challenges was to start bringing more women through the system so that they would feed into senior management positions over a period of time, creating something of a 'virtuous circle'.

I believe that we will continue to see women reaching top positions in the coming years because it is becoming increasingly obvious how much their style of leadership has to offer. Women are particularly good at motivating teams through the "personal touch" - little things like remembering a birthday or asking after family members. They're also strong on recognising an individual's hidden potential and then bringing it out over a period of time rather than just relying on superficial impressions. The presence of women in a team, especially in a senior position can eventually changes its dynamic to a more co-operative one. It's something that can only make us more effective in our dealings with clients and it's why the firm devotes so much in the way of time, money and resources to getting the mix right at all levels around the globe.

Source: QS TopMBA.com Career Guide