It's okay to be optimistic - Building Gender Balanced Business

On Wednesday January 14, 2009 a small storm in a teapot erupted in the UK media after a British Minister suggested that there might be a few “green shoots” of recovery in the UK economy – then besieged by a series of seemingly relentless announcements of job cuts across the country.

Minister criticised for seeing a “few” green shoots of economic recovery
In this case, the politician to come under scrutiny from the news-ravenous media was a woman (it is still relatively unusual to see women politicians in the public eye). The Conservative opposition said that Baroness Shriti Vadera’s comments had been “unbelievably insensitive”. As a Minister in the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, Baroness Shriti works for Lord Peter Mandelson (sometimes referred to as the “Lord of Darkness”).

As one of the most notorious users of political spin within New Labour, one can hardly feel sorry for Lord Mandelson when the media hits back. But it seems unfortunate that the attack was aimed against a Minister who seemed to be making a fairly innocuous comment when prompted by a question, suggesting that there might be some early signs of recovery (why not? It surely must be possible that amidst the gloom some companies are finding capital to grow and seeking out new opportunities.)

But the media and the Conservative opposition had spotted a useful stick with which to batter the government and understandably were having fun using it. There was also the revenge factor on the part of David Cameron’s Party as in 1991 the then Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer Lord Lamont had come under intense media fire for suggesting that Britain was pulling out of the recession of that time. Lord Lamont said that he could see “the green shoots of economic spring”.

No doubt recalling that infamous choice of words the ITV news interviewer on January 14 asked Baroness Vadera the following question at the end of the short interview (click here for the video of the interview): “When will we see the green shoots of recovery?” With that phrase firmly embedded in her mind, Baroness Vadera went on to use it in her reply – and herein lay the problem (I would not dare suggest she had been trapped).

“Well, it’s a very uncertain world right now globally but I’m seeing a few green shoots but it’s a little early to say exactly how they’ll grow.” Seems innocent and sensible enough? You would not think so from the media attention it commanded in the days that followed. Later, the BBC journalist Nick Robinson with brows furrowed asked her why she had used such a phrase. She referred to the fact that a day or so before, she had come across a company that had raised several hundred million pounds in the capital markets. So, these were the “green shoots” but as her answer implied, she was very unsure that this was a significant sign of any recovery just yet.

Innovative companies can generate new sales
All this seems to mean that optimism and hope are banned from the airwaves – in the UK at any rate. But hope (as the soon to be inaugurated President of the US knows) is what everyone needs more than ever today. So, it is shame that the media – ever greedy for bad news – attacked the Baroness in the way that it did.

In contrast, we offer hope, believing that companies can improve things by thinking and acting innovatively, even in the face of a global economic downturn. For example, in a new article published on WOMEM-omics.com, Collette Dunkley, CEO of XandY Communications (which offers training to salespeople helping them communicate to women consumers), explains that many companies (even banks) could increase their sales figures by paying more attention to what women consumers want and understanding how to talk to them. She says that this can be done without having to spend more money in marketing. In XandY’s experience, the simple act of training frontline and call centre sales staff to communicate to men and women in different ways can lead to a 40% increase in sales conversion in just one week.