Glass ceilings give way to glass walls

74% of senior managers across British business feel paralysed in their hunt for a new job, likening the feeling to that of a ìglass ceilingî more often associated with advancing within an organisation.

Executives who took part in the study for TheLadders.co.uk which launches this month with 50,000 senior members, describe the existence of a ìglass wallî, or the inability to progress their career by moving between companies.

The survey of senior British business people from senior managers to C executives by TheLadders.co.uk, found that 70% have felt trapped in their job with 40% citing a lack of contacts in the senior space as making them feel paralysed. 38% felt there was a lack of opportunity available to them and 25% said they lack understanding of the senior job market. Interestingly, 12% were also worried that ìword would get out.î

Jim Hunter, ìConsultant Business Psychologistî for TheLadders.co.uk says that like the ìglass ceilingî; the ìglass wallî is fuelled by company attitudes, business culture, market conditions but most importantly by the executives themselves. Only 20% of those executives surveyed felt in complete control of their careers, yet decades of psychological research show that a high degree of internal control is closely associated with successful career management and job satisfaction. Says Hunter: ìControl is both a cause and consequence of career experiences so glass walls in the form of real and perceived barriers could actually be undermining executivesí sense of control.î

34% of the executives studied feel that at senior level career progression is changing jobs and 52% view entering the job market as an opportunity for personal development yet 22% feel trapped because they cannot see the market offering anything better than their current position and 33% said that they were stuck in a rut.

Twenty-one percent of those polled, felt that British companies donít even consider turnover of their senior executives, ìThereís this stuffy culture in Britain which rewards long hours and yes men, compared to rewarding measurable achievements with creative career paths for senior executives,î said one senior executive.

ìGlass walls are built on fear,î says Hunter who designed TheLadders.co.uk survey. ìThe study shows that whilst we are entrepreneurial in business, on a personal level, mature professionals still lack confidence. In spite of a buoyant job market, many fear lack of opportunity, lack of contacts, lifestyle changes and increasingly they lack faith in the recruitment marketplace,î he continues.

The study reinforces Hunterís comments about the recruitment market with one in three saying that whilst they have a clear career plan, 78% are not represented by an agent or headhunter. In fact, just 23% believe that headhunters are effective in advancing their career whilst 46% believe that networking is the most effective route to a new role. Fifty-two percent said that headhunters were ineffective with 42% citing that it was because ìI didnít hear from themî, 28% saying that ìthey did not understand my skill setî and 20% saying that headhunters ìpresented the wrong opportunities for my brief.î

Jim Hunter continues: ìThis disillusion with agencies and the shaky economic forecast for 2008 only adds to the strength of the glass wall, yet itís in this environment that senior executives should be breaking through the wall in search of new career opportunity.î

Sarah Drew, General Manager of TheLadders.co.uk adds: ìTraditionally job seekers looking for senior appointments were less likely to see the internet as an effective method by which they could progress their careers. However, with a shaky 2008, executives increasingly see the internet as effective, time efficient and a necessity under current market conditions. At TheLadders.co.uk weíre seeing massive registration numbers.î