Women need to 'be themselves' at work says top business leader

Successful business women are calling on companies to encourage more diversity in the workplace, after new research has found that the majority of women feel the need to change their persona at work.

Three quarter of us change our behaviour or appearance for work, with almost half saying they make a conscious decision to adopt a different persona when they go to work.

"I'm surprised and a bit depressed by the findings," Ann Pickering, HR Director for Telefónica UK, which carried out the research, tells us.

"I really thought we were making more progress as an economy in general. But it seems businesses are missing a big trick here. Having a diverse workplace is so much better for business, not just employees."

[How to nail networking for your career success]
[Your online profile - does it need a clean up?]

Of course everyone behaves slightly differently at work than we would at home, just as you moderate your behaviour to any situation you're in. But the research suggests that women suppress who they are in favour of behaving in ways the believe are more suited to the workplace - including hiding their emotions and exaggerating assertiveness.

And that doesn't help in the quest to make businesses more flexible and fair to both genders, parents and non parents.

Ann thinks this is a real problem: "It's really important that when everyone, not just women, come to work, they feel they can be themselves. And I think a lot of us feel we have to be someone else or that we'll do better if we put on a front. But that's exhausting and hard to keep up.

"We need a balance. In my team at O2 I want people have have a range of skills and personalities. You need assertive types but having a whole room of them isn't helpful. You need a blend, with more reflective and creative characters mixed in."

Acting in the boardroom

The behaviours women said they adopted include more stereotypically masculine traits, and half said they avoided showing their emotions at work.

The research also found that women aren't feeling optimistic about their future careers and work/life balance. Almost half said they felt it was impossible to 'have it all', and 11 per cent didn't have any women in senior positions in the company to aspire to.

"I think it depends on your definition of having it all," says Ann. "If that means the fast track career, happy home life, big car and nice house, that puts an enormous amount of pressure on you and something has to give.  Often it's the relationship with your partner that fractures."

As a working mum with two boys, who claims she's never missed a parents' evening, Ann puts her success down to the support of the employers she's worked for, and insists businesses of all sizes need to help change the working culture in our society.

"I am myself when I come to work, I'm not a different person. Being someone you’re not must be really tiring. And I want my employees to enjoy being at work and not always be pretending to be something they're not."

[One of the UK's most successful Avon ladies shares her secrets]
[How to get taken seriously at work]

Being yourself

If you know deep down you're putting on a front every day, it's time to start being yourself.

"It’s really hard to stop doing it," admits Ann. "I would start by having a conversation with my manager. It's about building up the confidence to explain and to say 'I’d like to try and be a it more me'."

She also wants to encourage more businesses to work towards a more diverse workplace, and work with the government to create a new working culture that supports all of us to get a successful work/life balance.

Do you feel that you have a different work personality to your real one? Tell us your experience on Twitter.