Five minutes with: Caroline Rawes, Chief Talent Officer at Ashurst

Caroline Rawes, Chief Talent Officer at law firm Ashurst, talks to Executive Grapevine about the HR challenges the company faces. 

What has been the biggest HR challenge you’ve faced, and how did you overcome it?

One key challenge, common to many professional services firms, is effectively addressing the under-representation of women at senior levels in the business. There are a number of interconnected reasons for this and although we have made significant progress, there is still a way to go. A number of good initiatives are now common practice: focused developmental training and coaching for women, mentoring programmes, the establishment of women's networks, unconscious bias training, greater flexibility in working practices and less linear career paths.

A key lesson for me, has been the power of bringing senior men into the equation, helping to raise understanding of, and action around, the small acts of exclusion (most often unintentional) in day-to-day working life which can mean we do not always get the most from talented women.