Women in the Automotive Industry: In conversation with Jo Elms

Welcome to the third ‘Women in the Automotive Industry’ blog!

This month the conversation is focused on leadership. Everyone has experienced the challenges of teamwork, from dealing with nonchalant team members during our educational years, to finding the most effective mode of communication whilst working from home. In order to grow a successful team, there are two essential factors we can all agree on – the importance of a great leader and great recruitment, bringing the best people together. As suggested by scientific research*, preconceived prejudices against young girls begin in the playground and consequently lead to the categorisation of assertive women as ‘bossy’ or ‘outspoken’. However, data from a study published in the Harvard Business Review suggests ‘women were rated as excelling in taking initiative, acting with resilience, practicing self-development, driving for results, and displaying high integrity and honesty. In fact, they were thought to be more effective [than men] in 84% of the competencies that [they] most frequently measured.’[1] Whilst the implications of gender superiority are controversial, female leaders have undeniably proven themselves to be accomplished.

*For example, http://web.stanford.edu/~eckert/PDF/maltzborker1982.pdf

“If you behave the right way with people and have the right people around you, I am a firm believer there is very little you can’t overcome. From a leadership perspective it is always important to put people first.“

Jo Elms is one such leader who has consistently shown humility, strength, and energy. Elms is Chief Commercial Officer of Autorama Group and previously Commercial Director of LeasePlan UK. Autorama is a credit broker based in Hemel Hempstead; the award-winning personal and commercial vehicle leasing company Vanarama is a trading style of Autorama. Elms is responsible for all commercial strategy and deliverables, including customer service and product development and evolution. Having helped lead LeasePlan through the 2007-2009 Great Recession as Brand Director, Elms has proven her ability and pragmatism to resolve day-to-day operational activities, whilst constructively challenging the strategic direction of an organisation at all levels.

The lessons we can learn from a leader who has extensive experience in the automotive industry are endless. Elms has a no-nonsense and highly productive mentality. It is no question merit is the reason for her success.

Questions:

1. Did you always want to get into the automotive industry?

‘I actually stumbled into the automotive industry by answering a Ford Ad on the back of the Daily Telegraph in 1993. Ford had a pause on their graduate recruitment programme so as a consequence they had some roles to fill. The reason I ended up liking it is not because I am a petrol head and to be completely honest, I’m not even desperately interested in cars. I liked the pace, its multi-layered complexity, and dynamism. It is such as complex business in terms of production and supply chain, how it is sold, how it gets to market, and my career has expanded into the finance section. What you also release is that there are all sorts of jobs in this industry that you would have no idea existed until you worked for an automotive organisation. The best thing you can do is to keep your options as wide as possible because there are jobs and roles out there that you have never even considered.’

2. Are there any specific pivotal moments in your career that really shaped you?

‘There have been a whole host of moments along the way. Over the last ten years some really large IT implementation projects in particular shaped me. The first really big project I did was around ten years ago. That was a massive project, huge budget, loads of good people. It was a great learning experience for me because I was doing tasks I had never done before. I’m not an accountant, I don’t have a hard-defined skill in that way (i.e. ACA or HR qualification). As a consequence of being part of these large IT projects I realised my experiences of commerciality and in bringing teams together were infinitely transferable skills for an IT project. I thought of myself as someone who was good at selling stuff as opposed to someone with mixed skills I could use in a different environment.’

‘Through all of this, I have had to do some really grim stuff like closing offices and putting people into redundancy. It’s never ever a nice thing to do. Whilst doing this grueling task, I had an epiphany moment. If I approached it in the right way and had a real people first approach to it, I could have really difficult conversations whilst giving people a level of dignity and professionalism. Seeing this scaling-back process in action was a seminal moment for me because it has changed how I’ve done things later on. Instinctively I had always known but never confronted the reality that despite the horrible circumstances it gives you great business outcomes. My mantra through the massive redundancy scenario was people first. Applying this mentality into lots of other tricky circumstances has worked for me. If you behave the right way with people and have the right people around you, I am a firm believer there is very little you can’t overcome. From a leadership perspective it is always important to put people first.’

‘”As a leader you will never know everything and if you do then you are probably not doing your job properly.“

3. Do you have any key leadership tips?

‘As a leader you will never know everything and if you do then you are probably not doing your job properly. You don’t have to know how to use that particularly system, that’s not the important piece of the puzzle; if you do know, you are too far down in the weeds and you’re too much of a control freak. You have to take a step back but in order to do so you have to have confidence in your managers. Backing them up when they need help but giving them enough freedom to make their own mistakes. It is how they fix those mistakes that is the most influential learning experience.’

‘There is a big difference between managing and leading. Managing is quite operational; they are supporting the team on a practical level. If you are leading you are empowering that particular manager to manage the team in the best way they think is best. That is the challenge from a leadership perspective. The managers might not manage in the way you would do it but different isn’t always wrong. It is their style and their way, if they have a happy team and great outcomes then you have to respect their managing style.’

4. You have extensive experience in leadership, how do you think you learnt this skill?

‘I started to learn leadership skills around 15 years ago when I started managing some business units and had PR responsibilities. Additionally, if you have a small team you are quite hands on but with bigger teams you get to a point when you have to manage 20-50 people and there is just no way you can do that alone. You have to lead through your management team.’

5. Have you ever felt outnumbered as a female leader?

‘Funnily enough a couple of weeks ago it was ‘International Women at Work’ day and there were stories circulating the office. A long time ago when I was working at Ford I was one of three female leasing reps which was unusual at the time. Our boss was called Bill and we were known as Billies Fillies which you would never get away with now. I had been doing the job for around 6 months and then a customer phoned my boss to say they weren’t sure about having me as their Ford rep despite me doing all the right things. My boss, to be fair to him, pushed and pushed and pushed to find out why and it came down not being sure whether he wanted a woman as his manufacturing rep. My boss asked why and the customer said he likes to take the rep down the pub for a drink to which my boss replied saying I wouldn’t mind that very much. I don’t think you would have anything as blatantly sexist as that now. However, no more than about four years ago, I was invited to a manufactures event and all the guests were directors of leasing companies. Between the five of us we were responsible for over a million vehicles on fleet. The manufacturer wanted to show us their latest product, something new and shiny they were bringing to market. It was top secret – you had to hand your phone in before going into the design studio etc. One of their designers started talking about how there was space in the boot for two sets of golf clubs but then turning to me he said “oh but don’t feel left out because there is a great cubby hole here that would be perfect for your handbag.” My chin hit the floor and that was only around four years ago. I was the only woman in the group and you normally are the only woman when you go to these things.’

6. Have you ever attended any of the industry’s female focused events for example, Autocar’s Great Women in the British Car Industry Awards?

‘What do you get out of it? You go to things like the BVLA dinner and FN50 dinner and it’s an opportunity to see a lot of suppliers in one location and have some quick networking conversations. I think it is great to celebrate women, particularly in automotive because it is still an incredibly male dominated industry but at the same token, I am not interested in being given preferential treatment. I just want to be treated fairly regardless of gender.’

‘A while ago myself and some friends within the industry set up a private group called Lilies in order to unite women working within the industry. We have casual social events and share ideas that have proven to be highly rewarding.’

7. Have you ever been in a moment of self-doubt or had a career plateau? If so, how did you overcome this?

‘When I was running the LeasePlan Network I plateaued. Truth be told, I should never have stayed in that role for as long as I did. I started in May 2008 and didn’t move until July 2014. This six-year time frame spans the credit crunch which stagnated LeasePlan’s business. My position was more a reflection of what was happening more broadly than personal. Whilst I was a very safe pair of hands – hit all the numbers and did things correctly – I became set in my ways. I became a block to trying new things, it might not have worked three years ago but the world moves on and it might work now. I became complacent.’

8. When changing companies have you mostly used recruitment agencies, or have you been head hunted?

‘When I moved to LeasePlan I knew the guy who was MD and Commercial Director because I previously worked with them at Nissan. When I started working for Autorama I had done a bit of consultancy work for Vanarama and Andy, the CEO, just approached me about a job. I’ve never actually used an agency.’

‘I have had a variety of job offers throughout my career that I have turned down along the way. If I was interested in CV building, they are things I probably should have taken. On a really personal level my mantra for life is that you should enjoy what you do 80% of the time. Everyone has to do things they don’t enjoy but that should only make up 20% of your time. I understand this is not for everyone but for me it is less about ticking the correct boxes to make your CV look great and career look fantastic. It’s more about having a good time along the way.’

“He continually educates himself and is incredibly well read. Management books, leadership books, growth books, industry related texts, he reads them all.“

9. Have you ever had any female mentors?

‘No not particularly but I have worked for a couple of bosses that really empowered me and also one boss who really wasn’t very interested. The latter provoked me to crack on, make my own decisions and simply tell him after the event what I had done. This gave me confidence in my own ability but slightly more through lax management than empowerment. However, there was another manager led by this boss who was getting updates every 48 hours, leading me to feel overlooked. Six or seven years after the event, I had a conversation with him and he said his lese-fair approach was intentional because he knew I had the capability.’

10. Is there anyone in the automotive industry who inspires you?

‘My current boss, Andy, who set Autorama up in 2004. He doesn’t have a huge formal education and has done all sorts of random things, such as being a baker. He has such a strong entrepreneurial spirit. He continually educates himself and is incredibly well read. Management books, leadership books, growth books, industry related texts, he reads them all. He is absolutely prepared to take a punt on stuff. His energy is amazing and people feed from his energy. He has such great long-term vision and willingness to back ideas financially.’

11. How have you found the right work/life balance?

‘I’ve been really lucky in that I have had a lot of support from grandparents along the way who have been very willing and keen to help. My husband works from home so he has helped a lot. Anyone who says you can have it all is lying because you can’t. Something has to compromise and it is usually you, all the things you like to do or might have liked to have done must be sacrificed. You might finish on time or a bit early that allows you to do the school run, the baths and dinner but for me, I was always pretty relaxed about doing a couple of hours work in the evening or doing a bit on a Sunday evening. I’ve always been relaxed about that kind of blend.’

‘My children are older now so they are infinitely easier to manager. In terms of our employee’s experiences over lockdown, the ones with little children must find it very challenging. You’ll be on a conference call and then these little visitors appear and have a wave. I don’t know how I would have coped with that, it would have been unbelievably difficult.’

Conclusion

Elms promotes an essential mentality when it comes to leadership – put people first. When people feel acknowledged, supported, and inspired, they are more likely to work well under leadership. From navigating the 2008 Great Recession to coordinating and leading large scale IT implementation projects, Elms’ varied leadership experiences have created a highly considerate individual. Her personal decision to choose a slightly more balanced work-to-life ratio and her 80/20% motto has had the opposite affect one might expect. A rewarding career should not only encompass promotions, pay rises, and recognition, but also help create a lifestyle that is both manageable and fulfilling. Elms’ ‘putting people first’ leadership mantra is arguably less about business and more about life. The organisation of ‘Lilies’ is both empowering and slightly disheartening. The fact women in the industry feel they need to create their own private club in order to feel connected and supported suggests gender disparity is still prevalent. Women’s industry events are there to uplift and unit women, much the same as Lilies but on a more formal level. Hopefully one day there won’t be the need for such events because women will be equally recognised and represented across the board. Recently some members of the Lilies group have organised a 54km trek in early October to raise money for BEN, the industry’s annual charity fundraising ball that has regretfully had to be cancelled due to Covid-19. The group’s caring and proactive response encompasses Elms’ ‘put people first’ motto. Read more about their cause here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/sj1969 .

It is no secret women are lacking representation in leadership roles, especially in the automotive industry. However, the Grant Thornton ‘Women in Business’ 2020 report, states ‘2019 saw the highest proportion of women in senior management ever reported in the IBR at 29%; 2020’s result remains level with that figure. Both years fall marginally short of the 30% level which is seen as the tipping point for greater diversity at senior management level.’[2] Despite the current stagnation of women in senior management roles, it is promising to see developments. By encouraging women to gain confidence there is promise for the future that as a society we can reach the 30% goal.

P.S. A big congratulations are due to Lisa Brankin, our first guest on WAI (Women in the Automotive Industry), as she has recently been made Acting Managing Director of Ford Britain and Ireland. This is a huge responsibility and an amazing example that women can be the leaders of tomorrow.

07/10/2020 – by Lydia Lavallin

References:

[1] J. Zenger, and J. Folkman, ‘Research: Women Score Higher Than Men in Most Leadership Skills’, https://hbr.org/2019/06/research-women-score-higher-than-men-in- most-leadership-skills [accessed: 30/09/2020]

[2] F. Lagerberg, and K. Schmidt, ‘Women in Business 2020: Putting the Blueprint into action’, https://www.grantthornton.global/globalassets/1.-member-firms/global/ insights/women-in-business/2020/women-in-business-2020_report.pdf [accessed:30/09/2020]