According to a study of more than 1,000 workers and 550 line managers, nearly a quarter (24%) of men said they left their career to luck. Among women this was only one in five.
The survey found women were much more likely to base their career choices around their core skills (47% compared with 41% for men), while women also used psychometric testing more. Some 34% of men said they would be put off using it, compared with 25% of women.
However, as soon as women become line managers, and are managing the careers of others, the research finds more of them switch to using gut instinct (42% compared with 36% for men). As a result a greater number of female line managers admitted regretting the decisions they made. Just 22% of women said they would make the same decision again if given another chance, compared with 34% of men.
Robert McHenry, CEO of OPP, said: "Common sense dictates leaving one's career to luck is a dangerous path to choose, but a startling amount of men seem comfortable with this. As they mature into more senior positions and start line managing others though, it seems women are guiltier of basing major decisions on rocky foundations, putting faith in gut instinct over more robust approaches such as psychometrics."
He adds: "The net effect is a workplace where surface perception and hunches dominate decision making. At a time when the economy is forcing many of us to make tough calls about our careers and the careers of others, we need to take a more rigorous approach and employ the kind of ‘due diligence' we would in any commercial decision."
Women more analytical than men in building their own careers, but not when it comes to others
A day after The Apprentice's all-female final, workplace psychologist OPP has revealed it is women who make better career decisions than men - but only when it comes to themselves.
