A massive 92% of British women are suffering from confidence issues that could be holding them back in the workplace, a survey has found.
Nearly half of British women feel they would be further in their career if they were more confident, while a quarter said they would be at a more senior level if 'freed of their self-doubt', according to a poll conducted by OnePoll. A further 15% of women said they could be up to 2 to 5 years ahead professionally if they were more confident.
When asked if they harboured hang ups, only 8.85% of the 2,000 women surveyed answered "no, I've got no hang ups". The 92% breaks downinto 49.5% of women who said they harboured one or two hang ups, 29.75% who said they had a few hang ups and 11.90% who said they harboured lots of hang ups.
Almost a third (29%) worry they don't come across well at interviews, and a similar number (28%) avoid work situations where they would be the focus of attention.
A quarter (24%) confess they lack the confidence to show off what they have done well, while less than one in five say they lack the confidence to seek a promotion or ask for a pay rise.
According to their confidence index, the top personal hang-up women are worrying about is what others think of them (44%), followed by a dislike of being in the spotlight (40%) and a fear of seeming stupid (34%).
In response the survey results, Helen Johnson, brand manager at Head & Shoulders, which commissioned the poll, said: “Imagine the difference a nationwide confidence boost could make."
"We've been helping people wash out flakes for over 50 years, a major cause of insecurity for over 50% of the population, so we have great experience of boosting confidence everyday - now we’re on a mission to get women to hang up their hang ups for good and join in life with no inhibitions.”
The survey came as Head & Shoulders launched a website 'Hang Your Hang-Ups' to help women build confidence with expert hints, tips and advice.