Increased productivity + higher profitability + decreased employee turnover + happier workforce + improved recruitment and creativity.

Gender equality is a business imperative.

Gender equality is not something ‘nice’ you do for women.

It is a must-have for your company to succeed.

  • According to McKinsey, Gallup, and others, gender-balanced teams (at least 30/70) are more thorough, dynamic, creative, measured, and profitable.

  • Companies with a gender-balanced senior leadership team see higher financial performance along with improved employee retention and engagement.

  • For the next generation of talent, diversity is at least as important as salary in selecting where to work.

Gender equality, a proven growth factor

Gender equality is about creating a workplace culture where women and men can fully contribute their talents for the success and flourishing of the company.

A company that removes barriers for women will not only bring the talents of women to the table, but will also build gender-balanced teams. Gender balance is shown to be a strong predictor of success for companies across different sectors, particularly when teams at the highest levels are balanced.

 

Studies show that gender equality drives:

  • Improved performance, increased growth, and higher profits for the entire company

  • Improved decision-making and risk management

  • Better understanding of your female clientele

  • Recruitment and retention of high-quality talent

  • Improved teamwork

  • Higher levels of employee morale and engagement

  • Reduced employee turnover, lower rate of sick days and absenteeism

  • Improved work conditions for both men and women

  • Improved perception of your company’s brand

The benefits are greatest at the level of top management

A study conducted by Catalyst analyzed 353 of the Fortune 500 companies.

“Companies with the highest representation of women on their top management teams experienced better financial performance than companies with the lowest women’s representation.

This finding holds for both financial measures analyzed: Return on Equity (ROE), which is 35.1 percent higher, and Total Return to Shareholders (TRS), which is 34.0 percent higher.”

https://www.catalyst.org/research/why-diversity-and-inclusion-matter/

Myths about equality

“But we have to hire the most qualified candidates regardless of their gender”

Companies that are focused on their results pay attention to the gender balance of their teams.

“More broadly, diverse teams can outperform even “star” performers from similar backgrounds because of the power of ‘collective intelligence,’ identified by researcher Anita Williams Woolley at Carnegie Mellon University and others. Collective intelligence turns out to trump the average intelligence of individual team members and is enhanced by the presence of more women in a group, whose social sensitivity helps the team cohere.” https://www.ft.com/content/45602ae8-74d1-11e6-bf48-b372cdb1043a

“But everyone at our company already has the same opportunities regardless of their gender”

Unless your company has made extraordinary changes to your policies, practices, and culture, it is likely that you have fallen prey to the “natural meritocracy” myth. This myth is the idea that not purposefully trying to hold women back is the same as providing equal opportunities. Unfortunately, it could not be more wrong.

“The company model was created for men and has changed very little, despite economic changes and the arrival of women to the workplace,” (Paris-Dauphine University).

“But we don’t want to give special treatment to women”

Companies that advance in gender equality start by recognizing the difference between leveling the playing field and giving special treatment. Because so many of the obstacles that prevent women’s full participation in the workplace are hidden or unconscious, company leaders sometimes think that by not paying special attention to gender equality, they are allowing decisions to be made on merit alone. Studies and experience show that this is a common myth.

Rather than giving special treatment to women, thoughtful efforts to advance gender equality are simply increasing the objectivity and leveling the playing field for men and women to contribute and compete equally.

An evaluation of policies, practices, and mentalities within your company against established best practices will help you know how to make changes that will remove the hidden obstacles to the full participation and advancement of all employees.

Gender equality is doable.

It takes work but we know what works.

Chat with me

If you’re interested in learning more, please get in touch so we can talk about how this process could work for you.