As SVP, Professional Services at BairesDev, Damian oversees the entire customer relations life-cycle, safeguarding the company’s operations.
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“In a normal world, we would not really be asking about the ‘business case’ for women in leadership,” Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic writes in a Forbes article. “After all, one would expect any fair, moral and highly functioning nation to have little reason to exclude half of its citizens from being fully active members of society or restrict economic opportunities to just 50% of the population.”
And yet, despite research that establishes obvious benefits for gender equity in business, far fewer women are represented in most sectors, including the ones like tech—my industry—that depend on innovation and diversity of thought and background.
There has been much discussion about the advantages of bringing more women to the top of the corporate ladders and involving them at every level of the business pipeline—at least, the advantages as they relate to women themselves. But it’s not just about helping women have engaged, rewarding careers. There is also a clear business case for making our organizations more gender-inclusive and equitable.
While we have made some progress in gender equity, this progress slowed during the Covid-19 pandemic, which disproportionately affected women. And there are still far more men than women in leadership positions across a wide range of industries.
Interestingly, since 1991, women have been filling managerial roles at a faster pace than men, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO). At the same time, men still far outnumber women in these positions. Moreover, the ILO reports that while nearly 75% of enterprises around the world have equal opportunity or diversity and inclusion policies, these policies alone are not enough to make a meaningful difference in helping women succeed.
What’s the business case for gender equity? There are plenty of reasons why it leads to a better organization.
It enhances productivity and work ethic.
People simply work better when they are part of diverse businesses. This is not conjecture; according to the World Bank, productivity per worker can increase by as much as 40% when a company eliminates discrimination against female employees.
It promotes innovation.
Businesses of all types depend on innovation. Inevitably, when you incorporate gender diversity, you gain access to different perspectives and ideas. Research shows that having more women on boards of directors offers more opportunities to tap into a range of skills. Of course, diverse team members, in general, contribute to a larger output of ideas, leading to a stronger culture of creativity and innovation.
It allows for more profitability.
Bringing more women into businesses increases profitability—by as much as 63%, the earlier cited ILO research shows.
Meanwhile, companies with the largest proportion of women on executive committees brought in a 47% higher rate of return on equity than those with no female executives.
It contributes to a better brand and image.
As you can probably guess, all of these efforts mean a stronger brand and a more compelling image. You want to be part of a company that cares about its people and believes in diversity, and by incorporating more female team members and leaders, you are demonstrating a commitment to building an inclusive business.
In fact, a survey by Morgan Stanley found that 66% of high-net-worth investors say it’s important for them to invest in companies that hire and promote employees of diverse backgrounds.
We need to build better businesses through gender equity.
The business case for gender equity is clear. Not only do these factors play an important role, but gender diversity also contributes to stronger morale, better employee satisfaction, improved reputation and enhanced teamwork.
Understanding the reasons why you should promote gender equity is the first step. The next step is putting practices into place that will move the needle. This is a long process, but some ideas to get you started include:
• Creating a more inclusive hiring process.
• Offering support and mentoring to female team members.
• Conducting pay audits to assess gender wage gaps and rectify any gaps you discover.
• Paying close attention to the composition of leadership.
We can have a more gender-equitable future—but we must fully commit to improving.
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