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ANALYSIS

Gender diversity... greater involvement of women
has major implications on business outcomes

Gender gap drive ‘not improving women’s careers’

DUBAI, November 16, 2014

Women, who continue to be underrepresented at most levels in the workforce, are not progressing in their careers despite the past two decades of organizational efforts to achieve gender diversity and equality, a report said.

If current approaches continue unchanged, only one-third of executive positions will be held by women over the next 10 years, added new global research from Mercer, When Women Thrive, Businesses Thrive.

In the mature economies of the US and Canada, however, just one-fourth of women will hold executive positions by 2024, while female representation in developing countries is expected to grow more rapidly.

“While the diversity efforts of the past several decades have resulted in some improvements in women’s participation rates and career trajectories, our research shows that we’re still decades away from true gender equality – if we keep doing what we’re doing,” said Pat Milligan, president of Mercer’s North America Region. “It’s time to act differently to realize the benefit of their full participation and address the unique needs of female employees.”

“We were pleased to collaborate with Mercer on this ground-breaking research that assesses the actual patterns of gender representation to uncover what really drives gender diversity in organizations,” said Aniela Unguresan, co-founder of EDGE Certified Foundation that has established the only global business certification in workplace gender equality. “It is clear that incremental change does not significantly move the needle. Disruptive change does.”

According to Mercer’s research, which broadly assesses the impact of organizational practices and policies on the representation and advancement of women in the workforce, organizations are still far from achieving gender equality.

Despite making up 41 per cent of the workforce globally, women’s highest representation among all career levels is in support staff roles. Women make up 40 per cent of the workforce at the professional level and 36 per cent at the managerial level, but only 26 per cent of senior managers and 19 per cent of executives.

“Our research shows employers that are focused on holistic solutions to build diversity are most successful – and organizations applying predictive analytics to link specific programs and talent strategies to the advancement, engagement, and retention of women are most effective,” said Brian Levine, innovation leader for Mercer’s North America Workforce Strategy & Analytics consulting business.

Key drivers of gender diversity

A key finding of Mercer’s research shows that the active involvement of senior leaders in gender diversity leads to greater, accelerated representation of women in executive roles more so than accountability alone. Yet, just more than half (56 per cent) of organisations indicate that their senior executives are actively involved in diversity and inclusion programmes.

Furthermore, a dedicated team responsible for pay equity leads to more women in senior roles while common policies – those intended to ensure equity through flexible work schedules and leave programs – are, in the absence of management, associated with slower improvement in the number of women in leadership positions.

Mercer’s research also shows that non-traditional solutions to gender diversity positively impact an organization’s long-term ability to engage and retain female talent. For instance, more diverse retirement programs, including monitoring savings by gender, providing investment training customized to different gender realities, and gender-specific health education campaigns correlate with greater representation of women at senior levels. Yet, fewer than 15 per cent of organizations monitor savings and offer retirement programs customized to different gender behaviours.

“Clearly, companies can do better in addressing and progressing gender equality in the workplace and leveraging the capabilities of a diverse workforce,” said Milligan.

“Given the size of the untapped female workforce, greater participation of women has major implications for the economic and social development of communities and nations as well as business outcomes and performance.” – TradeArabia News Service




Tags: Mercer |

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