The power of the female executive, in previous years, has been massively undervalued. With the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day, ‘Inspire Inclusion’, sitting at the forefront of our minds, we thought it would be a fantastic opportunity to share the rewards experienced working with female executives. Over the past 10 years, there has been a massive shift in gender diversity across all levels of an organisation, but most impressively, the board room.
42% of FTSE 350 companies have women sitting on their boards, however, only 34.5% have women sitting in leadership roles. Organisations on this list have a strong boardroom pipeline, but are dated stereotypes still creating a glass ceiling?
Gender diversity at management and leadership levels isn’t just a buzzword; it is key. Picture this; a diverse leadership team can:
- Boosts financial performance.
- Increases sales and profits.
- Drives average revenue higher.
Reports show companies within the top quartile for gender diversity were 25% more likely to deliver above-average profitability. To put this into perspective, if all organisations with no gender diversity at management level were to adopt the same levels of women in leadership, they would contribute an additional 54Billion to the economy. The only way to achieve this is to debunk stereotypes about women in leadership. Dated stereotypes still exist, such as:
- Being too emotional.
- Having to prove themselves so coming across as assertive.
- Being affectionate, gentle, and nurturant.
The above qualities don’t match what we expect to see in a leader. However, when women assert leadership qualities, they experience further prejudice as they are deemed unlikeable.
Bringing these qualities to the board room can cause positive changes to your organisation, including improving well-being in the workplace and retention. Half of the incoming workforce would not take a job with unequal leadership, which shows how much of a positive effect women in leadership have on creating a positive and meaningful culture within the office, including:
- Enjoyable work environment.
- Better work/life balance.
- More opportunities to make a difference.
Staff within gender diverse organisations have also reported an increase in well-being of their peers and a better place to work for all. Employees have experienced:
- A decrease in burnt out employees and an increase in job satisfaction, adding to an improvement in company culture and performance.
- Employees also felt there was more organisation dedication and more meaningful work and projects on offer. Not only do these benefits increase retention, but they also create a workforce who have an increase in their well-being, which naturally is reflected in profit margins.
Overall, gender diversity within the boardroom is making positive moves in the right direction. Unfortunately, out of 42% of board seats adopted by women, only 10 are FTSE 100 bosses, so we still have work to do!
Mixed characteristics of both males and females is desired within the boardroom and leadership, complementing each other on achieving targets as well as ensuring high levels of well-being, retention, and job satisfaction is experienced by all.
It is time to throw the old stereotypes out of the window and unleash the full power of the female executive to help take your organisation to the next level.