Be Bold For Change and make your company more profitable.
On International Women’s Day 2017, I had the honour and pleasure of being the MC at a “Women Leading the Way” Luncheon.
As with every IWD function across the world, women and men came together to celebrate the achievements of women, and continue the work of closing the gender gap. According to the World Economic Forum, at the current rate of change, the gender gap will not close until 2186.
I don’t know about you, but I think that’s too long. I certainly won’t be alive by then, but I will have many female descendants who will follow me. If we count one generation as 30 years, that’s 6 generations of my family who will still living with institutionalised inequality.
Be Bold For Change
The theme for International Women’s Day 2017 is “Be Bold For Change”. The theme says it all. Coming together for lunch, morning tea or some other event is a wonderful opportunity to network, greet old friends and make new ones – to share experiences and a laugh or two.
But gatherings aren’t enough. We have to take action, and Be Bold For Change.
Diversity is just good business
For several years now, research has consistently shown that companies that embrace diversity in their workforce and management perform better. (Do a simple Google search to see just how much effort has gone into researching this hypothesis). These companies are more profitable, and have fewer governance-related issues.
International management consultancy McKinsey has been researching the impact of diversity on corporate financial outcomes for years. McKinsey advises some (most?) of the world’s biggest companies, so their research is highly influential.
The graphic below summarises their latest research, and it’s quite clear that having women in the C Suite and Boardroom is a critical success factor for companies.