Making the Business Case for Gender Equity

Making the business case for gender equityBy Natalia ShumaN

aSia-Pacific

/02

Across Asia, women are most highly represented at junior levels and have the lowest representation at the senior or executive level.

The same story repeats itself across every region in the world. Why does this matter? Because businesses perform better when men and women contribute equally at senior levels.

In fact, gender equity at all levels of organizations is not a feel-good, reputational

issue. It is not about being seen to “do the right thing”. Instead, for the world’s best-

performing companies, it is about competitiveness, productivity and performance.

The data tells a clear story: where there are significant gender inequities in workforces,

productivity and innovation lag. Given that we are all now competing in a global

market, this has become a pressing issue. For markets experiencing strong growth and

a limited talent pool, such as the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region and Eastern Europe, these

issues require particular and deliberate focus.

However we may individually think about the role of women in the workforce, there is

proof that they contribute to higher performance and can fill growing talent gaps in

emergent markets. If for no other reason, the way each organization deliberately and

successfully addresses the gender inequity issue should focus on delivering real results

to the bottom line.

introduction /03

To unlock the full potential of women in the global economy, we must start with

ourselves. We must begin to look at our own workforce and make the business case for

improving gender equity right here, right now.

This is your business case for improving gender equity in your organization. This is why gender matters.

introduction /04

/05

Women in the workforce: APAC

Many of the trends regarding the proportion of women in the workforce across the APAC region reflect those in other parts of the world.

On some measures, Asia-Pacific is gaining significantly better outcomes for its female

employees than other advanced knowledge economies in Europe and the United States.

Here’s how Asia-Pacific’s female employees fare at work:

• Women in the APAC region appear to be more aspirational in their careers: 42% are

seeking immediate promotion in APAC compared with 31% in Europe and 36% in the

Americas1.

• Only one-third of women in the APAC region feel they have good prospects for

developing their career with their current employer (35%)2.

• A McKinsey survey of business leaders revealed that, on average, 30% of the women

who had left organizations voluntarily did so due to family commitments. In India,

South Korea and Japan, that number is close to half.

/06Women in the Workforce: APAc

30% of women leave organizations voluntarily due to family commitments.

1 KGWI 20132 KGWI 2013

• Malaysia is the stand-out performer in supporting gender diversity in the workplace

at senior levels across the APAC region. The percentage of female senior managers

in each country are:

– Malaysia: 28%

– Hong Kong: 23%

– Singapore: 21.5%

– China: 21%

– India: 9%

– Japan: 8%

• Asia-Pacific lags behind both Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and the

Americas in having women nominated to Board positions and in adopting diversity

policies and processes, as the two following graphs show. Clearly, the slightly higher

representation of women in senior leadership positions in Asia does not translate

to more women taking up Board positions, and this may be linked to the lower

adoption of specific policies to address the issue in the Asian region.

/07

Asia-Pacific lags behind both EMEA and the Americas in having women nominated to Board positions.

Women in the Workforce: APAc

/08Women in the Workforce: APAc

Percentage of women in the total workforce in each country

Adoption of corporate diversity policy and processes by region3

Percentage of companies with women on the board by region4

50%

China Hong Kong India Japan Malaysia Singapore 2008

Americas AmericasEMEA EMEAAsia-Pacific Asia-Pacific

20082009 20092010 20102011 2011Latest 201210% 10%

20% 20%

30% 30%

40% 40%

50% 50%

60% 60%

70% 70%

80% 80%

45%

24%

34%

47%43%

3 Mining the metrics of board diversity. Thomson Reuters, June 20134 Gender Diversity Benchmark for Asia, 2011

/09

Diversity and the bottom line

There are clear indications that diversity delivers measurable, positive performance outcomes for business.

In fact, a diverse team will often outperform a homogenous team, even if the

homogenous team has better qualifications or more experience. And, the more

difficult the task, the more important diverse perspectives seem to be in achieving

good outcomes.

This point is clearly made in a number of influential publications, including

Scott E Page’s The Difference1. In his book, Page points out that progress and

innovation depend much less on “lone thinkers with enormous IQs” and far more

on diverse people working together. He argues that diversity of all kinds is the

counterpoint to many inherent biases in our cognitive processes. Without it, we simply

default to what we know, which is not enough to see businesses through times of rapid

change and increased global competition.

/10diversity And the bottom line

The more difficult the task, the more important diverse perspectives seem to be in achieving good outcomes.

1 http://press.princeton.edu/titles/8757.html

No one can categorically say that having women in leadership causes better results.

However the numbers indicate that having both men and women in leadership delivers

results for the bottom line, as shown below:

• In an analysis of some 2,000 companies by Thomson Reuters, those companies with

no female board representation, on average, underperformed relative to boards

with some female representation. Of interest, all-male boards showed indications of

higher volatility2.

• Women influence up to 85% of household purchasing decisions in the US3,

which has implications for all markets and trading partners. Similar results are

found in most other parts of the world. Women therefore have consumer insights

that are particularly valuable and can provide consumer strategies with greater

impact for companies.

• Women, particularly in younger age groups, are now often more likely to be

tertiary educated than men of the same age. Access to this talent means hiring

and retaining more female employees. In Australia, 20% more women aged

25–34 than men hold bachelor’s degrees. Similar trends are occurring across

rapidly emerging Asia4.


85% of women influence household purchasing decisions in the US3, which has implications for all markets and trading partners.

2 Mining the metrics of board diversity. Thomson Reuters, June 20133 http://www.deloitte.com/view/en_US/us/Insights/Browse-by-Content-Type/deloitte-review/fda8881dc918d210VgnVCM2000001b56f00aRCRD.htm4 https://www.wgea.gov.au/sites/default/files/2013-04-29%20BRANDED%20FINAL%20businesscase%20for%20web.pdf

• Dow Jones research on US venture-backed, start-up companies found the

likelihood of success increases with more female executives at the vice-president

and director levels5.

• McKinsey found that, of 89 listed companies it studied, those with gender

diversity in leadership experienced higher return on equity, operating profit

and stock price.

International Monetary Fund data also suggests that companies employing female

managers could be better positioned to serve consumer markets dominated by women

(CED 2012; CAHRS 2011) and more gender-diverse boards could enhance corporate

governance by offering a wider range of perspectives (OECD, 2012; Lord Davies,

2013). “What’s more, a larger share of women in decision-taking positions could reduce

the share of high-risk financial transactions that are normally conducted by male traders

(Coates and Herbert, 2008)6.”


Those with gender diversity in leadership experienced higher return on equity, operating profit and stock price.

5 Dow Jones (2012) Women at the Wheel: Do female executives drive start-up success.6 https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/sdn/2013/sdn1310.pdf

https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/sdn/2013/sdn1310.pdf

/13

Women are needed to retain knowledge and prosper

Finding and keeping good people is a central challenge for every organization. However, in a world where speed wins, talent is the critical asset for any high-performing organization.

For this reason alone, businesses cannot afford to fail to retain and develop the talent

embedded in around 45% of its workforce. If it does, recruitment costs go up and

competitiveness falls. In Malaysia alone, a McKinsey study found that increasing the

participation of women in the workforce could potentially increase Malaysia’s GDP by

between RM6 billion and RM9 billion.

However, this is not just a numbers game. Developing a workforce that can predict,

analyse and adapt to market changes quickly and efficiently is now a key competitive

differentiator. And, having an internal pipeline of talent (the great people already

working for you) is the key to thriving in a complex, fiercely competitive market.

In fact, for many organizations, their internal pipeline is a more pressing issue regarding

gender equity than their external recruitment strategies. This is because, across all

countries in APAC and in other regions, we see the same pattern of women entering

the workforce in high numbers at junior levels, and working their way up into middle

management. At this point, something happens. Very few of these women make it up

to higher levels of organizations – and this is a global phenomenon.

/14Women Are needed to retAin knoWledge And ProsPer

Very few women make it up to higher levels of organizations — and this is a global phenomenon.

There are many possible reasons why this may be the case (more on that later), but

even if we can find reasons for the trend, it remains a financial and strategic business

problem. It remains a problem that must be solved.

Consider this: How much knowledge, experience and deep customer insight do these

junior and middle managers have? Doesn’t developing and promoting these people

make sense?

If we lose too many high-performing, loyal, junior staff or do not enable them to

progress, their knowledge and experience does not filter up into management

decisions. This constrains the organization’s ability to be both customer-centric

and operationally well-informed, and there are simply too many women that fit this

description to avoid considering the business impacts.

After all, the ideal scenario is always to fill a good proportion of senior leadership roles

with people who have worked their way up through the ranks. If we fail to properly

engage and mentor many of the employees that fit this description, we are losing out

on more than just financial savings. We are missing out on valuable knowledge. In a

constrained talent market, this is a particularly pressing issue.

Retaining talent and knowledge internally are also the top concerns on the mind of

CEOs according to 2013 PwC CEO Survey


The ideal scenario is always to fill a good proportion of senior leadership roles with people who have worked their way up through the ranks.


According to the 2013 PwC CEO Survey, more than half of US CEOs point to a shortage of skills as a potential threat to growth in 20131.

72 percent of CEOs report difficulties attracting “critical- skill employees” and 56 percent admit to problems retaining them.

One in four CEOs said they could not pursue a market opportunity in 2012, or had to cancel or delay a strategic initiative due to talent challenges.

72%

more thaN half oNe quarter

56%

One third worry that skills shortages will hamper their ability to innovate effectively2.

oNe third

1 http://www.pwc.com/us/en/ceo-survey-us/workforce-talent-challenges.jhtml2 http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/ceo-survey/2012/key-findings/hr-talent-strategies.jhtml


According to a 2011 Heidrick & Struggles study, 32 percent of Asian executives were not confident their companies would be able to attract and retain the staff they needed in the next two years3.

37 percent were not satisfied with the quality of those they had hired in the previous two years.3

almoSt

oNe third

more thaN

oNe third

3 Talent IQ, Tim Dupree

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Common myths about working women

We have established that greater gender equity in the workplace creates positives for organizational performance and competitiveness. However, there are a number of barriers to overcome if the business case for changing this is to be made.

How do we see women in the workforce? Here are some of the dominant myths about

working women and their ability to lead, and to contribute critical skills at a high level:

1. Women will always put their families before work and

our organization needs total commitment.

It is true that many women with families experience what is termed a “double

burden” – they must give 100% in the home as well as in the workplace. In most

parts of the world, women do most of the home duties and child-raising, and they

make up close to half of the workforce. Yes, many women will take same time out

from the workforce to have children, yet this is a relatively short timeframe when an

entire career is considered.

/19common myths About Working Women

Many women will take same time out from the workforce to have children, yet this is a relatively short timeframe when an entire career is considered.

More importantly, work–life balance is no longer just a women’s issue. Men too are

starting to consider excessive time away from their families as a major issue. Our

own research shows that men are in fact more likely to leave an organization due to

inflexible working arrangements than women (45% of men compared with 39% of

women). Other research conducted in Australia showed that some 37% of young

fathers had ‘’seriously considered’’ leaving an employer due to a lack of flexibility in

their role1.

There are important gender differences in the workplace, some of which make women

diligent and loyal employees. Kelly’s own global research found the following:

• When asked about their immediate career goals, women are more likely to be

interested in gaining skills than being promoted: 59% of men vs. 65% of women are

seeking new skills.

• Women in the APAC region appear to be more aspirational in their careers: 42% are

seeking immediate promotion in APAC compared with 31% in Europe and 36% in

the Americas.

• Women are less likely to continue searching for new opportunities with other

employers when they are satisfied in their current role: 51% of men keep looking

compared with 43% of women.


37% of young fathers have “seriously considered” leaving an employer due to lack of flexibility in their role.

1 Russell, G. and O’Leary, J. (2012) Men Get Flexible: Mainstreaming Flexible Work in Australian Business, Diversity Council of Australia

2. Women are under-represented at a senior level

because they are less capable leaders.

In business, we tend to believe that we promote people based on merit. Yet, research

tells us very clearly that the concept of “merit” is subjective and prone to biases that

are a natural part of how our human brains work2. We know that juries give attractive

defendants less gaol time3, that orchestras hire more female musicians when “blind”

auditions are put in place4, and that we tend to seek out information that confirms what

we already think (confirmation bias). The many different biases we are susceptible to

as human beings come into play when we consider who is more “capable” or more

competent for a leadership role.

When employees are asked about their experiences of being led their responses show

that women tend to show stronger leadership skills on virtually all fronts.


42% of women in the APAC region appear to be more aspirational in their careers than those in Europe (31%) and the Americas (36%).

2 Malcolm Gladwell, (2005) Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking3 http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2010/05/unattractive-people-pay-price-court4 https://faculty.diversity.ucla.edu/resources-for/search-committees/search-toolkit/Orchestrating_Impartiality.pdf


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Source: Zenger Folkman Inc., 2011 Source: Zenger Folkman Inc., 2011

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3. Women are less interested in leading than men are.

It can be convenient to explain the gap between women’s qualifications and their

representation in executive roles as being a choice that women make. Yet, when

interviewed, 80% of women in Asia said that they aspired to senior leadership

positions5. An Executive Board survey showed that 45% of mid-level women in Asia felt

that rising to a senior management position is very important to them, compared to

less than 40% of men6.

The Forbes 2013 list of most powerful women shows that there are now many

successful businesswomen in Asia and the list of new entrants from the region

continues to grow. Women in Australia also show the highest levels of business

ownership in the developed world – a strong sign that women can, and want to, lead in

the commercial sector.

McKinsey research also shows that when women are promoted out of junior roles they

become more interested in progressing further up the line of command.


Desire to move to the next level at work% Who agree/StroNgly agree

79%83%

Women in entry-level positions

Women in middle

management positions

5 Gender Diversity Benchmark for Asia, 20116 Building a Stronger Pipeline of Women Leaders in Asia, Asia HR Executive Board, 2012

4. Women don’t speak up enough to get leadership roles.

We have heard from thought leaders, such as Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg and others,

that women need to change their behaviour in order to be considered for leadership

roles. While some of this advice may be helpful to some women, perceptions of

ambitious women being “bossy”, “difficult” and “aggressive” are cultural barriers that

even Sandberg and others agree are a problem. These perceptions are an issue for

almost every organization in virtually every part of the world. How do we know this?

Again, the data says so.

We know that, on average, men tend to rate the performances of other men more

highly than those of women. This is compounded by the fact that women tend to

underestimate and under-promote themselves and their achievements7.


Perceptions of ambitious women being “bossy”, “difficult” and “aggressive” are cultural barriers that even Sandberg and others agree are a problem.

7 Women Matter: An Asian Perspective, McKinsey

5. it doesn’t matter if we don’t promote very many women.

GDP, global competitiveness and other financial indicators of prosperity strongly

correlate with women’s success in the workforce and equality in society. As the graph

on page 27 shows8, the more gender equality a country achieves, the higher its GDP.

The countries on the left of the graph have made significant investments in

women’s health and education, which is reflected in their increased economic

and political participation.

However, no country has yet closed all economic and participation gaps for women.

We see the same inequities, albeit to differing degrees, around senior leadership

participation and earnings.


Research shows that the reduction in the male-female employment gap has been an important driver of European economic growth in the past decade.

8 http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GenderGap_Report_2013.pdf


Relationship between GDP per capita and the Global Gender Gap Index 2013 score

Source: Global Gender Gap Index 2013 and the World Bank’s World Development Indicators (WDI) online database, accessed May 2013.Note: The Global Gender Gap Index has been truncated to enhance readability

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“Further research shows that the reduction in the male–female employment gap has

been an important driver of European economic growth in the past decade, and

closing this gap would have positive economic implications for developed economies,

boosting US GDP by as much as 9% and euro zone GDP by as much as 13%”9.

• When women develop their full labor market potential, there can be significant

macroeconomic gains. (Loko and Diouf, 2009; Dollar and Gatti, 1999).

• GDP per capita losses attributable to gender gaps in the labor market have been

estimated at up to 27 percent in certain regions (Cuberes and Teignier, 2012).

• Based on International Labour Organization (ILO) data, Aguirre and others (2012)

estimate that of the 865 million women worldwide who have the potential to

contribute more fully to their national economies, 812 million live in emerging and

developing nations10.

From a financial perspective, it does matter if women do not prosper equally to men.


9 http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GenderGap_Report_2013.pdf10 https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/sdn/2013/sdn1310.pdf

http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GenderGap_Report_2013.pdf

https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/sdn/2013/sdn1310.pdf

/28

Solving the gender imbalance with Talent Supply Chain Management

If we know that engaging and promoting women more equitably in businesses delivers positive performance dividends, how do we go about it without marginalising men and appearing to favor one over the other?

The simple answer is this: you apply supply chain principles to your talent management

processes to ensure talent decisions are aligned to business performance outcomes.

Three simple steps to begin this process include:

1. audit your talent programs and succession planning process: How many women

are on your talent program now? Are they receiving career planning support to

the same degree as male workers? What are the barriers to achieving equity within

these programs so that the pool of female talent is equal to that of men?

2. Keep measuring success: Do so regardless of whether or notyou are achieving your

goals. Communicating about the issue and its importance to company performance

is key. The more you measure the more likely you are to discover which parts of the

talent management cycle are problematic for retaining and promoting women.

/29solving the gender imbAlAnce With tAlent suPPly chAin mAnAgement

The more you measure the more likely you are to discover which parts of the talent management cycle are problematic for retaining and promoting women.

3. improve work-life balance practices: Flexible working hours and job sharing or

remote work options need to be considered if women are to be able to take up

senior roles more often. Above all, this is because in Asia as well as virtually every

other part of the world, women still retain a greater share of the workload for raising

children and managing the home.

To make this work over the long term, however, organizations must consider the ways

in which they plan and manage their workforces holistically. When organizations adopt

more structured and measurable workforce management strategies, they make better

decisions about talent.

Kelly’s Talent Supply Chain Management (TSCM) process is gaining ground in the

Americas and Europe because it assists organizations to manage workers as part of

the broader supply chain. Like traditional supply chain management, it directs a

network of suppliers and resources to ensure the optimal mix of price, access and

risk. Given everything we know about gender imbalances and how they weigh

down business performance, applying Talent Supply Chain Management approach

is smart business practice.

/30

Flexible working hours and job sharing or remote work options need to be considered if women are to be able to take up senior roles more often.

solving the gender imbAlAnce With tAlent suPPly chAin mAnAgement

Complex global organizations would never forecast raw materials, pricing and

inventory using only a short-term outlook, and similarly they should not accept a

short-term approach to their most strategic asset: mission critical talent.

Talent Supply Chain Management helps organizations forecast their workforce needs

and plan for adverse conditions or events ahead of time. When organizations manage

their workforces more holistically, gender imbalances that raise risk and limit access to

talent are circumvented.

/31

Talent Supply Chain Management helps organizations forecast their workforce needs and plan for adverse conditions or events ahead of time.

solving the gender imbAlAnce With tAlent suPPly chAin mAnAgement

If your leadership team has a significant gender imbalance, all the evidence points to your organization gaining positive outcomes if this is addressed.

The data tells a clear story: Where there are significant gender inequities in workforces,

productivity and innovation lag.

In Asia-Pacific, as around the world, the challenge to find enough talented and

dedicated leaders to ensure companies to capture opportunities and remain

competitive is significant. Yet, if large corporations are to remain globally competitive,

we can no longer simply have good intentions about gender diversity.

Now, we need good results.

No organization can afford to overlook or lose great talent when economies are

growing and talent is becoming more scarce. And, unfortunately, all the data tells us

that this is exactly what is happening when it comes to female workers.

conclusion /32

/33

As a workforce solutions organization, we see this trend and we know our corporate

partners are struggling to fill key positions. Attracting the right people with the

right skills means looking at internal talent in new ways, and critically analysing the

effectiveness of existing talent management and workforce planning methods.

Good leadership is a key aspect of organizational success, and women are a critical

part of providing the kind of quality, transformative leadership organizations need

more of to remain competitive.

Women in leadership? It makes good business sense.

conclusion

Other sources

/34

• Building a Stronger Pipeline of Women Leaders in Asia, Asia HR Executive board, 2012;

http://www.executiveboard.com/exbd-resources/pdf/en-sg/human-resources/Women%20Leaders%20in%20Asia.pdf

• Women Matter: Gender diversity, a corporate performance driver, McKinsey,

http://www.mckinsey.com/Features/Women_Matter

• GMI Ratings: http://go.gmiratings.com/rs/gmiratings/images/GMIRatings_WOB%20Report_042013.pdf

• Diversity&Inclusion:AnAsiaPacificPerspective:ExecutiveSummary, Mercer, 2012;

http://www.orcnetworks.com/system/files/static/2012/8238/diversity_and_inclusion_an_asia_pacific_perspectiv_28617.pdf

http://www.executiveboard.com/exbd-resources/pdf/en-sg/human-resources/Women%20Leaders%20in%20Asia.pdf

http://www.mckinsey.com/Features/Women_Matter

http://go.gmiratings.com/rs/gmiratings/images/GMIRatings_WOB%20Report_042013.pdf

http://www.orcnetworks.com/system/files/static/2012/8238/diversity_and_inclusion_an_asia_pacific_perspectiv_28617.pdf

eXit

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aBout Kelly ServiceS®

kelly services, inc. (nAsdAQ: kelyA, kelyb) is a leader in providing workforce solutions. kelly® offers a comprehensive array of outsourcing and consulting services as well as world-class staffing on a temporary, temporary-to-hire, and direct-hire basis. serving clients around the globe, kelly provided employment to approximately 540,000 employees in 2013. revenue in 2013 was $5.4 billion. visit kellyservices.com and connect with us on facebook, linkedin and twitter. download the talent Project, a free iPad® app by kelly services.

aBout the author

nAtAliA shumAn is Senior Vice President and General Manager, EMEA and Asia Pacific Regions.she is a global executive with broad general management and operational experience and 20 years in the staffing industry. Her career with Kelly spans all three regions of the globe and a variety of leadership positions. natalia thoroughly understands and appreciates cultural differences, talent trends, business practices and traditions in both emerging and developed markets. she is well positioned to consult with senior management of large and small companies on their talent acquisition and management issues and to positively impact their outlook, helping them to grow and stay competitive.

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Making the Business Case for Gender Equity

Recruiting & HR

Transcript of Making the Business Case for Gender Equity