UN says gender diversity initiatives are good for businesses

On May 22, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) released a new report titled "Women in Business and Management: The business case for change" that surveyed nearly 13,000 enterprises across 70 countries, assessing how gender diversity policies impact business outcomes.

The report revealed that around 57 percent of companies agreed that increased gender diversity initiatives result in better business performance. Most of these companies also said that they observed profit increases between 5 and 20 percent.

More than 54 percent of respondents said they saw improvements in creativity, innovation and openness, and a similar proportion reported that their company's reputation was enhanced because of the diversity initiatives.

Deborah France-Massin, Director of the ILO Bureau for Employers' Activities said,

"We expected to see a positive correlation between gender diversity and business success, but these results are eye opening. Companies should look at gender balance as a bottom line issue, not just a human resource issue."

The report says the positive impact of gender diversity initiatives start becoming evident when women occupy at least 30 percent of senior management and leadership positions. However, nearly 60 percent of companies don't meet this mark. Additionally, in almost half of the companies surveyed, less than one in three of entry-level management recruits are women.

Some of the key aspects that hold women back from reaching senior positions include the "anytime, anywhere" enterprise culture, which disproportionately affects women who have surplus household and family responsibilities, the "leaky pipeline" tendency where the proportion of women begins to decline as management positions ascend, and the "glass wall" that considers women managers in roles like HR, finance and administration less strategic and capable of leading boardroom positions.

"Smart companies who want to be successful in the global economy should make genuine gender diversity a key ingredient of their business strategy. Representative business organisations and employer and business membership organizations must take a lead, promoting both effective policies and genuine implementation," concluded Deborah France-Massin.

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