If leaders are so committed to inclusivity, why aren’t their organisations more inclusive?
Our Head of Research, Edward Haigh, surveyed senior executives in more than 50 FTSE350 organisations in the course of our recently published research. One thing we asked them was whether they agreed that the leadership of their organisation was “genuinely and sufficiently committed to achieving gender parity”.
An impressive number did.
In fact, 92% either agreed or strongly agreed. Nor was there a big difference between leading* and latecomer** organisations: Among leaders the figure rose slightly to 95%, while among latecomers it fell slightly to 89%.
Set that alongside the latest data from the FTSE Women Leaders Review, which found that while impressive progress is being made, the pace of change is slowing and much still remains to be done in terms of women in key decision-making roles.
One interpretation of the apparent gap between these two bits of data is that this is simply a matter of time: Propelled by the commitment of leaders, the needle is moving in the right direction, and while the slowing rate of progress is inevitable, we’re on track.
The other interpretation is that there’s a problem: It sees a gap that’s less easy to explain and is troubled by the slowing rate of progress. It begs the question: What’s going wrong?
Based on everything we know about the dynamics of this situation, we’d guess that the problem is a knowledge gap: Leaders have had a good amount of success picking the low-hanging fruit - for instance by removing some of the mechanistic barriers, such as a lack of mandated gender balance on candidate shortlists, that have been holding women back - but they’re now coming up against issues that are much more complex and harder to resolve, and they’re seeing diminishing returns.
It might be helpful to think of this as an issue about demand: The removal of those mechanistic barriers has released pent-up demand for senior positions among the women for whom they were the only problem. Now, the challenge is to understand what’s going on in the minds of women for whom mechanistic barriers aren’t the only problem - who choose not to move up even when the mechanisms exist to help them do so.
It’s in thinking this way that we allow ourselves to be pointed to some deeper truths about the role that culture plays in holding women back, and of leaders themselves in the creation of that culture. This is the message that screams out at us from every piece of research we’ve ever done in this area (and we’ve done a lot of research), and to which committed leaders now need to turn their efforts. It’s not that they don’t want to make more progress, it’s that they’ve underestimated their own role in making it happen, and lack the knowledge they need.
Even if time is a part of the picture, we’re sufficiently convinced by this second interpretation that we’re now committing ourselves wholeheartedly to solving it, working with current and future leaders to help them develop the skills they need and turn their commitment into achievement.
If you’d like to find out more about how we’re doing that, please get in touch.
*Organisations with above average representation of women in leadership positions and above average progress over the last five years.
**Organisations with below average representation of women in leadership positions and below average progress over the last five years.
Women in Leadership: Strategies from FTSE 350 organisations leading the way
Our latest research ‘Women in Leadership: Strategies from FTSE 350 organisations leading the way’ reveals the practices, strategies, and leadership behaviours that have enabled a number of FTSE 350 organisations to make substantial progress in advancing female representation in leadership roles. Learn more and download the summary report here.