Joel Peterson, Chairman of JetBlue Airways, sums up the essence of gender equality in this simple sentence: Men and women are equal, not identical. As he points out, a diversity in opinions and ways of thinking is essential to the success of a business venture. Good leaders know that and they use differences to foster growth, not to limit it.

WHAT’S THE LATEST DATA ON GENDER EQUALITY?

The 2015 Global Gender Gap Report shows that, while more women than men are enrolling at university in 97 countries, women make up the majority of skilled workers in only 68 countries and the majority of leaders in only four:

The 2014-2015 Global Competitiveness Index pits the United States behind in gender equality, while Norway and Iceland take the lead:

Similar findings in the 2013 Gender Gap Report reveal that, on average, over 96% of the gap in health outcomes, 93% of the gap in educational attainment, 60% of the gap in economic participation and 21% of the gap in political empowerment has been closed. However, no country in the world has achieved gender equality. The four highest ranked countries—Iceland, Finland, Norway and Sweden—have closed between 81% and 87% of their gender gaps, while the lowest ranked country—Yemen—has closed a little over half of its gender gap: (Source)

Education levels are up so there’s plenty of talent to go around. The problem is that companies aren’t offering the right development opportunities. As education levels rise so does the gender gap.

If you really want to recruit end engage high-performing talent you should promote gender equality in your company.

GENDER EQUALITY IS CRUCIAL

Businesses can only benefit by successfully attracting both men and women to their workforce. It’s now an established fact that organizations with the most gender diversity outperform those with the least. Here are a couple of reasons why.

IT MAKES GREAT BUSINESS SENSE

Women are increasingly more highly educated than men, as shown in the Global Gender Gap Report. You can leverage your competitive advantage on the long-run by attracting and retaining the best talent, regardless of their gender.

Catalyst’s 2011 study found that companies with the most women board directors outperformed those with the least on return on sales (ROS) by 16 percent and return on invested capital (ROIC) by 26 percent. (Source)

IT REDUCES THE COSTS OF TURNOVER

Both men and women will leave a company that is not flexible. Flexible work arrangements that facilitate sharing of care lead to better recruitment and retention outcomes.

A company that fosters gender diversity will support retention of employees and reduce an important expense by limiting advertising costs, time spent on interviews and administrative tasks, termination pay, onboarding costs for the new employee etc.

In their article on The role of calculative attachment in the relationship between diversity climate and retention, David M. Kaplan, Jack W. Wiley and Carl P. Maertz Jr. point out that decreased turnover intentions are associated with employees’ positive perceptions of an organization’s diversity climate. The study also establishes indirect links between positive perceptions of the climate and predictions of calculative attachment and satisfaction. (Source)

IT INCREASES BUSINESS PERFORMANCE

There are a range of reasons why company performance and gender diversity may be linked, as this Credit Suisse report on Gender Diversity and Corporate Performance shows. One reason is that diversity brings together varied perspectives, produces a more holistic analysis of the issues a company faces and stimulates greater effort, leading to improved decision-making. (Source)

McKinsey&Company successfully showed that diverse teams are also top financial performers. Looking at the at the executive board composition, returns on equity (ROE), and margins on earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of 180 publicly traded companies in France, Germany, the UK, and the US over the period from 2008 to 2010, the study focused on measuring two groups: women and foreign nationals on senior teams...

Source: Blog – Hppy