Companies with strong Diversity and Inclusion value have talent management policies and processes (including de-biasing recruitment and advancement processes, promoting equal pay and deploying comprehensive sponsorship programs for high-potential talent), and they invest in building capabilities among its management to support retaining and advancing specific diverse talent.

According to researches, companies with gender diversity in leadership positions have better financial performance and heightened customer satisfaction. It has been experienced by many in the leadership roles, that gender equality is good for business and has a positive impact on talent recruitment and retention, as well as brand trust and customer loyalty. 

Attracting and retaining the right competence and talent is essential for us to reach our business growth ambitions. And if leadership consists of diversified genders in various strong positions then the decision seems more optimal and fair for employees to follow it.

Towards Building a Strong ‘Think Tank’

Unlike the past, the youth of today is more aware and sensitive to things beyond their scope of work. Hence, Joyeeta Chatterje, Chief People Officer, Future Consumer conversed with BW People journalist upon this issue, she stated that, “with new models of work that are shaping up, leadership behavior has to be authentic to motivate a workforce that are subsets of groups with vastly different likes, behavior and preferences. Only when we have diversity in leadership can one understand, appreciate and respect differences. Perhaps the most important aspect of diversity and inclusion is the pool of ideas and approach to problem solving.”

The utmost responsibility here relies on the shoulders of an organization’s senior leaders as they need to take a stand in ensuring that gender diversity is established across every business channel and vertical. They must be able to clearly lay down an open, trusting, and supportive relationship amongst coworkers and supervisors to turn their differences in thought, behavior, skills, and knowledge into innovative ideas and efficient practices driving the company forward.

Also, Julie Sachde, Director HR, JW Marriot is of the belief that, “ensuring that women are included in the workforce in every important decision, we open up avenues of adding the unexplored ideologies to the “Think Tank” which can lead to considerable developments. Women and men in the workplace add different standpoints leading to creativity and innovation, and enabling organizations to identify and seize new opportunities.”

Research shows that women have stronger interpersonal and communication skills, and it brings out the best from a diverse group.

“with new models of work that are shaping up, leadership behavior has to be authentic to motivate a workforce that are subsets of groups with vastly different likes, behavior and preferences. Only when we have diversity in leadership can one understand, appreciate and respect differences.

Chatterjee further quoted that organizations like Unilever, Google, GE and the many others dominate their industries because of their ideas, processes, diversity of thought and that has been possible only because they have been able to put a structure and system in place that fosters creative thinking, execution prowess and quality of leadership.

Proving The Point With Experimentation

Speaking about how gender diversity can inspire an organization to take effective decision, there is an experimental study which proves it all as to how important it is to have a diversified set of people to have a fair round of decision making. The study has, however, examined the interaction between gender and group choices, looking at whether the presence of women, or the balance between women and men, matters for group decision-making.

The game has two types of players: proposers and responders. The proposers determine the allocation of some endowment, such as a cash prize. The responders simply receive the remainder of the endowment left by the proposer. The game is designed to measure behavioral traits such as fairness and altruism.                                                             In the study, groups of three people divide a sum of money among themselves and a fourth person. The gender composition differs across groups. The study finds that groups with a majority of women leave more for the responder and also choose the egalitarian division more often than groups with a majority of men.

“ensuring that women are included in the workforce in every important decision, we open up avenues of adding the unexplored ideologies to the “Think Tank” which can lead to considerable developments.

Any organisation which looks to establish a connect with their employees or even stakeholders can take learnings from here where EMPATHY & GENEROSITY shown by women might just help them having an everlasting connect and a stronger business relationship.

Companies with strong Diversity and Inclusion value have talent management policies and processes (including de-biasing recruitment and advancement processes, promoting equal pay and deploying comprehensive sponsorship programs for high-potential talent), and they invest in building capabilities among its management to support retaining and advancing specific diverse talent. It closely monitors its pipeline and employee perceptions and experiences around inclusiveness, along with business impact metrics. These organizations measure progress against all of its diversity goals, holds its managers accountable for delivery, and celebrates their successes.

What’s Ahead?

Chatterjee is very right when she is of the firm belief that the real challenge is that we have been seeing since past many years despite a lot of sustained efforts by many organizations is that women are underrepresented in line roles. Line versus staff roles on executive teams tend to differ in their ability to propel individuals to the CEO position, with line roles the more likely incubators of future CEOs. Underrepresentation on executive teams in general, and in line roles in particular, will be a very pivotal point for this topic.

Financial services firms and IT companies have a good representation of women leaders. As a whole, they have been able to improve gender diversity more than other industries.

"organizations like Unilever, Google, GE and the many others dominate their industries because of their ideas, processes, diversity of thought and that has been possible only because they have been able to put a structure and system in place that fosters creative thinking, execution prowess and quality of leadership."

But, for organizations to understand what aspects of D&I act as performance enablers for specific business metrics, and using them to prioritize the portfolio of D&I initiatives they invest in and ensuring alignment with their overall growth strategy is key. Many organizations have a dedicated D&I council to drive this agenda and with specific metrics which gets reviewed along with other business metrics.

“Policies or laws requiring organizations to have more female representation would help women reach top positions. The gender gap in educational attainment and achievement has been closing, and yet women with the same education and experience as men are underrepresented in senior positions. In the US, for example, women receive more than 30 per cent of MBAs and 50 per cent of PhDs, and they make up half of law school graduates. However, women are less visible in high-ranking roles. This picture is rapidly changing, with many countries introducing quotas to increase the number of women on the boards of publicly listed companies,” asserts Sachde.

Some private organizations have also laid down polices towards Gender-Diverse culture which is mandatory to be maintained at all times. Here, studies have shown a better gender ratio has contributed to higher productivity of a company and a better work-life balance for the employees.

Experts claim that in order to have an unbiased and open-minded approach, every leader either Man or Woman needs to assure that they welcome a multiplicity of perspectives and a stronger collaboration. Therefore, their appointment process must also revolve around the different mix of people they have worked with and if their success stories show a pattern of gender diversity.