The Benefits Give You Permission to Do The Right Thing
Are you wanting to do more to advance women in your company, but feel like you can’t prioritize something that feels like a nice-to-have? Do you have other metric-based issues that bump it down on your to-do list, such as meeting quarterly goals, raising a certain amount of capital or closing an acquisition? I have good news for you - you can put advancing women on the top of your to-do list because the benefits to your business are huge - big enough to trump your other initiatives, to grow your business, to secure investors and to attract and retain great employees.
Leaders I work with have such a great sense relief when we connect the dots between what they want to do to promote women and the very measurable and impactful benefits their company will achieve as a result. Removing the barriers, big and small, that keep talented women from advancing into leadership roles goes a long way in driving innovation and deepening employee engagement. This leads to sales and margin growth, lower turnover, and the ability to attract great talent. It helps break apart the unconscious bias that limits creative thinking and attraction of diverse talent. This creates opportunities with new clients and customers, and satisfies the demands of investors regarding percentages of women in leadership. Investors, in turn, are very happy because gender-balanced leadership yields a 26% higher return on invested capital. It’s a win-win for the company and the investor.
They key is to focus on the right initiatives for your company, the things that will go a long way in building trust and retaining top talent. You have to walk the walk, not just talk the talk. This needs to be strategic work that the leadership gets behind and really prioritizes. Once you do that, it won’t take long to see real results.
Advancing women is not only the right thing to do - it’s the smart thing to do. Advancing women advances your business.
Sources: 1) The Female Quotient: Modern Guide to Equality; 2,3) Sallie Krawcheck “Own It”; 4,5) Fortune Best Companies 2018