What Will It Really Take to Change the Workplace for Women?
Many in the media hailed 2018 as “The Year of the Woman” — a result of the record number of women who ran for and won seats in the U.S. House, Senate, governorships and other political offices across the country.
Despite this recent success, women continue to be in the minority of legislative leadership positions comprising just 23% of Congress, 29% of state legislators and 18% of governors according to Pew Research Center. And when it comes to women in business, the disparity is even more pronounced. The share of female CEOs of Fortune 500 companies declined to a mere 4.8 percent this past year.
Gender diversity is a buzzword on everyone’s radar. The topic makes its way onto leadership conference agendas and management task forces, but too often, it gets little more than lip service.
With everyone talking about how important it is, why does business have such a hard time realizing equity for women? How do we put into practice what we preach?
McKinsey & Company, in partnership with LeanIn.Org, has been probing these questions for the past four years through their annual Women in the Workplace Report. It is the largest comprehensive study of its kind, compiling data from 462 companies that collectively employ nearly 20 million people, with a goal to advance women and improve gender diversity within organizations.
For the first time since publishing the report, results indicate that despite companies declaring their commitment to gender diversity, progress has stalled. Women continue to be significantly underrepresented at every level, and the numbers are worse for women of color.
LeanIn.Org founder Sheryl Sandberg expressed her frustration in an op-ed posted on Facebook. “There is a disconnect in corporate America. Year after year, companies report that they are highly committed to gender diversity. But the proportion of women in their organizations barely budges. For this to change, companies need to treat gender diversity as the business imperative it is.”
How do we make that happen? The 2018 Women in the Workplace Report shares insights from a range of experts and identifies six concrete actions that companies can take:
1. Get the basics right — this means targets, reporting and accountability. Set goals, track and reward progress and communicate it.
2. Ensure that hiring and promotions are fair — especially at the entry and manager levels to avoid uneven playing fields down the line.
3. Make senior leaders and managers champions of diversity — they signal what is important and should treat it like any other business imperative.
4. Foster an inclusive and respectful culture — promote a safe, supportive and civil culture, seek out different voices and perspectives to build a better workplace for everyone.
5. Make the “Only” experience rare — 25% of all employees are “Only’s” on some dimension. Work to reduce the number of “only one’s” in the room (woman, woman of color, LGBTQ person). Be thoughtful about how teams are put together, look out for employees that may feel left out.
6. Offer employees the flexibility to fit work into their lives — help employees manage the complexity of running a household, caring for others and building a career.
The report was shared before a live audience at The Wall Street Journal’s Women in the Workplace forum in San Francisco. As a sponsor of the event, SAP sat down with several attendees to seek their advice: “What is one small thing that companies can do right now to improve the work culture for women?”
Watch “One Simple Fix” for their responses:
Gender diversity is good for everyone. Diversity brings with it a wider variety of perspectives, backgrounds and experiences to generate more powerful approaches to leadership, innovation and management. These differences ultimately make their way to the boardroom — creating growth and opportunity at every level, as well as happier employees.
What action will you commit to in 2019 to make a difference?
Join the conversation at SAP Women Forward.
