Investigating the calm inside a hurricane
McKinsey & Company’s Global Institute report found that narrowing the gender gap could add between US$12 and $28 trillion to the global GDP per year.
Furthermore, women are given less helpful feedback in the workplace in terms of it being useful for advancing their careers.
Why? In one sense it’s pretty simple. Half of the population are women. That means that an overwhelming proportion of workers in the global economy are at odds in the workplace because of gender bias.
It is within a organization’s interest to help employees better themselves to be more valuable to said organization.
Because of this, businesses are missing out on the benefits of good human capital. For example, a man could be chosen for a position over a woman based on their perceived potential, which might never come to fruition.
Essentially, the economy, and organizations that make up the economy, are suffering because there would be potential for so much more if there weren’t gender bias.
Researchers have found that, in the workplace, women are judged on their performance, and men are judged on their potential to perform in the future.
Having good leaders in an organization is everything. Once again, businesses miss out on the potential of women already in their organization by discounting them for leadership positions based on the motherhood bias.
The expectation that women will become mothers and won’t be able to balance home and work life, or that they would somehow be less dedicated to their career than a man, results in fewer women being considered for leadership positions. The odds are often even worse if you're already a mother.
Most people are struggling to find a decent work-life balance. However, women are encouraged to take more time off, change roles, and go part-time more than men.
Because of this, women end up doing it more than men. This, in turn, derails their careers, which in turn causes organizations to miss out on potential leaders.
There is a tendency for women not to reach their potential in organizations because they get stuck in mid-level positions.
It’s well documented that many businesses and working cultures punish women professionally for taking parental leave.
Like with most forms of discrimination and abuse, there is potential for the message to be internalized.
This is detrimental to the company itself and the woman because everyone takes note of this unfairness. It affects their perception of the company they work for, which can have an influence on their motivation and dedication.
When it comes to problem-solving, it is more efficient to have different minds coming from different perspectives to generate the best possible solution.
The case for having more women in leadership positions is strong. Companies with more women in higher-level positions reflect the profiles of their employees and customers better.
To survive, a company needs to be competitive and innovative. It’s been proven that companies that are less diverse and gender-balanced are less capable of being competitive and innovative.
Because investors and financial players are aware of the benefits of eradicating gender biases within companies, diverse companies tend to be valued higher.
How committed a company is to fairness and equality has huge implications for how committed employees are.
Companies that are more committed to gender diversity attract more talented individuals.
Companies with more women in leadership positions rank higher across various indices that measure organizational cooperation and health.
A study conducted by McKinsey & Company analyzed the profits of 1,000 companies worldwide and found that those companies with more diversity had higher profits. The study also concluded that companies with less diversity in gender and race were 29% less likely to make more profits than competitors.
Companies that make an effort in terms of diversity are also more likely to retain their staff. This benefits the company because they won’t lose their talented individuals and means that they don’t constantly have to train new individuals.
Sources: (World Economic Forum) (Forbes) (WorldatWork) (McKinsey & Company)
See also: Balancing work and family life: Strategies for success
With a decent proportion of women in decision-making positions, companies benefit from returns on equity with higher payout ratios.
Diversity offers this. For example, to achieve the massive goal of landing a spaceship on the Moon, the problems that need to be solved are best approached by many different minds, not just 500 mathematicians.
Research shows that inclusive teams make better business decisions 87% of the time.
This is not to say that how the brain functions is based on gender. It is to say, however, that excluding half the population’s efforts doesn't help.
How gender biases impede business
And how businesses can profit more
LIFESTYLE Business
One of the simplest predictors of business success, especially in large businesses, is the level of gender diversity there is. In fact, higher levels of gender diversity benefit companies at every level. There are many reasons for this, one of the simplest being that women make up half of the pool of talent in the workforce, and not harnessing their potential results in companies losing their edge over competitors.
To learn more about how gender biases impede businesses, click through this gallery.