More to be done
Carol Andrews, 30% Club lead in Ireland and a managing director at BNY Mellon Ireland, highlights the progress of the 30% Club in Ireland to date
The 30% Club has continued to go from strength to strength in Ireland, developing a number of programmes, including working with third-level institutions to provide executive education scholarships, mentorship and leadership development programmes. We have also undertaken research as well as hosting events throughout the year, in Dublin and other cities.
We now have over 210 members. Recent joiners have included Workday and Indeed. Our 200th member was PM Group, an international project delivery company headquartered in Ireland and operating across Europe, the US and Asia. This further diversifies the make-up of our membership across different sectors and industries in Ireland.
Less than 12% (eight out of of 68) of PLC board appointments in Ireland last year were women, according to the annual Women in Management research report conducted by the 30% Club Ireland in partnership with IBEC and DCU.
Undoubtedly there is much more work to be done to boost female representation at higher levels of management. Encouragingly though, the Government has done a great job in encouraging women onto State boards where female participation is now at 40%.
The 30% Club warmly welcomes the establishment of the Better Balance for Better Business initiative, which will develop recommendations about how more women can be involved in decisionmaking at the top level of businesses (see story above).
THE NEED FOR GENDER BALANCE
Gender bias not only disadvantages women, it also affects men. Gender stereotyping often evolves into defining and even limiting our roles in life, our professions and careers. There is no doubt in my mind that gender bias, often unconscious, is one of the many underlying reasons for the current imbalance in many professional areas and in business leadership.
Unfortunately, this is still a challenge for many businesses from multinationals to SMEs across the economy. Even those who have taken action to improve female representation at senior levels can find it difficult to sustain momentum.
While gender balance is only one element of genuine inclusion, I believe progress towards a gender balanced workforce and leadership is a critical step in having a genuinely inclusive workforce leading to benefits to business and individuals.
A recent study by the Peterson Institute for International Economics of nearly 22,000 publicly traded companies in 91 countries found a clear correlation between the number of women in executive positions and a company’s profitability.
Addressing this issue improves decision-making, innovation and overall performance. As we move towards full employment, attracting and retaining talent is going to be an increasingly important issue so it is vital that organisations recognise that diversity delivers.
I can still see opportunity and potential in women that is untapped. My own industry, financial services, is predominately male. I am not afraid to call it out, to remind people to promote ‘diversity of thought’ – if you have a room full of people that are the same, you will get the same results.
We’ve grown up in an environment created by men and the workplace is no different. I want to encourage women to be more confident in challenging the environment of the workplace, to be more resilient, keep driving forward and not to give up. With the right mentor or sponsor, women can start to thrive in their careers.