Women in leadership at low
The proportion of women in leadership positions in New Zealand companies has hit an all-time low, and is one of the worst globally, a new report has found.
Consulting firm Grant Thornton International’s annual Women in Business report says New Zealand companies have slid backwards in their proportion of women on leadership teams.
When the survey started in 2004, women made up 31 per cent of senior teams. That dropped to 20 per cent by 2017, and reduced to 18 per cent this year.
Grant Thornton partner Stacey Davies said there had been a ‘‘sense of complacency’’, which has been further illustrated by the four-year plateau in diversity growth.
Davies said it was even more discouraging to see a marked increase in the number of businesses that had no women in senior management roles.
‘‘Once upon a time, our global standing was among the top 10 countries surveyed. We are now ranked 33 out of 35 countries. Clearly the challenge hasn’t been dealt with in New Zealand.’’
Women on Boards New Zealand chairwoman Julie Hardaker said the report made for a ‘‘very sad read’’.
‘‘Policies are well and good and important, but they are meaningless unless they are implemented into practice, they are reported on and someone is accountable for their delivery.’’
Hardaker said the reason the number of women in leadership had slid indicated there was ‘‘no follow-through’’ on company policies.
Change had to come from the top, which was ‘‘where the culture of a company is embedded’’, she said.
Hardaker has spent the past year researching how gender stereotypes cause backlash against women in leadership roles.
‘‘Women are stereotyped as softer and more gentle and nurturing, and therefore when women leaders are not exhibiting behaviours that are consistent with those … it is not accepted widely and there’s a lot of undermining that goes on.’’
Davies said there was compelling evidence that gender diversity in leadership was linked to commercial success.
The report suggests changes in equalpay policies are not solving the problem.
It finds equal-pay and nondiscriminatory recruitment policies are widely adopted by companies, as well as flexible working arrangements, but says there is no evidence this is driving meaningful changes in leadership diversity.
Tegel Group Holdings, Mainfreight and Moa Group were three of nine NZXlisted companies to appoint their first female board director in 2017.