MOVING IN

MORE WOMEN AR ETAKING ON MANAGERIAL AND BOARD POSITIONS, BUT MORE WORK STILL NEEDS TO BE DONE

by Pamela Jeffery

More women are taking on managerial and board positions, but more work needs to be done.

Look around the table and see who’s missing. It was a challenge the late Inez McCormack, a Northern Ireland trade unionist who fought tirelessly for inclusion and fairness in the workplace, famously put to many of the industry leaders she confronted. If you look around the boardroom tables of Corporate Canada today, it’s easy to see who’s missing. But the barriers that are keeping women from the c-suite and boardroom hurt everyone. This is not just a women’s issue. It is an economic and business issue that affects Canada’s competitiveness, productivity and prosperity. The fact is, more women in leadership is good for business. A few years ago, McKinsey & Co. launched a Women Matter series of studies that showed publicly traded companies in Europe with at least three women on their executive committees outperformed their sector in terms of average return on equity and operating profit.

Thankfully, women are starting to make their way past these long-standing barriers and we want to show just how far we’ve come. That is why we decided the theme for this year’s Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Awards is “What Glass Ceiling?” We ask this question with the full knowledge that the playing field is far from fair, but the 100 women to be honoured at this year’s gala are proof positive that change is happening. They have demonstrated their ability, moved to the top levels of their respective fields and met challenges head-on to get to where they are now.

Did I think when we launched Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Awards in 2003 that there would still be a glass ceiling 11 years later? In a word, yes, because I understood and still understand that change, and transformative change in this case, takes time. But I was certainly hopeful. Perhaps more importantly, I also understood there is real power in showcasing women at the top of their fields across industries and sectors to demonstrate to the next generation what’s possible.

Since 2003, WXN has honoured 728 Top 100 Award Winners and inducted 93 of these women into the Top 100 Hall of Fame. Canada now has six sitting female premiers and 2011 Top 100 Award Winner Kathleen Taylor will become the first-ever female chair of the Royal Bank of Canada — of any of the big Canadian banks. But this is far from a Canadian story. In the U.S., Janet Yellen is set to become the first female chair in the 100- year history of the U.S. Federal Reserve. This is the world’s most powerful central bank and her appointment would place Yellen in the company of Christine Lagarde, who heads the International Monetary Fund, and Angela Merkel, chancellor of Germany, one of the world’s strongest economies.

Yellen’s appointment is a big deal and speaks directly to the recognition — finally — that gender diversity at the highest level of decision-making is essential to ensuring the best decisions are taken. It’s a message we at WXN have been shouting from the rooftops for years and one that is thankfully taking hold. Witness the Ontario government’s engagement of the Ontario Securities Commission to help boost the number of women serving in senior management positions and as directors on boards. This is an important step and a necessary one. According to the Canadian Board Diversity Council’s 2013 Annual Report Card, women hold just 15.6% of FP500 board seats and 18% of TSX60 directorships.

That is why Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Awards is so important. By recognizing and sharing the accomplishments of women who are moving into leadership roles, seizing opportunities and helping crack the glass ceiling, we are encouraging the next generation to reach higher and do the same so that one day there will be no ceiling, just possibility.