Strong Financial Performance
Research has shown that companies with more women both on their boards and throughout the organization tend to outperform their competitors on several financial measures which include:
- Return on equity
- Share performance
- Return on sales
- Stock price growth
- Return on capital
Ability to Attract and Retain Top Talent
The global economy can anticipate a worrying talent shortage by 2020. Companies must tap into the underutilized skills among women to obtain the best talent.
Canadian women are among the most educated in the world (nearly 75% of working-age women in the labour force hold a post-secondary certificate or degree).
There was a 16% increase from 2016 to 2017 in the importance of diversity and inclusion as an employee attraction driver.
Heightened Innovation and Team Performance
Socially diverse groups are more innovative than homogeneous groups.
This is not only because people with different backgrounds bring new information. Interacting with individuals who are different forces group members to:
- Prepare better,
- Anticipate alternative viewpoints,
- Expect that reaching consensus will take effort.
Enhanced Client Insight
Women account for 60% of primary shoppers in Canada
It is important that the companies who serve these shoppers reflect the composition of their customer base. This has been proven to result in:
- Improved product development,
- More effective product marketing,
- Better customer service.
Enhanced Corporate Responsibility
CSR has become a crucial element of a company’s operations for stakeholders. A global study on consumer attitudes towards CSR found that when companies support social or environmental causes:
- 93 percent of global citizens will have a more positive image of that company
- 88 percent of global citizens will be more loyal (i.e. continue buying products or services)
This supports the business case for gender diversity because companies with more women leaders correlate with higher levels of philanthropy.
Improved Organizational Performance
Women tend to use 5 of the 9 types of leadership behaviours that improve organizational performance more often than men do.
These 5 leadership styles more frequently used by women are also considered to be the most effective in addressing the global challenges of the future by top executives.
For more information visit our webpage: https://unglobalcompact.ca/genderequalityca/[/vc_column_text]
