Introduction

The race for high-impact leaders is becoming more competitive as the talent pool is shrinking and becoming saturated. We have to find new ways to increase the talent pool in order to provide organisations with more options to hire great leaders.

Does it help when women are leaving the workforce? The biggest challenge in building a diverse management team is the lack of high-impact women leaders in the pipeline. Catalyst (2011) found a 26 percent difference in return on invested capital between companies that have 19-44 percent women board representation and those that have zero women directors.(1)

The 2012 McKinsey Women Matter study reported even greater numbers and measured return on equity at 41 percent higher and earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) margin at 56 percent higher for companies that have the largest share of women on their executive committees.(2). A review of financial returns for 2,360 companies around the world over the past six years concluded, “It would on average have been better to have invested in corporations with women on their management boards than in those without.”(3)

It is important then that we find new ways of engaging and developing the business leaders of tomorrow to ensure a sustainable leadership pipeline.

Our ambition is to identify, develop and elevate women leaders and support our nation's vision to have 30% board representation by women. Executive search firms should work together with organisations to help identify these potential women and move them up the corporate ladder. In time to come, we will have a sustainable pipeline of women CEOs who can then take on board positions.

1) Carter, N. M., and Wagner, H. M., The Bottom Line: Corporate Performance and Women’s Representation on Boards (2004-2008) (New York: Catalyst, 2011).

2) Devillard, S., Graven, W., and Lawson, E., Women Matter: Making the Breakthrough (New York: McKinsey & Company, 2012).

3) Credit Suisse Research Institute, Gender Diversity and Corporate Performance (August 2012), retrieved from ttps://infocus.credit-suisse.com/data/_product_documents/_articles/360157/cs_women_in_leading_positions_FINAL.PDF.

"Diversity if our Differentiator. Diversity happens when the best leader is hired for the job."

P. Raj Kumar, Partner at CnetG Asia - IRC Malaysia/Thailand

Gender Diversity Policies and Approaches

Effective Tools and Policies in Place

From focus group discussions, we gathered that local owner-run organisations are doing better in terms of having more women in management positions, although they do not have explicit diversity policies in place. The HR Directors say that the owner's priority is hire the leader who is able to bring in the money or save the company money. So that puts aside gender.

However, considering that discerning job-seekers tend to get attracted to companies that embrace diversity, equal opportunities, commun i t y se rv i ce a t l a rge , i t i s recommended that companies develop diversity policies to help them to translate vision into action by setting parameters and measure achievements as they progress.

Employees cite what they appreciate or va lue by exper ienc ing someth ing . Organisations should communicate more often about diversity and run workshops on the programs, so that employees are aware of the tools and processes that help facilitate their growth. Below are quick snapshots of effective tools & processes that employees cited.

Of those surveyed, one of the most common tools centered around development of the individual, regardless of the gender. Integrated Leadership Development is perhaps a program that avoids biasness, and focuses on maximising the capabilities of all leaders.

The high degree of agreement comes from the lower ranks of employees as their personal commitments are relatively lower and have not experienced any biasness based on less tenure in the workforce.

33.3% of women leaders stated that the perception of their personal commitment have a bearing on the organisation's assessment of their results and performance, regardless of how they have achieved it.

Gender friendly hiring process

Do you know it? But do women see gender bias in your job postings?

The industries that appear to have the least gender-friendly hiring process seem to be those perceived as male-dominated industries, i.e. oil & gas, manufacturing and engineering. Do the job briefs of the industries above sound biased because they are written by the gender strongest in the industry? We believe that a job brief should be continually updated and address specific and current expectations of the role, and not just focus on demonstrated achievements. Studies show that interviewers tend to select men based on potential capabilities and women, based on demonstration of such achievements.

When interviewing candidates, companies should have defined measurements instead of allowing subjective viewpoints. One of the most effective ways we have found that helps unravel great potential leaders, is using behavioural interview techniques and probing deeper to understand specific styles and behaviours. Women tend to be careful not to overstate their capabilities and experiences but that does not mean they lack the capabilities you are looking for. As women also tend to have different approach to issues, it is good to understand and analyse if that is what is needed for the role, considering the context of the role and what is success in that role.

Barriers to leadership positions Advancement to leadership positions

While the general perception is that by providing infrastructure or family friendly facilities at the workplace will retain women leaders, our interviews with organisations and women leaders reveal that what really matters to them are various top level factors. Among those are ethical leadership, believing in the company's bigger purpose and strategies, a long-term perspective of the business, challenges that really tests their capabilities and something they thrive achieving, clear expectations of the role, assurance of financial equality, and finally, fair evaluations of performance. At this level, most times they have already family support system that brought them where they are today. Our interviews with organisations and women leaders, also revealed increased initiatives in coaching and mentoring, to neutralise limiting beliefs and building psychosocial skills at the top operating level. While some companies found formal mentoring effective, we found through our interactions with both genders, that they prefer mentors whom they have the special connection with. Our personal experiences with women leaders reveal that they seek out to formal mentors but also the people they are most comfortable with, comprising of former bosses who helped them rise, former colleagues in higher places and executive search consultants who have helped them in their career transitions.

Employees have different importance and expectations on equal opportunities. Equal opportunities means that all employees are treated and measured as individuals, without judgments being made of them based on stereotypes. Employees are motivated to work in environment where people of all backgrounds and experience feel valued and appreciated despite their differences.

Gender Bias in Workplace Based on Industries

Gender Bias or unconscious bias manifests in various forms in the workplace. Among the key ones are stereotyping of gender's capabilities, unequal pay, interview questions, conversations, glass ceiling, type of positions given, positional bias, sexual harassments and policies with outdated views.

Has Balanced Gender Representation Brought You Success?

We were keen to measure the readiness of all genders to support and accept gender diversity in the workplace. Do they agree that different thoughts and perspectives, collaboration and experiences benefit the team ? We are pleased to know that not just 74% of women and 78% of men agreed to the benefits, but 75% of the male leaders and 72% of the female leaders who have teams responsibilities agree that their collective success is contributed by balanced gender representation.

We believe companies should have more inclusion programs focusing on diverse backgrounds and driving engagements to produce higher level of productivity and sustainable results.

About CnetG Asia

CnetG Asia is a member firm of IRC Global Executive Search Partners, a recognised market leader in the search for top leadership talent with 78 owned/affiliates worldwide offices across EMEA, Americas and Asia Pacific. Our team has completed more than 30,000 assignments for over 2,000 clients across industry segments and management functions. IRC was ranked among the top 5 search and selection companies in the world by Hunt Scanlon Media, in its newly released the Spring 2015 issue of the Executive Search Review including GLOBAL 20 LEADING INTERNATIONAL SEARCH FIRMS.

IRC Global Executive Search Partners is an alliance that embodies what it means to be Globally Connected and Locally Committed.

CnetG Asia was founded in 2001, by Raj Kumar Paramanathan and Manish Mehta, It is a research-based management recruitment firm that is focused in the Energy, Pharmaceutical & Consumer Goods, Industrial, Banking and Financial Services, Property and Education. In 2009, the founders were awarded 1st Joint-Runners Up Young Entrepreneur Award by The Social Entrepreneur Network (SENET).

In 2015, CnetG Asia won two Bronze Awards at the Asia Recruitment Awards in the Best Candidate Experience and Best Career Website categories respectively.

visit us at www.cnetg.com

P. Raj Kumar Partner Board Member - IRC Institute of Management

CnetG Asia Partner Firm of IRC Global Executive Search Partners