Why Gender Equity is an Efficiency Strategy

As the impact of the economic downturn is beginning to affect organisations, many are deciding to cut their budget for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI).

This is due to two reasons, the first is how they view DEI and the second is, that up until now, they have seen no meaningful results. The combination of both these elements means that most strands of DEI are seen as a cost rather than an investment.

Increasing women’s participation in the workforce could add up to USD 20 Trillion* to global economic growth by 2050, which shows that an organisation’s ability to attract, engage and retain women will have a direct correlation to how profitable they will be and their growth trajectory.

Taking the decision to double down on gender equity efforts will prove to be the most efficient way to not only retain women but also to build a robust leadership pipeline thus increasing female representation in the upper echelons of any business.

In taking a complete view of the life cycle of a female employee, organisations will be driven to create a culture that allows women to thrive at all stages of their careers. Making existing female employees evangelists of their organisation significantly increases the chances of other women wanting to join.

In our 2021 Closing the Chasm Report: Changing the Workplace for Black Women, we found that when it came to accepting a job, almost 25% of respondents said that the experiences of other Black women with that organisation heavily determined if they accepted the role.

Good governance around retention has the double benefit of not only increasing engagement within the firm but also outside of the firm and is also a mechanism to attract the next generation of talent.

Gender Equity is not just about the here and now, but also about the organisations and the employees of the future.

*https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-09/women-could-give-20-trillion-boost-to-economic-growth-by-2050#:~:text=Global%20economic%20growth%20could%20get,according%20to%20a%20new%20study.