Gender Equality in the Workplace

An August 2019 report by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) shows that the average gender pay gap remains at 14% in favor of men across the nation—in Western Australia, that gap increases to 21.8%. Disparity in leadership positions is equally acute, with only one in six CEOs being women in the non-public sector, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Even more troubling, women hold only 13.7% of chair positions and 25.8% of directorships, and 35.2% of boards and governing bodies have no female directors whatsoever—by contrast, only 0.9% had zero male directors (WGEA 2019).

Attention to pervasive gender inequality in the workforce continues to grow sharper and more urgent—and rightfully so. While most agree that inclusion and equality for women in the workforce (and beyond) is a vital cultural correction, we can now see that companies also reap significant rewards in commercial success as they make moves toward equity.

But many studies, including a series of reports by McKinsey & Company, uncover eye-opening outcomes for companies that prioritize promoting and supporting women (and diverse candidates overall). Evidence from a 2017 McKinsey study reveals that companies in the top quartile for gender diversity in their executive teams showed 21 percent more profitability than those in the fourth quartile. A 2018 study by leadership consulting firm DDI found that organisations with women holding at least 30 percent of leadership roles are 1.4 times more likely to have sustained, profitable growth.

With reports illuminating the immense challenges for women in the workplace in Australia and elsewhere (and considering that half of the world’s population is female, after all), how can business leaders make a real impact? The first step of course is identifying there’s an imbalance and addressing it. OrgChart software’s Gender Ratio functionality displays information about the organisation’s gender composition and can be calculated by division, department, location and job type. This provides a clear snapshot of the composition of the workforce and can be used to formulate internal strategies to balance the mix of the workforce.

OrgChart displays gender ratio under each manager of a large company

The work does not stop there however. Simply hiring women into a company’s workforce isn’t enough. A true course correction toward equality can only take place when women are genuinely integrated, supported, and respected as an essential part of operations and culture. When someone is the “token” female in the room (on the team, the board, the project), it can do more harm than good by exacerbating exclusionist behaviors and devaluing a woman’s voice. Not only does this “one and done” approach to gender inclusion fails to promote market success, it perpetuates unhealthy and even dangerous workplace cultures.

There are countless layers of complexity when it comes to why gender imbalance persists, all multi-faceted and deeply ingrained, from coworkers’ unconscious biases to unreasonable parental leave policies. Identifying gender discrepancies using tools such as OrgChart Now is a first step towards building a more healthy, inclusive and profitable business.