It was fantastic to be at the FTSE Women Leaders report launch at the end of February. Celebrating the progress made towards gender parity on the boards and in leadership of British business, the report shows significant strides have been made since it began in 2021.
The FTSE Women Leaders Review is a Government supported, business-led framework for improving women’s representation on boards and leadership positions across the FTSE 350 and 50 of the largest private companies in the UK. It builds on the Davies Review (2011-2015) and Hampton-Alexander Review (2016-2020).
When the Reviews began 14 years ago, women’s representation on FTSE 350 boards was 9.5%. After years of sustained effort to update policies and ways of working to make UK business equitable for women, the number of women on FTSE 350 boards has risen by over four times to 43.4%.
Key takeaways
No quotas are used and businesses engage in this work on a voluntary basis. Here are the key takeaways from this year’s report:
Women on boards:
- All 400 companies exceeded the 33% threshold by sector
- Despite a reduction of 110 board roles since 2011, there are now 1,274 women on FTSE 350 boards, which equals 43% representation
- Women’s representation on the boards of the 50 largest private companies increased from 127 to 128, but the percentage dropped since 2022 to 31%
- Boards in top percentile for diversity deliver 25% more profit
Women in leadership:
- Only 10 all-male executive committees remain in the FTSE 350
- There are 6,743 women in leadership positions across the FTSE 350, which equates to 35% representation
- Only one all-male executive committee remains in the top 50 private companies
- With 1,222 women in leadership positions, which is 37% representation
Lee’s thoughts during the panel conversation:
- We need to give men the missing parts to have a full picture because they don’t notice and so can’t tangibly understand the impact of the daily gender-based micro-aggressions that women face
- This is why 41% of men think gender equity will sort itself out without their input or has gone too far
- Engaging men in inclusion is the key and will also benefit them too – an inclusive, intentional skillset greatly benefits men in their careers as well as the businesses both commercially and culturally
- But the biggest barrier to engaging is fear – overstepping, being judged by other men, reputation damage
- DEI hasn’t been marketed to men very well, but men have a role to play in inclusion
However, with 92% of FTSE 100 CEOs being men, there is still progress to be made. As Mary Ann Sieghart explained, there’s an authority gap – we don’t take women as seriously as men, which means culture change is a key component to achieving gender parity in workplaces.
There are gendered double standards when it comes to how we evaluate women vs men including the language used. In evaluations, women are often marked down for the same behaviour as men and deemed ‘bossy’ when men are ‘assertive’ or ‘obsessive’ when men are ‘dedicated’.
Furthermore, only 81 women are promoted for every 100 men. Despite women entering the workforce with better educational qualifications and outperforming men on performance evaluations, women have to prove themselves more than men to be promoted.
How to foster gender equity in your organisation
Look at how you’re evaluating women and men – are you marking women down for the same things as men? Are you using gendered language which has positive connotations for men but negative for women, as shown in the picture below?
Evaluate your policies around flexible working and parental leave – is there a culture in your organisation that dissuades fathers from taking paternity leave which means mothers have to leave the workforce for a period of time?
Consider your hiring and promotion procedures – do you promote men based on potential but hold women back because they haven’t proved themselves enough yet?
Remember that policy and procedure change won’t do anything if the culture in your organisation stays the same. Bring all of your employees (especially the men) along on the journey, share your vision, and drive home the benefit to both and women that greater gender parity and inclusion has. Both personally and professionally.
Your partner in making allyship happen
Men deserve to be part of the inclusion conversation. Engaging men in allyship for women not only gives them a new skillset to be the leaders of tomorrow, it enables the culture change needed for gender equity to be embedded in your organisation.
At Male Allies UK, we offer workshops and training that brings men into the DEI conversation as well as consulting to ensure you build on the culture change with the systemic change that is needed alongside.
Get in touch today to make allyship happen.