Failure to Build Talent Pipelines Threatens Women’s Workplace Progress, Says Mercer’s When Women Thrive Global Report
January 27 2016 - 9:25AM
Business Wire
- 10-year forecast shows Europe and North
America struggling for workforce parity; Asia ranks last
- Only 9% of organizations offer
women-focused health, financial wellness with US/Canada ranking
first
- Leaders urged to focus on executive
engagement and pay equity
Women are under-represented in the workforce globally, and if
organizations maintain the current rate of progress, female
representation will reach only 40% globally in the professional and
managerial ranks in 2025, according to Mercer’s second annual When
Women Thrive global report.
Among the key trends revealed in the report is that women’s
representation within organizations declines as career levels rise
– from support staff through the executive level.
“The traditional methods of advancing women aren’t moving the
needle, and under-representation of women around the world has
become an economic and social travesty,” said Pat Milligan,
Mercer’s Global Leader of When Women Thrive. “While leaders have
been focusing on women at the top, they’re largely ignoring the
female talent pipelines so critical to maintaining progress.
“This is a call-to-action – every organization has a choice to
stay with the status quo or drive their growth, communities and
economies through the power of women.”
Mercer’s report finds that although women are 1.5 times more
likely than men to be hired at the executive level, they are also
leaving organizations from the highest rank at 1.3 times the rate
of men, undermining gains at the top.
According to the When Women Thrive report, women make up 40% of
the average company’s workforce. Globally, they represent 33% of
managers, 26% of senior managers, and 20% of executives.
In terms of regional rankings, Latin America is projected to
increase women’s representation from 36% in 2015 to 49% in 2025;
followed by Australia/New Zealand moving from 35% to 40%; US/Canada
improving by just 1% from 39% to 40%; Europe remaining flat at 37%
in 2015 and 2025; and Asia ranking last at 28%, up from just 25% in
2015.
“In 10 years, organizations won’t even be close to gender
equality in most regions of the world,” said Ms. Milligan. “If CEOs
want to drive their growth tomorrow through diversity, they need to
take action today.”
The research – the most comprehensive of its kind featuring
input from nearly 600 organizations around the world, employing 3.2
million people, including 1.3 million women – identifies a host of
key drivers known to improve diversity and inclusion (D&I)
efforts.
“It’s not enough to create a band-aid program,” said Brian
Levine, Mercer’s Innovation Leader, Global Workforce Analytics.
“Most companies aren’t focused on the complete talent pipeline nor
are they focused on the supporting practices and cultural change
critical to ensure that women will be successful in their
organizations.”
Only 9% of organizations surveyed globally offer women-focused
retirement and savings programs with the US/Canada ranking first
(14%), despite Mercer’s research proving that such efforts lead to
greater representation of women.
Other Key Findings
Other key findings of the survey include:
- Only 57% of organizations claim senior
leaders are engaged in diversity and inclusion initiatives with
US/Canada ranking first
- Latin America ranks first for
engagement of middle managers with 51% vs. 39%, globally
- Involvement of men has dropped since
the first report in 2014, when 49% of organizations said they are
engaged in D&I efforts vs. 38% in 2015; US/Canada rank first
for involvement of men at 43%
- Only 29% of organizations review
performance ratings by gender with Australia/New Zealand ranking
first
- US/Canada lead on pay equity, with 40%
of organizations offering formal pay equity remediation processes,
compared to 34% globally, 25% in Asia, and 28% in Europe; but
virtually no improvements have been made since 2014
- 28% of women hold P&L (profit and
loss) roles with Latin America ranking first (47%), followed by
Asia (27%), Australia/New Zealand (25%), US/Canada (22%), and
Europe (17%)
- Women are perceived to have unique
skills needed in today’s market, including: flexibility and
adaptability (39% vs. 20% who say men have those strengths);
inclusive team management (43% vs. 20%); and emotional intelligence
(24% vs. 5%).
- US/Canada rank first in providing
training to support employees through parental leave as well in
offering customized retirement and savings programs by gender
- About half of organizations in three
key regions – Asia, US/Canada and Latin America – agree that
supporting women’s health is important to attract and retain women,
yet only 22% conduct analyses to identify gender-specific health
needs in the workforce
The report also asked organizations about access to and usage of
key benefit programs, including part-time schedules, maternity
leave, paternity leave, child care, elder care, mentorship and
more.
For more information about Mercer’s When Women Thrive initiative
and to access the report summary, go here.
About Mercer
Mercer is a global consulting leader in talent, health,
retirement and investments. Mercer helps clients around the world
advance the health, wealth and performance of their most vital
asset – their people. Mercer’s more than 20,000 employees are based
in 43 countries and the firm operates in over 140 countries. Mercer
is a wholly owned subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies
(NYSE: MMC), a global professional services firm offering clients
advice and solutions in the areas of risk, strategy and people.
With 57,000 employees worldwide and annual revenue exceeding $13
billion, Marsh & McLennan Companies is also the parent company
of Marsh, a leader in insurance broking and risk management; Guy
Carpenter, a leader in providing risk and reinsurance intermediary
services; and Oliver Wyman, a leader in management consulting. For
more information, visit www.mercer.com. Follow Mercer on Twitter
@Mercer.
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MercerStacy Bronstein, +
1-215-982-8025Stacy.Bronstein@mercer.com
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