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March 8th just passed, and once again women of all the world gathered and celebrated International Women's Day. As members of Women in Finance to be, we felt now, more than ever, a strong call-to-action to progress towards achieving total gender equality.
Everyday, women all around the world are struggling to gain a spot in huge corporations, to enter worlds that in the past only man could approach and to prove to be as tenacious and resourceful. So far, big steps have been made, but we still face a tough road ahead. The industry is still far from where we believe it should be on gender balance. From a report conducted by Oliver Wyman in 2016, an analysis on nearly 400 financial services organizations in 32 countries overlooking the past 13 years, it can be inferred that female representation is following a slow but upward trend both on executive committees (16% in 2016) and on financial services boards (20% in 2016). Compared to the past years, progress seems to have slowed down, and following current growth rates we would ideally reach 30% female executives committee representation only by 2048, showing the incapacity of the industry to preserve and maintain female talent inside the firms. The data from the report also shows that, even if women enter the business of financial services with the same ambition as men, with the passing of years, women face a trade-off between their career and the benefits of it. This includes insufficient flexibility among working options as well as insufficient support towards family obligations, dissimilar promotion process and unequal salaries. But will we have to wait 30 years to observe a fair gender balance? We don't have an answer yet, but we are able to come up with clear guidelines towards this goal. First of all, understanding the problem stands as a major issue. Assessing current state, both from a male and female perspective, is mandatory. Close understanding of the situation through gap analysis, benchmarks and honest feedback are a point of start. Setting goals and communicating them effectively follows right away. Why do we want to increase our diversity? What are the benefits and the costs of doing so? How quickly do we want to get there? These are only some of the fundamental questions we need to answer.
In the next step, firms should deeply work on their corporate culture. Changes to promote gender balance are futile or even divisive when an organization’s culture does not support them. Changing culture, even if it is harder than introducing policies, can be achieved. Also, cultural changes will not only benefit women but they will also foster an inclusive environment in which people with the most different backgrounds, styles and personalities will prosper.
As noted above, progress seems to have slowed in some geographies. This new trend needs to be reversed. The effort to improve gender balance in financial services needs to find a second wind. And it can.
- Annalisa Sarzetto
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