Hays Gender Diversity Report 2016

Pic: Auguste de Richelieu, Pexels

Hays Gender Diversity Report 2016

Studies have shown that the link between women in the workplace and a country’s economic growth is closely connected. Despite this, globally women are not paid or rewarded equally to their male colleagues and remain underrepresented in the workplace, as well as proportionally less represented in senior roles.

What’s more, the Hays Gender Diversity Report 2016 found that women are more ambitious than men when it comes to manager roles meaning that their ambition is being cut short. Nearly two-thirds (63%) of women in the UK desire to reach managerial or director levels compared to 60% of UK men. Unfortunately that number drops when it comes to the aspirations for more senior roles, with only 11% of UK women aspiring to managing director or CEO roles compared to 14% of men.

Women in the UK are also less ambitious to achieve these roles than their counterparts in countries such as Malaysia, Colombia and the UAE, with European countries on the whole lagging behind developing countries when it comes to female ambition.

Karen Young, Director at Hays Senior Finance, comments:

“It is remarkable that in the UK only one in ten women in the UK aspire to reach the most senior roles within their company. This is particularly concerning given that the report findings show women in the UK are more ambitious than men when it comes to reaching manager and director roles, meaning that their ambition to reach the top is being cut short. It is however, an encouraging sign that those women who are at the top in the finance sector look to take their career ambition one step further than their male counterparts and aspire to move to larger CFO, Group FD roles or CEO level.”

Young continues, “businesses need to ensure they are focusing on internal initiatives geared toward developing their top female talent and make sure they have best practice formal diversity policies in place. If companies are aware of and consider the different factors that motivate men and women, making career plans visible and accessible to all, this will encourage and enable women to move into more senior positions. Companies would stand to reap the benefit of capturing a competitive advantage if they encourage development from a wide talent pool, in an era where talent, competence and skills in many industries are in such short supply.”

The Hays Gender Diversity Report 2016 has been compiled using data gathered between November 2015 and January 2016, covering 25 countries. The findings of the gender diversity report are based on a survey of over 11,500 male and female respondents from across the world and takes a deeper look into the many issues creating a gender divide in the workplace. The report focuses on five areas that impact gender diversity in the world of work: ambition, self-promotion, equal pay, career opportunities and gender diversity policies.