Corporate Social Responsibility

The barriers that continue to prevent women from reaching senior leadership in critical mass in the financial services industry and more generally–negative gender stereotyping, lack of women in line positions, a narrow pipeline, lack of mentoring and promoting opportunities, work/life balance challenges, limited access to powerful professional networks– are the same ones faced over a decade ago.
 

World Bank Managing Director Ngozi N. Okonjo-Iweala formally launched a Private Sector Leaders Forum (PSLF) with IFC Executive Vice President Lars Thunell and World Bank Vice President Danny Laipziger at the World Economic Forum January 2009 summit in Davos, Switzerland. This innovative public-private partnership is the latest initiative of Gender Equality as Smart Economics, the World Bank Group’s Gender Action Plan (GAP).
 

Companies that hire and retain more women not only are doing the right thing but can also gain a competitive edge. They can take several basic steps to achieve even greater parity.  These companies will be able to draw from a broader pool of talent in an era of talent shortages. What’s more, research shows a correlation between high numbers of female senior executives and stronger financial performance.
 

Any action that shows a consistent correlation to high profits would probably be of interest to companies struggling to swim against the tide of these perilous economic times. But one corporate policy seems to address both diversity and profitability issues in a single blow: Over the past several years, my colleagues and I at Pepperdine University have tracked the performance of Fortune 500 companies with a strong record of promoting women to the executive suite and compared their performance to that of other firms in the same industries. The correlation between high-level female executives and business success has been consistent and revealing.

The fund will invest in companies demonstrating ‘best practices’ with regard to gender diversity. The aim of the fund is to achieve an above-average return by investing in companies that do a superior job attracting and retaining diversity of talent. The study with Heidrick + Struggles found that gender diversity is the most influential socially responsible investment determinant of higher ROA.

Women represent half of our global workforce at the recruitment level, and 15 percent of the partnership, a number which continues to increase each year. Although great progress has been made to help women climb the corporate ladder, we know we need to do more.
 

Doing Business has been tracking regulatory reforms aimed at improving the ease of doing business. Despite the challenges presented by the financial crisis, the number of reforms hit a record level this year. Between June 2008 and May 2009, 287 reforms were recorded in 131 economies, 20% more than the year before. Reformers focused on making it easier to start and operate a business, strengthening property rights and improving the efficiency of commercial dispute resolution and bankruptcy procedures.

The Global Private Sector Leaders Forum is a group of influencial businesspeople and companies committed to promoting women’s economic empowerment. These leaders understand the importance of women’s contributions to business profitability and to the communities in which they operate. They are creating economic opportunities for women as an integral part of core business, community engagement and corporate diversity and inclusion.
 

Calvert’s recent Diversity Survey, Examining Cracks in the Ceiling, demonstrates that even the best companies have much to accomplish in developing a comprehensive diversity strategy.
 

Non-profit offering services and information to help organizations and individuals increase their effectiveness.
Page has many links to articles and research on critical mass.