Why Gender Diversity is Integral to your Company’s Success

Gender equality has been on everyone’s lips for a very long time, so why is it still an issue within the workplace? With so much information circulating as to the benefits of gender diversity throughout all levels of an organisation, why are we still finding an imbalance within board rooms and senior management?

Other than the obvious political and cultural arguments based on fairness, gender equality can also benefit the bottom line. Recent research by Morgan Stanley highlighted that, in the world of finance, more gender diverse companies offer similar return with lower volatility. Therefore, a greater diversity of gender stabilises a company’s bottom line. In addition to this, an in-depth report by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills in 2013 found that gender diversity increases productivity and creativity, which results in furthering company development and profits.

With roughly half of the population being female, it is incredible that this is not yet representative in all workplaces. Here are five reasons you should consider creating a gender diverse workforce, especially within senior leadership.

Decreased turnover

It has been proven that increased gender diversity creates a culture in which everyone feels accepted and able to develop their careers, which in turn leads to greater staff retention. Employee turnover is one of the key challenges that organisations face, yet a report by Gallup found that companies with inclusive cultures describe a 22% drop in turnover rates. This is purportedly because of increased morale, opportunity and equality that gender diversity promotes.

Improve reputation

From our own experience and various reports in recent years, reputation has become increasingly important to drive company success, especially as part of the recruitment process. A 2015 study by PwC found that 83% of women seek a career within a company that represents strong records of diversity and equality, highlighting the importance of advertising these policies through services such as Vercida to achieve further gender diversity on a whole.

Increase engagement and productivity

Increased gender diversity has been proven to improve employee satisfaction, which then leads to better engagement resulting in enriched performance. Equality is not just about attracting diverse candidates, it’s also about increasing output and employee satisfaction internally. Happy, supported employees equals loyalty and motivation to achieve business goals.

Representative of customer base

To engage and retain a diverse customer base, it is integral to represent that audience in your employees as this will give further insight into the wants and needs of these demographics. Women influence over 85% of retail decisions, so aligning direct representation within your organisation is imperative to capitalise on this.

Widen your talent pool

Lack of female representation within your organisation significantly decreases your talent pool as you are excluding roughly half of the population. We all have different talents, different attributes and bring different skills to the table, without this a business will not develop, adapt, innovate or progress. Widening the talent pool to include women brings their unique experiences, personalities and opinions to the table, which results in diversity of thought leading to increased innovation and business development.

Vercida works with over one hundred clients who are committed to creating an inclusive work environment. If you are an employer and interested in working with Vercida to promote your diversity and inclusion initiatives and attract the best candidates, please call 02037405973 or email [email protected] for more information.

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