There’s work to be done

There has been positive progress on the proportion of women in senior management positions. The early signs are that this progress could receive a significant boost from changes to ways of working post-pandemic, which have been adopted on a global scale. The uptake of support and wellbeing programmes and the commitment to clarity and equal opportunities could also increase the percentage.

However, the fact that progress is steady state, and even at risk of sliding backwards, demonstrates the importance and urgency of committing to more intentional action to increase the percentage of women in senior leadership.

Most businesses are now in the 30% club, but given the slow progress since reaching this tipping point we need to push for more meaningful progress – we must push for parity. Governments, investors, clients and customers won’t accept less.

In instilling these positive measures to accelerate progress, we do also need to guard against the potential negative impacts on women. Mid-market businesses need to grasp the benefits of flexible work, whilst guarding against creating some potential pitfalls that might occur if they fail to nurture and monitor its effects.  

We also need to closely examine the impacts of new ways of working on broader diversity and inclusion. In the push for parity, we must ensure no one gets left behind.