Grant Thornton released “Pathways to Parity: 20 Years of Women in Business Insights” report, acclimations of two decades of research tracking the presence of women in senior management positions within Philippine mid-market companies.
It identifies three key strategies businesses can leverage to accelerate progress towards gender parity:
Shared DE&I Leadership: Assigning responsibility for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) to both a C-suite member and a female senior leader significantly impacts the number of women in senior roles. The report highlights that companies where a CEO works alongside a female senior leader overseeing DE&I see a higher proportion of women in senior management positions.
DE&I Strategy with Measurable Goals: Implementing a formal DE&I strategy with measurable goals proves to be highly effective. The research shows that companies combining DE&I initiatives with Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) efforts see the most progress towards gender parity at 41.2 percent.
Flexible Working Models: Hybrid work models, blending on-site and remote work, offer significant advantages. Businesses that embrace hybrid models report higher productivity of 42.2 percent and a positive impact on the percentage of women in senior management.
P&A Grant Thornton urges businesses to capitalize on this opportunity for significant progress.
For two decades, Grant Thornton’s Women in Business Research has been a significant contributor to workplace equity and gender parity in the Philippines. The firm itself demonstrates its commitment by having the highest percentage of senior roles held by female leaders compared to other companies in the country.
The journey towards achieving gender parity in senior management positions is ongoing. However, Filipino businesses are poised to take charge and create a more inclusive and equitable future.
“Sustainable change necessitates deliberate action and transparent responsibility from the leadership of each organization,’ said company chairman and managing partner Romualdo V. Murcia III.