Why it’s beneficial to have women in the C-Suite

What the research says & how to help

Jan 09, 2024

What’s on our mind: How can we get more women into the C-suite?
Resources for your team to take action
Content we’re consuming: Recommendations from our community
Free inclusion resources

Why it’s beneficial to have women in the C-Suite

Women have been continuously underrepresented in senior positions and while we are seeing some positive changes and progress, here at Hustle Crew we want to see more women in the C-suite. And we’d like to see it happen now.

According to Harvard Business Review, research has shown that having more women in roles like Chief Executive Officer, Chief Technology Officer and Chief Marketing Officer creates more profitable and socially responsible businesses.

Now from the anecdotal data we gather in our community we could have told you that ourselves, but the paper in question details:

“Adding women to the C-suite does not simply bring new perspectives to the top management team — it shifts how the top management team thinks. Our research indicates that female executives don’t just offer specific new ideas to the team; their presence actually makes the top management team collectively more open to change and less comfortable with risk-taking.”

Photo by Brooke Cagle

In the UK, as of August 2023, only nine women occupy the role of CEO in FTSE 100 companies. None of them are women of colour.

Sue Vinnicombe, writer of the annual Female FTSE Board Report states

“The focus has to be on the executive pipeline now, I don't see the point in having any more gender targets.”

And we see her point: why put effort into diversifying the workforce if we’re not willing to help underrepresented employees successfully rise up the career ladder?

“Fewer women proportionally get promoted than men. It’s the same for Black and minority ethnic candidates as well. Talent management and succession planning have to be taken more seriously. You won’t suddenly get more female CEOs unless you’re developing them within the business.”

So what steps can you take to elevate the women in your company?

1. Promote more women. This might seem like an obvious one, but by creating a pipeline for women to clearly progress in the company will help women to feel supported with a distinct career direction. Studies have shown that companies with more women on the board see a direct increase of female held senior positions.

2. Undertake or refresh your diversity and inclusion training. Are you and your team aware of your unconscious biases and how they impact your judgements and decisions? Our D&I training provides impactful tools to support you on your inclusion journey. Find out more here.

3. Provide feedback and mentoring. Check-in with the women on your team, find out their aspirations and goals and find out what they directly need from you to achieve them.

4. Terminate your bad apples. Women in the Hustle Crew community have quit jobs due to toxic managers that failed to support them, or worse still, bullied and harassed them. Ensure you terminate the bad apples in your management team.

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