There will be no female leaders.

A global strategic initiative addressed to the improvement of gender issues related to the selected topic and case study. 

"Inthe future, there will be no female leaders. There will just be leaders."

― SherylSandberg, COO Facebook

A global strategic initiative: From gender diversity to leadership diversity

Three levels:

Global Level

International campaigns

Ensurewomen’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadershipat all levels of decisionmaking in political, economic and public life

State level (legislation: Corporate Board Quotas)

Legislating for corporate gender

quotas The use of corporate quotas has led to a clear increase in female representation on boards in

 

The most widely known example of corporate board quotas is in Norway, where a 40% gender quota for public limited, state-owned and inter-municipality companies was introduced in December 2003. The quota gave companies a grace period until 2008 to reach the target. Female representation had increased only gradually before 2003, but then jumped from 15.9% in 2004, to 37.0% in 2007, and finally reached the 40% target in 2008.42 The effort of the Norwegian Confederation of Enterprises to train women and link potential female board members to companies played an important role in this process.

The Norwegian legislated gender quotahas become an example for other countries that strive to increase femalerepresentation on corporate boards. Legislated board quotas have since beenintroduced in Spain (2007), and France, Iceland, and the Netherlands (2010).Quotas for public limited companies are also being discussed in Belgium, Canadaand Italy, where laws are pending at different stages of the ratificationprocess.

punish non-compliers then they can increase female representation in the corporate sphere

The evidencesuggests that, if governments demonstrate a willingness to punish non-compliersthen they can increase female representation in the corporate sphere.

Organisation level Voluntarygender quotas in the corporate sector.

The first DAX- listed company to make a voluntarycommitment was Daimler in 2006. The company pledged to fill 20% of allmanagement positions with female candidates by 2020. Deutsche Telekom announcedin March 2010 that it would fill 30% of its management positions with women bythe end of 2015. Eon followed suit with an announced intent to increase theshare of women in management positions, but did not set clear targets ordeadlines. Some countries have quotas for state-owned enterprises, includingIsrael, South Africa, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland and Switzerland.Finally, the local governments of Quebec, Berlin and Nuremberg have introducedquotas for provincial and municipal companies. Female board representation hasincreased in all three locations, but has not yet reached the target levels.

Creating

a culture of From gender diversity to leadership diversity

Implementing gender diversity indicators

Redefining human resource management process andpolicies

Helping women to master the dominant codes and nurturetheir ambition

Implementinggender diversity indicators

Establish a diagnosis of the situation and identifygaps and bottlenecks. (Proportion of women in the company’s various businessunits, at each level of management, pay levels and gaps, attrition ratesbetween men and women in similar functions.)

Redefininghuman resource management process and policies

Ensure recruitment, appraisal and career managementsystem are gender-neutral and performance-focused, and that they do not holdwomen back in their professional development.

Ensure the quota on every promotion and recruitmentshortlist for senior positions.

Allow career flexibility and support during breaks.

Offer personalized career paths in order to retain thebest talent.

Helpingwomen to master the dominant codes and nurture their ambition

Coaching and mentoring programs in raising women’sawareness of self-imposed limitations and enable them to manage careers in amale-centric environment.

Setting up women’s networks within a company to create

opportunities for broader professional exposures, raising the profile of female

leaders.

 

Diversifyingleadership behaviours

Seek to diversify leadership behaviours and spreadgood practices within the entire organisation.