Johannesburg - Women still hold less than a quarter of all senior management positions.
This is according to new research from Grant Thornton released on Tuesday to coincide with International Women’s Day.
Read: The crucial role of diversity
The research highlights that very little progress has been made globally to grow gender diversity in business leadership, despite concerted efforts in many parts of the world.
In South Africa, women only hold 23 percent of senior management positions and 39 percent of local businesses do not have any women in leadership positions, according to the research report.
The report, Women In Business: Turning Promise Into Practice, is based on the annual Grant Thornton International Business Report (IBR) which surveys 5 520 businesses in 36 economies, with research conducted from July to December 2015. In South Africa, 200 businesses were surveyed for the 2016 report.
“We are beginning to lose a very important battle. The gender diversity issue has been on the South African agenda for many years but we’re clearly not making any headway here,” says Lee-Anne Bac, Director of Advisory Services at Grant Thornton.
“The new research reveals that the percentage of women in senior management positions now is down from 27 percent last year, and it’s even dropped to below the average of 26 percent achieved between 2004 and 2015. This does not bode well for the advancement of women at all.”
At a time when SA businesses face real challenges on a number of fronts, it is more critical than ever that organisations demonstrate true leadership to help put the country on a winning path, says Grant Thornton in a statement. Diversity is good for businesses, encouraging different ways of thinking and opening new growth opportunities.
“Within the context of increased uncertainty and complexity, firms need to resist group-think and welcome a range of perspectives in order to grow,” says Bac. “This is particularly relevant in a rapidly changing global business environment when a wide range of perspectives is critical to navigating new landscapes.”
The commercial benefits of women in leadership are well-established. According to the 2016 Women in Business report, “recent research highlights how companies with diverse boards among the largest listed companies in the UK, US and India are outperforming their male-only peers to the tune of $655 billion annually.”
The global situation
Despite overwhelming evidence of the benefits of gender diversity in leadership and promises of action from businesses and governments around the world, there has been little tangible progress. Globally the level of women in senior roles has risen just 3 percentage points in the past five years. The report adds that, at this rate it will be 2060 before gender parity is achieved.
The Women In Business survey reveals that worldwide there is a slight upturn in the number of women in senior management positions over the last year, from 22 percent to 24 percent. One in three businesses worldwide, however, has no women in senior management positions, a figure which has changed little over the past four years.
The G7 region of countries is among the worst performing regions, with just 22 percent of senior roles occupied by women and 39 percent of companies with no women in senior roles. Two of the poorest performing individual countries are Japan, with just 7 percent of senior roles held by women, and Germany, with 15 percent.
Meanwhile, Eastern Europe and Association of Southeast Asian Nations regions report the highest proportions of women in leadership at 35 percent and 34 percent respectively, and just 16 percent and 21 percent of firms with no women in senior management respectively.
Russia tops the list of individual countries with 45 percent of senior roles held by women, followed by the Philippines at 39 percent, where only 9 percent of businesses have no women in senior management.
“Today, more than ever, SA requires diverse leadership teams for businesses to compete and grow,” adds Bac. “We need to create an environment that attracts and develops women leaders. Businesses have talked the talk on diversity in leadership for long enough - it’s time to take action and deliver results.”
IOL