rotmanmagazine.ca / 85at the Bank of America recently wrote a piece called, “Women,
the X Factor,” showing that companies with women on boards,
women in leadership roles and progressive inclusion policies
have lower price and earnings volatility. Year-over-year numbers
from two years ago vs. last year indicate that the deliberate
integration of gender-based data makes a difference in terms of
long-term performance. All of these findings are very important
to investors, and Wall Street is waking up—if slowly.FOCUS # 3 : Create products and services that drive
gender equality. Some investors focus on an enterprise’s
products and services, and how they might improve gender
equality in their markets. Does the company have a productthat is going to solve a challenge for women, like women’s
safety? Has it taken women into consideration in its offerings?
Recent research shows that software design, for example, has
predominantly addressed male patterns of problem-solving.
Thinking about how to de-bias software design could open up
a whole new set of product offerings. I sometimes ask people,
‘When do you think we started to mandate the use of female
crash test dummies in the driver’s seat in the U.S.?’ The answer
shocks them: 2011. In general, the design process for new prod-
ucts and services contains significant gender gaps—and at the
same time, huge opportunities.- Jackie VanderBrug
Jackie VanderBrug is a Managing Director
and Investment Strategist at U.S. Trust, Bank
of America Private Wealth Management
within the Global Wealth & Investment
Management division of Bank of America.
Kathleen McLaughlinis Senior Vice President and Chief Sustainability
Officer at Walmart and President of the Walmart Foundation. This article
is based on their presentations at the Behavioural Approaches to Diversity
Conference, held at the Rotman School of Management last fall.ness or not?’ Canada is really trying to be ‘gender blind’, whereas
in the U.S., that is readily available information.”
Fourth, you need to put in place lots of new infrastructure
just to manage such a program and the behavioural changes re-
quired among your own people to get them to look at yet another
score card and set of indicators. “We put this into people’s perfor-
mance reviews, because you’ve got to take steps to drive behav-
iour around these issues.”
In closing
For Bank of America, Walmart and a growing number of others,
efforts to address gender inequality are just part of doing busi-
ness in the 21st century. “Our customers, associates, suppliers,
NGO partners and other stakeholders now trust — and expect —
us to do the right thing,” says McLaughlin. “We are living proof
that there is no conflict between being responsible and being
successful.”
The fact is, every organization needs to start treating gender
equality as the business priority that it is. Until they do, meaning-
ful progress will remain out of reach. McKinsey & Company’s
most recent “Women in the Workplace” report (available online)
makes two things clear: one, that women remain sorely under-
represented at the top of organizations — particularly women
of colour; and two, that companies need to change the way they
hire and promote entry and manager-level employees in order to
make real progress.
For anyone who doubts it, the McKinsey report confirms
that closing the corporate gender gap can no longer be a side is-
sue: It is an economic necessity. Programs and policies designed
to reduce bias and ensure fairness don’t just benefit women.
They benefit everyone. As indicated in the report, “in the best
workplaces, the most talented people can rise, no matter who
they are. That should be the expectation for every workplace,
everywhere.”