The latest Randstad Workmonitor Report shows New Zealand organisations trail much of the world when it comes to the proportion of women in leadership positions, with only 37 percent of Kiwis surveyed saying female employees make up at least half of leadership roles in their current employer.
Robinson says gender diversity in New Zealand leadership teams has fallen behind that of many Asian countries. larger number of respondents in India (63 percent), Hong Kong (54 percent), China (48 percent) and Singapore (47 percent) cited an even gender split in their management teams.
Over half of New Zealanders surveyed (54 percent) said it is more difficult for women to be promoted to leadership positions. At least this is “less troubling” than in Australia at 65 percent, Robinson says.
Randstad’s Workmonitor surveys over 13,000 employees across 32 countries each quarter.
Globally, greater number of employees in the USA (48 percent), UK (43 percent) and Italy (58 percent) report that female employees make up half of their organisation’s leadership team.
On brighter note, 69 percent of New Zealand companies are actively encouraging female employees to pursue leadership positions. “This compares to only 57 percent of employees globally who say their current employer encourages females to pursue promotional opportunities,” says Robinson.
Globally, the overall numbers of respondents who believe men (38 percent) or women (40 percent) are better suited to lead company do not differ greatly. However, several countries are much more outspoken on preference for male senior leadership (China, Hong Kong, India and Malaysia), while Spain, Chile and Mexico share higher preference for female leadership.
When asked if gender quotas would work as lever to promote more women in leadership positions, globally, more than half of the employees agree (57 percent). This belief is especially strong in China (78 percent), India (75 percent) and France (70 percent).
In New Zealand, however, employees are less convinced quotas are the right approach to the issue of women in leadership positions (46 percent).
More information:www.randstad.com/press-room/research-reports
