women matter-as if we didn’t know that
Photo credit: Jacob Wackerhausen
A 2007 study, Women Matter, by McKinsey & Company, concludes that companies with a greater percentage of women in top management perform the best. McKinsey evaluated the organisational excellence of 231 public and private companies and correlated it with each companies financial performance and gender diversity. The study found that companies with three or more women in senior management scored higher on their organisational excellence criteria than companies with no women in top-management positions.
A second, separate McKinsey survey was done of 89 European companies with high levels of women in senior positions to determine their impact on financial performance. When compared to the average financial performance in their sector, the companies with more women in top management outperformed the sector average in three metrics, return on equity, operating result (EBIT, earnings before interest and taxes) and stock price growth.
Firms with 3+ senior position women Average
ROI 11.4% 10.3%
EBIT 11.1% 5.8%
Stock price growth 64.0% 47.0%
McKinsey did not conclude a causal link to women in top management and increased financial success, other factors certainly effect a company’s financial performance, but the correlation was statistically significant. The study suggests that companies with greater gender diversity in senior positions perform better.
Nice to see some numbers proving the obvious.
