Why is it essential to have more female leaders, and what are the benefits?

One of the most important workshops that I offer is ‘‘Inspiring our Future Female Leaders’’. This program was created for lower-mid tier women, to give them the skills and confidence to aspire to be leaders.

In the July 2023 Women at Work report, created by Women Rising, their data highlighted some key areas of focus for women in business:

1. Career development

This is the key for employers to retain women, with 74% of women saying they would leave their organisation if their career development was not invested in by their current employer. Organisations are therefore at risk, with almost 40% of women stating that their employer has not invested in their career and/or leadership development in the past 18 months.

Many other factors rate highly for women to thrive, including opportunities to advance (69%), flexible work conditions (69%) and investment in their career (64%).

2. Lack of confidence

The biggest challenge women are facing when it comes to their career is confidence and moments of self doubt, with 53% impacted. Only 7% of women feel confident at work all the time, and 45% say they feel confident only some of the time or not at all. This lack of confidence is getting in the way of career progression for women, with 38% disinclined to put themself forward for a promotion.

For 60% of women, their ultimate career goal is to progress to management, senior management or executive leadership, highlighting a real hunger among women to progress.

FACT: Women are underrepresented in key decision-making roles across almost all industries in the Australian workforce. While women make up half the employees in the workforce, they only comprise:

32.5% of key management positions

28.1% of directors

18.3% of CEOs

14.6% of board chairs

What is the benefit of having more women in key management positions?

Sales per employee grew x3 in firms that increased the share of female top-tier managers against firms with no change – 18.2% compared to 5.1%.*

The appointment of a female CEO leads to a 5% increase in the market value of ASX-listed companies, worth AUD $79.6 million on average.*

A 10%+ increase of female representation on the boards of ASX-listed companies leads to a 4.9% increase in company market value, worth approx. AUD $78.5 million for the average company.**

For companies wanting to improve their financial position and increase their employee retention, it's crucial they increase their equity and gender composition.

Empowering women to become successful negotiators is the key to success, and I can help you achieve that.

Over the past ten years, I have helped women negotiate millions of extra dollars in salaries and packages, by teaching them life-long techniques to negotiate anything successfully.

If you are ready to make changes in your business, or you’re a woman who wants to be empowered with the confidence to negotiate, please get in touch as I would love to work with you.

**Cassells R and Duncan A (2020), Gender Equity Insights 2020: Delivering the Business Outcomes BCEC|WGEA Gender Equity Series. Issue #5 March 2020