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CLOSING THE GAP<br />
Nicole Bradley, Diversity Leader, Grant Thornton<br />
<strong>Australia</strong>, asks: When will gender diversity at leadership<br />
levels be ‘the norm’ instead of the ‘strived for’?<br />
WE KNOW THERE is a genuine<br />
desire for corporate <strong>Australia</strong> to<br />
close the gap when it comes to<br />
gender diversity. Our study shows<br />
the number of organisations with no<br />
women in senior leadership roles is<br />
actually decreasing in <strong>Australia</strong>.<br />
While this is great to see and clearly<br />
the business case for gender diversity<br />
is well recognised; progress is still<br />
too slow. Government, businesses<br />
and individuals need to be more<br />
diligent in addressing the systemic<br />
issues that hinder progress.<br />
These systemic issues are as<br />
prevalent today as they were<br />
decades ago when gender diversity<br />
increasingly featured on the corporate<br />
agenda. Our study found when it<br />
comes to women holding senior<br />
leadership roles, <strong>Australia</strong> sits at 23<br />
percent, behind the global average of<br />
25 percent. The largest gap found in<br />
<strong>Australia</strong> was right at the top, CEOs. At<br />
just three percent, following five years<br />
of decline, <strong>Australia</strong> has slipped well<br />
below the global average of 12 percent<br />
when it comes to female CEOs.<br />
A decline in gender diversity at<br />
leadership levels is an alarming fact<br />
for corporate <strong>Australia</strong>. Diversity<br />
is key in managing business risk,<br />
closing the gap has never been more<br />
important against a backdrop of global<br />
economic and political uncertainty<br />
as well as most industries facing<br />
significant disruption. Businesses<br />
are leading in an environment of<br />
volatility, uncertainty, complexity<br />
and ambiguity. The only thing<br />
that is certain is uncertainty and<br />
business models need to change.<br />
When it comes to perceptions<br />
of risks and how to deal with them,<br />
men and women view things through<br />
different lenses. Using diversity to<br />
make better decisions at a senior level<br />
will help business when it comes to<br />
navigating in unchartered waters.<br />
Teams without diversity are at a<br />
much greater risk of going down<br />
a path without considering all the<br />
options or coming up with better<br />
answers to complex problems.<br />
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