A 250-Year Wait for the Economic Gender Gap to Close?

250 years my a**

According to the World Economic Forum, there’s likely a 250-year wait for the economic gender gap to close. We say we need to find a different way to get the job done.It doesn’t have to take 250 years – we think that’s a cop out, an excuse for dragging our collective feet.Take Goldman Sachs’ bold example. David Solomon, Goldman Sachs CEO, recently announced at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland that it will no longer take public companies that don’t have at least one diverse board member with a focus on women. Apparently when he reviewed IPOs over the last four years it was clear that in the US the performance of IPOs that had a woman on the board was significantly better than the performance of IPOs where there hasn’t been a woman on the board.

Good for Goldman Sachs for taking a stand and setting a precedent.

Morrisons, the fourth largest supermarket chain in the UK, is another example of using their size and power to effect change. In an effort to reduce their carbon footprint, they simply told their suppliers that all packaging must be recyclable by 2025. If a supplier doesn’t achieve that goal, Morrisons will not carry its product. Quite the incentive!Nothing effects change at lightning speed than the possibility of losing business.The financial community could well do the same if it was really committed to closing the gender gap.Consider this: a bank gives its suppliers 12-18 months to achieve at least 50% women in leadership at their firms if they want to continue to provide products and services to the bank. This would apply to all suppliers, whether you fix elevators, supply toilet paper or sell advertising, provide training and legal services.Bottom line, we’re willing to bet that most companies would do anything to achieve the criteria of 50% female top executives by 2022 – rather than lose the business altogether.And, just like that, we could double the number of women who lead in most organizations.

We need more Goldman Sachs and Morrisons.

Visit our website www.strategymarketing.ca for other ways to effect change in your organization when it comes to serving women as clients and financial advisors.

Related: Women Frequently Use the “Jerk” Factor as Reason to Leave Advisors