BUIlDInG GEnDEr
Diversity
In TIMES OF CrISIS
»Karsten Jonsen, Willem Smit and Bettina Büchel, IMD
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For years, the world has been witnessing a
gender diversity may prove to be difficult. For
starters, there will be fewer empty management
quiet but monumental shift of power from men to positions to fill.
women. Today, the Great Recession has turned
what was an evolutionary shift into a revolutionary
As an alternative strategy, we should not forget
that there are two parts to the percentage
one.... so much so that the recession is now known calculation – the numerator and the denominator
to some economists and the more plugged-in
or the number of female managers and the total
corners of the blogosphere as the “he-cession” as
number of managers. While the focus has been
on the number of female managers, we are now
more than 80% of job reductions in the US have faced with a situation where the total number
fallen on men.
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-FinAnCiAl TimES, JunE 22, 2009
of managers is declining. If the total number of
managers decreases and the number of female
managers remains stable, the result is an increase
in the percentage of gender diversity in the
We all know recessions can be unpleasant. Many education, etc.) Gender-sensitive downsizing is managerial ranks.
suffer as consumers stop buying, banks cease to a strategic form of work-force reduction with the
give out loans and companies cut back and layoff objective to maintain or increase the proportion
workers. For all of a recession’s gloom, our current of women in management positions.
Lay-off homogeneity increases diversity
economic downturn provides an opportunity for
greater gender diversity. In times of crisis or restructuring, we need to
It takes two numbers to calculate diversity
consider the factors influencing downsizing
Was it easy to increase workforce diversity decisions. Normally, the decisions on who goes
during times of growth? Perhaps not. But with Let us look at an example of a company that has and who stays are based on rational motives,
a lot of effort and focused human resource 200 managers at the VP level and above. About such as historic performance of the people,
initiatives, more and more women and other 30 of these managers are women. Hence, the their tenure, cost structures of departments and
“minorities” have been promoted into the proportion of female managers is 15% (which is each person’s skills compared to the anticipated
management ranks. Albeit, the level of diversity close to the current average in Europe). Many future needs of the company. Yet there are
is still far from desirable given that 50% of the corporations use proportions and percentages as other motives at play (often taboos) that impact
Fortune 1,000 companies had no women in top key performance indicators for their HR policies. restructuring decisions more subtly and tacitly.
executive positions in 2000.(*1) Thinking ahead, In fact, diversity officers are often held responsible These include favoritism, friendship, physical
especially in times of crisis and downsizing, we for increasing this percentage over time (to the traits and perhaps the social status and needs
need to consider “percentages”, as the measure extent possible within their power). In the past, an of employees.
of diversity, in different ways. Restructuring obvious strategy for them was to make sure that
might provide an unprecedented and overlooked there were plenty of high-potential women in the Some of the taboos result from expectations
opportunity. We take here gender-diversity as talent pool who were candidates for managerial which lead to pre-judging a person’s suitability
an example, but this way of thinking may be positions. Yet, in times of crisis and redundancies, for a task or position based on demographic
applied for all kinds of diversity (ethnicity, age, promoting women from the talent pool to increase factors and not on objective performance
32 | CEO
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