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Promoting female leadership skills is an important part of company growth for businesses worldwide.
This is according to Lisa Crawford, senior vice-president of employment services consultancy Randstad, who said the benefits of greater diversity in the workplace are multitude.
“With nearly one billion women poised to enter the global economy in the coming decade, and representing the majority of college and advanced degree holders, employers will be increasingly reliant upon women in the workplace to drive innovation and corporate success,” she explained.
“In order to compete in the growing war for female talent in the years ahead, companies that encourage the development and attainment of leadership positions equitably will be well-positioned in their recruitment efforts.”
Ms Crawford was quick to acknowledge that this advice is relevant regardless of gender, with leadership development proving a top ambition for many employees.
Randstad recently completed its Employee Engagement Index, which showed the best way to enable women to advance into leadership positions is to provide equal pay.
The survey, which was carried out in the US, revealed 49 per cent of women believe salary gaps are the main barrier to progression.
One-quarter of respondents said increasing the availability of leadership programs would help, while 28 per cent said workplace flexibility is an important factor.
Despite this, there is confidence that more women will be in leadership positions in the coming years, with more than two-thirds stating that their organisation will have promoted more females by 2020.
Businesses worldwide may want to take note of the fact that over three-quarters of women believe seeing females in positions of leadership is a vital consideration when choosing whether to take a job with a company or not.
The survey also showed women are more likely to be loyal to their current employer, with only 36 per cent considering a job change in the next six months, compared with 42 per cent of men.