The three major strategy houses - McKinsey & Company, Bain & Company and the Boston Consulting Group - are trying to increase the percentage of women in their ranks and, generally speaking, to create a supportive workplace for all, but getting significant and enduring results is far from easy. Indeed, pursuing and achieving gender equality can have many upsides: it can help sustainable development and economic growth,a part from being an essential human right issue.
Implementing gender-sensitive practices can of course help women with their work/life balance and, as already mentioned, strategy firms are paying more and more attention to recruiting women and creating programs to retain them.
We know that women make up about 27% of this industry. This makes us think that most of what is being done, however, comes from men: are we sure they actually know the needs of their female colleagues and how to deal with their issues in the management committees? Let’s see a couple initiatives undertaken up to now.
Among the best practices in the creation and implementation of women empowering initiatives, we should recall McKinsey & Company. For the past 3 years, the company has earned a spot as one of the top 10 working mothers companies, has improved the offering of women-focused empowerment programs, and has - on paper - tried to reduce its internal gender disparity. The network of women working at McKinsey, McKinsey Women, seems to be growing stronger day by day, becoming what the company describes as “a powerful resource that provides formal and informal mentoring, training, and relationship-building opportunities”, while fostering local connections and delivering local programs to “help women to connect, learn and grow”. Moreover, the company annually draws up the Women in the Workplace Report in collaboration with LeanIn.Org, in order to monitor the progresses made as for the reduction of gender gap.
Another company that puts a great effort in trying to empower women is Bain & Company. “We are moving from just supporting our women to be successful to ensuring that every woman at Bain truly thrives in her career," reads the company site. "To us, thriving is more than just day-to-day success on the job; it is about enabling our women to grow and flourish in both their professional and personal lives”. The importance given to inspire women and create a positive and sustainable work-life balance is at the basis of the company’s culture.
Also the Boston Consulting Group has launched several initiatives aimed at increasing women’s recognition and empowerment, like for example the Apprentice in Action. In addition to that, thanks to Women@BCG, the consulting company was able to organize masterclasses, programs, networking events in order to strengthen the bonds among the BCG female employees.
These initiatives are inspiring and well-thought, yet in practice the results have been disappointing: according to 2016 filings with the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA), the percentage of full-time permanent female management stands at just 20 percent at Bain & Company, 16 percent at McKinsey & Company and 25 percent at Boston Consulting Group - even below industry average.
“Progress on gender diversity at work has stalled. To achieve equality, companies must turn good intentions into concrete action”, declaims the first line of McKinsey’s Women in the Workplace Report 2018 - and we could not agree more.
Francesca Elena Di Majo, Maria Giaccari
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