Let’s change the face of leadership in swiss business

With this call to action, Advance has launched a new campaign for more gender diversity in the leadership of Swiss companies. As highlighted by the WEF this year, Switzerland still lags behind and ranks only 34th regarding women’s economic participation (Gender Gap Report 2020). In this sense: The visual ’50 Leaders. One Portrait’ speaks volumes.

Gender diversity makes business sense. Why?

GENDER-MIXED TEAMS DELIVER BETTER RESULTS

The McKinsey 2020 report ‘Diversity Wins – How Inclusion Matters’, highlights that the business case for diversity has strengthened over time. The greater the representation of women in executive teams, the higher the likelihood of those companies to outperform their peers.

Female competencies and leadership skills in general ideally complement those of men. This diversity of perspectives leads to better decision making and you benefit from representing your diverse markets in a better way for better business.

YOU CAN LEVERAGE THE TOTAL TALENT POOL INSTEAD OF ONLY HALF OF IT

Nowadays, more women than men enter the workforce with a university degree as numbers from the Federal Statistics Office confirm. As a society, we invest equally in the education of women and men. Isn’t it high time we leveraged the return on this investment for the best of a prospering economy?

Companies which do not learn to retain, develop and promote women into leadership roles, risk missing out on 50% of the top talent pool.

YOU BENEFIT FROM HIGHER EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION & ENGAGEMENT

Studies such as PwC’s ‘Diversity is Good for Growth’ (2019) show that companies with a high degree in diversity & inclusion benefit from more engaged employees. Engaged employees are more loyal, more innovative and perform better overall, which directly translates into better bottom line.

YOU ARE MORE ATTRACTIVE AS EMPLOYER OF CHOICE

Diversity & inclusion are winners’ criteria in today’s ‘War for Talent’. Companies with an inclusive culture and a higher degree of diversity across all management levels more easily attract best talent as a recently published article in the Harvard Business Review confirms.

As a leader, you can start walking the talk today

for a more diverse and resilient Swiss Business world

Facts, reasons why and know-how are one thing. Driving real change is another. To achieve this, it takes leaders like you: progressive, open-minded and inclusive in thinking and acting.

Out-dated behavioral patterns are still deeply ingrained. And sustainable change does take time. Yet, time is money as we all know, and the business case is as clear as it can be. So, what are we waiting for?

Together we can achieve more. Faster. And with more ease.
This is the spirit of the Advance community with over 110 corporate members. The exclusive program including best practice exchanges spans from offers for CEOs to D&I/HR professionals and female & male managers on a all levels to empowerment trainings for female talent and a unique cross-company mentoring program for senior talent. – If you are interested in becoming a member of Advance, take a look at our membership categories from Light to Gold.

For state-of-the-art insights and latest facts & figures, we annually publish the Advance & HSG Gender Intelligence Report in cooperation with the University of St.Gallen (HSG) and their renowned Competence Center for Diversity & Inclusion (CCDI).

Ready? – Let’s change the face of Swiss Leadership together!