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If an organization wants to thrive in today's marketplace, diversity is the key. Research has also proven that diverse companies significantly outperform their homogeneous competitors. Organizations that are ready to leverage the potential of a diverse workforce begin by implementing and re-evaluating women's leadership initiatives. 

"I believe the single-greatest lever to driving innovation is building a diverse leadership team," says Karen Greenbaum, CEO of AESC, a global association representing the executive search and leadership consulting firm. "People bring different experiences and perspectives to the workplace. When you have a team that is diverse in gender, geography, experience, and age, they will be far more capable of coming up with outside-the-box solutions that drive real change. 

There is a shortage of top talent, and yet half of the world population, including women, is underemployed. Women only account for 39% of world employment, and only hold 27% of managerial positions. This is one reason why the UN made gender equality #5 on its list of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030. 

Here’s how women leaders drive innovation: 

Woman Leader as the Consumer Voice 

End-user and customer base of almost every organisation consists of women. It’s not surprising that women offer valuable insights when it is about developing new products or processes. 

But putting a woman into leadership often offers that one differing perspective into an otherwise and enables them to point out new opportunities, see value, and then take action on them. In fact, if an organization targets female consumers, introducing women into the leadership team improves the likelihood of success by 144%.  

Women Leaders as Cultural Influencers 

A recent study explored 341 Norwegian firms and found that female leadership was involved with organisational innovation. It also found that female leaders can have a ‘top-down’ effect in which they influence aspects of innovation culture throughout the organisation. 

How to Support Women Leaders to Drive Innovation 

But, if an organization is convinced that it can influence innovation outcomes by hiring more women, it doesn’t mean that the organization is prepared to do that. Here are some of the ways that organizations can take to attract or retain female leaders who can drive positive change at a company. 

Equal Pay Commitment 

Properly compensating team members will make a huge difference. It's one of the easiest ways to retain talent. Conduct a salary review every 12 months and rectify any like-for-like disparities. Some companies have taken the 3% Pledge for Pay Equity. 

Flexible Working Hours 

Employers and employees should be able to work when it makes sense to them with work performance based on objectives achieved instead of hours clocked. The organization could have flexible working hours as per an employee's feasibility and introduce a flexible maternity leave policy. Ensuring that organizations can accommodate the complex work lives of their employees makes it more likely that they'll want to work there and stay. 

Potential Investment 

Sometimes women self-eliminate when looking at a list of requirements for a position wherein men are more likely to apply even if they do not tick every box. Research has also disclosed that male candidates receive the expectation that they will grow into a role. Female candidates, on the other hand, are seen to be lacking in experience. 

The language an employer uses to recruit, the faith the employer has in someone's potential-all of these come into play in the hiring process. 

A Share in the Air Time 

One of the most common complaints from women leaders is that they don't get the same amount of time to speak in meetings, before executives, or with their co-workers or that when they speak. It is not regarded with the same level of seriousness as that of their male colleagues. 

Try finding ways to politely make space in meetings by asking colleagues to give you the floor to make a presentation or initiatively speak up in boardrooms. 

With a global marketplace that is changing faster than ever before, the most successful companies will be the ones that excel at driving innovation. And to get a leg up on the competition, start by pushing toward gender equality in the organisation's top leadership roles.