The need to champion diversity and inclusion transcends companies, verticals and industries, but as with all movements it needs a unified voice to lead the change.
In being that voice for the global carrier industry, the Global Leaders’ Forum (GLF) this month released its report Driving Gender Diversity and Inclusion in The Telecoms Industry, in collaboration with Delta Partners.
A first for the industry, the report is part of the GLF’s ongoing work on diversity, inclusion and belonging, headed by Verizon’s Eric Cevis, chair of the DI&B working group, established in October – and it’s merely the start of the action he wants the industry to take.
“Hopefully we will be able to accelerate the change that we are all looking for, so we can bend that curve even faster and become even more inclusive, diverse and belonging,” Cevis says.
The top findings reinforce the age-old problem of representation.
While the lack of women in technical and C-suit roles in telecoms has long been noted, one may still be surprised to learn that in 70% of organisations less than 25% of technical roles are held by women.
In 95% of surveyed GLF organisations, women represent fewer than 50% of direct reports to the CEO and, further blocking the path to the corner office, representation on management teams reduces from 18% to 9% when HR and CSR positions are discounted.
It even reaches board level. Analysing the leading 20 telecom companies in the world by revenues, only half of boards have more than 20% female representation and a mere two have representation equal or higher than 40%.
While the GLF identified no single cause, in addressing the trend it highlighted the importance of role models, sponsorship schemes and identifying women for promotion.
“It’s about making sure you are opening that vector up and allowing a more diverse group of individuals, really working with the learning and development department to create training so you’re investing in females,” Cevis says.
Acquire, retain, return
These issues aren’t unique to telecoms and are particularly pronounced in corporate America. Year to date, two new records have been set: the highest number of Fortune 500 companies with a female CEO, and the highest ever number of women leading the top 3,000 companies in the US, as calculated by WSJ. Despite the records, both remain devastatingly low: 37 of the Fortune 500 and 167 of the top 3,000.
Yet a WomenTechCouncil survey across 90 countries showed that companies achieving up to 30% of female participation at senior leadership level, increased revenues by 15%. A study by Pipeline Equity identified that for every 10% increase in gender equity, businesses see a 1-2% increase in revenue.
Taking note, more than 60% of organisations surveyed for the GLF report have initiatives in place for gender diverse hiring, mentoring and/or return to work.
Reflecting on Verizon’s Women of the World scheme, Cevis says, “Taking the time, putting groups of what we call ‘top talent females’ together to be a support group, a buddy group or a partnership group is important, but at the same time we are smart enough to know you don’t do the journey by yourself, so we bring males in to be part of that conversation too.
“That increases the retention value and we see changes every day,” he adds.
In advising those who have yet to get started, Cevis says there are three stages to any successful diversity initiative: acquire, retain, return – and that successful examples are easy to find.
“As I read through the whitepaper, there is tremendous work being done by companies. Whether it’s stand up training and development, making sure investments are being made, or CEO support. It’s great when you can get CEO top-level support to help some of the bottom up, as well as top down ways we approach this,” he says.
Although the GLF will deliver a common message and guidelines, it won’t take a blanket approach – instead considering cultural differences between regions in local adaptations – nor will it stop with the release of this report.
“As I look at the GLF, it’s a conglomerate of more than 30 carriers from across the globe and what greater organisation to leverage the fact that we represent the telecoms industry across the world, to have the ability to really help with diversity and inclusion and make certain we continue to make progress.”
