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Benefits of gender equality revealed by the pandemic

July 11, 2020

As the Corona virus pandemic swept around the world, organizations of all sizes were forced to transform in order to continue to function. With entire operations shifting to remote working and supply chains massively disrupted, organizations with policies and practices already in place to accelerate progress towards gender equality discovered they had the ability to adapt more quickly and more successfully to operating during this crisis.

In our webinar on July 9, 2020, in cooperation with EDGE Certified Foundation on the topic of ‘How the pandemic reveals benefits of gender equality,’ Aniela Unguresan asked Margaret Johnston-Clarke from L’Oréal, Jolanda Grob from Zurich Insurance,  Christopher Bylone (He, Him, His) from International Flavors and Fragrances and Peter Frobel from UNICEF for the one word which best describes their personal experience over the past 4 months as well as some unexpected benefits:

The ONe word to best describe the Corona experience

  • “Problematic Opportunity” – it forced us to ask and find answers to the question “How do we continue to do D&I on a global scale in a virtual space?”
  • “Tension” – between the awfulness of the pandemic and the opportunity to show an unwavering commitment to our values.
  • “Unexpected” – the unprecedented nature of the crisis encouraged us try to achieve what previously was considered too difficult to implement.
  • “Growth” – in hindsight we see that the years of investments we put into defining and rolling out flexible work options and remote working technology seriously paid off!

“HOw does diversity lead to business resilience?”

This question from the audience enabled the panel to vividly showcase the connection between maturity in gender equality, better performance and employee satisfaction:

High-trust, output-focused & inclusive as winning formula

  • High-trust underpins high-performing companies. Those organizations that have invested in the high-trust, output-focused and inclusive culture arising from flexible working have been able to adapt quickly to the challenging environment, whilst maintaining high levels of employee pride, performance and loyalty.
  • Critical times place organizations in unchartered territory and require making difficult decisions with very little precedent to capitalize on. The more diversity of thought at the decision-making table, the higher the chances to make the best decisions.
  • Flexible working models were traditionally implemented to support gender balance, diversity and inclusion. They allowed organizations to acquire the capacity to perform while working flexibly, which proved to be a critical factor to ensure business continuity when organizations needed to shift to flexible working.
  • The increased innovation capacity which comes with diversity allows organizations to quickly adapt their ways of functioning in disruptive times.

business case even clearer

The business case for gender equality and diversity has become even clearer during the pandemic. Thank you to all who actively participated in this important discussion. – It has revealed plenty of reasons to keep this topic high on the agenda of business leaders.

Together we #advance faster!

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