Female managers in Switzerland continue to gain ground
The Swiss economy has moved sustainably in terms of gender diversity and has definitely moved from the awareness phase to the awareness phase in the generation project. This is shown by the figures of the latest schillingreport, which sees female managers gradually in the fast lane.
There have never been as many female executives in Switzerland as there are today: According to the 16th schillingreport, the proportion of women on executive boards is rising for the first time by 3 percentage points (+ 30 %) from 10 % to a new high of 13 %. The number of female CEOs increases at the same time from 3 to 5 - and will increase to 8 in the current year. The public sector already employs 21 % women in top management.
Gender diversity has moved up the consciousness
The advance of female executives is underscored by the fact that the largest employers recently filled one in four vacant executive positions (26 %) with a woman, up from 21 % a year earlier, the report notes. For example, the public sector appointed a woman to 29 % of top executive vacancies. On the boards of the 100 largest employers, the proportion of women increased from 23% to 24%, according to the research. "After a long phase of sensitization regarding gender diversity, most companies have arrived at the awareness phase," notes the schillingreport 2021. They have now recognized how central their own
pipeline of female talent for business success. The number of companies that do not have a woman on their management board recently fell again significantly to 42 % (previous year 47 %). It is likely to be quite a few years before the acceptance phase - when appointments of women to management boards are as commonplace as those of men - is reached. "It's not for nothing that I always talk about a generational project," says editor Guido Schilling.
Expertise increases
This year's edition of the schillingreport evaluates the composition of the boards of directors by expertise for the first time. Here shows
The study shows that the members with an operational general management background clearly predominate with 61 %, while 39 % of the members ensure corporate governance with their expertise. 54 % of female board members have governance expertise, while two-thirds (66 %) of their male colleagues have a general management background.
More female managers in key functions
Women are increasingly taking on key functions: 52 % (previous year 39 %) of the new female members of the Executive Board assumed a role relevant to sales or earnings. Only 48 % (previous year 61 %) assumed a service role such as Human Resources or Legal. Among existing female Executive Board members, nearly two-thirds (65 %) are responsible for service functions. "The
companies' commitment to attracting women to sales- and market-related business management roles is also strongly felt in my day-to-day business," says Schilling. "That's why I always advise young women and men to develop in the company's core business and gain experience abroad if they want a career in top management." In addition, diversity generally makes companies more resilient, as another study has recently demonstrated.
Source: Guido Schilling AG
