• One in five senior management positions at medium-sized companies is held by a woman
• Successful companies are far more likely to promote women
• Smaller businesses place greater emphasis on women in leadership roles
• More than half do not link gender balance with economic success
• EY recommends a five-point programme for Swiss companies

The share of women in senior management positions at medium-sized Swiss companies is rising slowly. On average, close to one fifth (19%) of members of executive boards and boards of directors are women, according to a recent survey by EY. Two years ago, the figure was still only 17%. The number of companies led exclusively by men is declining. That share has fallen from 41% two years ago to 35% today.

This issue reveals notable regional differences: while in French-speaking Switzerland only around a quarter (27%) of companies are led exclusively by men, the proportion is much higher in German-speaking Switzerland at 38%. There are also substantial disparities between sectors: among service providers, 28% of senior management positions are already held by women, followed by retail (18%), life sciences (15%) and industry (15%). The lowest representation of women in top roles is found in construction and energy (13%).

Smaller companies employ more women in leadership

The share of women in senior management is higher in smaller companies: in the revenue bracket of up to CHF 30 million, businesses employ an average of 21% women in leadership positions, while in organisations with revenue above CHF 100 million, the figure is significantly lower at just 13%. “Top positions in Swiss companies remain predominantly occupied by men,” says Marcel Stalder, CEO of EY Switzerland. “Even so, the share of women has edged up slightly. However, companies are still a long way from parity in their management teams. On the eve of International Women’s Day, it is clear to EY that the Swiss economy must rise to the challenge and diversify its leadership.”

Even lower rates in large companies

A survey conducted for International Women’s Day last year, supported by EY and carried out among 207 large Swiss companies, found even lower figures: no more than 9% of board members are women, and just 8% of executive committee members are women. “Medium-sized companies are leading the way in female representation in management,” says Robin Errico, partner at EY Switzerland and head of diversity and inclusion. “But they should not be satisfied with this result. In today’s working world, it is not right for only one in five leaders to be a woman. The goal must be to have as many women as men at the forefront. Our consulting experience shows that companies with more women in senior management are better positioned in the market. Employee engagement is stronger, corporate culture becomes more open and economic capacity increases.”

Successful companies support women more actively

The survey shows that successful companies have a higher proportion of women in leadership positions: companies that describe their business situation as “good” and expect further improvement employ 20% women in top roles, whereas companies that describe their situation as “rather bad” or “bad” and do not expect improvement employ only 16% women. Successful companies also support women more frequently; 30% of them say they do, compared with only 15% among less successful firms. On average, 21% of the companies surveyed actively promote women.

What active promotion of women means varies from company to company: 9% of the firms surveyed offer flexible working-time models, 7% provide targeted training for women to support their careers, and 5% train their senior managers in gender equality.

42% believe a strong female presence has a positive impact

42% of companies believe that a higher proportion of women in leadership positions has a positive influence on business success. That is well above the actual number of companies actively promoting women’s careers. “Mixed teams work better and enable companies to be more successful. Many companies are already aware of this. But the process of bringing more women into senior management takes time. Often, companies do not act with enough consistency. They need to work on an open corporate culture and promote female succession in a sustainable way,” says Robin Errico.

These efforts are not in vain, as suitably qualified women can be found: 65% of companies say they have no difficulty finding enough qualified women. However, the larger the company, the harder recruitment becomes. This challenge appears to be most acute in industry.

Companies must act in their own interest

EY also advises companies on diversity and inclusion and has developed five areas of action through which businesses can drive change.

• Set the path to the top: successful companies actively help women advance their careers; women must be given a framework that enables them to showcase their strengths and performance. Internal and external leadership programmes and networks help women progress. Introducing realistic and measurable targets for the share of women in senior management is another key motivator.

• Expand flexible working arrangements: as in the past, women traditionally spend more time than men on housework and childcare and therefore need greater flexibility. It is also important to offer male partners the option of flexible working hours, as this can help their career-oriented spouses move forward. Finally, it is becoming increasingly difficult to separate professional life from private life: instead, the two need to be integrated. This requires sensible workload management, a high level of trust from the company and suitable technical working tools.

• Create a supportive environment: management plays a decisive role in bringing about a cultural shift. Women feel motivated when they receive visible support. Companies should require senior executives to make themselves available as mentors.

• Raise awareness of bias: many employees are not aware that they do not evaluate or treat all colleagues in the same way. Women are particularly affected by these often unconscious biases and thoughtless behaviours. Companies can address the issue through management training. Managers must be aware of possible biases and change their attitude.

• Targeted and rigorous recruitment: if cultural change takes too long, companies must recruit women for leadership positions from outside. Given that the Swiss pool of female candidates is limited and competent women are in high demand, companies will need to improve their employer brand and consider working with headhunters.

EY has set clear goals

EY is also seeking to increase diversity within its own leadership. “We have set ourselves the target of increasing the share of female partners to 25% by 2020. In addition, we want to achieve as balanced a gender mix as possible when recruiting the roughly 300 university graduates we hire each year. To meet our targets, we take gender into account in all staff decisions, from recruitment and promotion to pay and objectives,” explains Marcel Stalder, CEO.