{"id":49734,"date":"2021-01-18T17:45:00","date_gmt":"2022-10-18T17:45:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/?p=49734"},"modified":"2022-11-02T03:45:36","modified_gmt":"2022-11-02T10:45:36","slug":"qa-jo-horgan-mecca-on-women-in-leadership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/au\/blog\/qa-jo-horgan-mecca-on-women-in-leadership\/","title":{"rendered":"Q&A: Jo Horgan, MECCA, on women in leadership"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In 2020, Chief Executive Women\u2019s ASX200<\/a> Senior Executive Census 2020 found that just one out of the year\u2019s 25 CEO appointments in ASX200 companies was a woman \u2013 in previous years this had been growing and had reached double digits. <\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Across the ASX200, only 12% of ELT line roles \u2013 roles with profit and loss accountability that are generally feeders to the CEO position \u2013 are held by women, and 65% of ASX200 companies have no women in ELT line roles, an increase from 57% in 2019.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jo Gaines, Saleforce\u2019s AVP Cloud Sales & Co-VP Salesforce Women’s Network JAPAC, caught up with Jo Horgan, founder and Co-CEO of MECCA, to talk about why the inclusion of women in leadership teams is not just the right thing to do, it\u2019s also good for business.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jo Gaines:<\/b> We know that diversity in a company\u2019s leadership improves the bottom line. But this year, COVID has disproportionately affected women in terms of workplace participation and remuneration. As we move from short-term solutions to COVID\u2019s challenges into the post-COVID economy, how can we address this?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jo Horgan:<\/b> Women make up 50.2% of the population, but even before COVID represented only 37.6% of full-time employees. Women earn less, have fewer savings, make up 68% of the part-time workforce and are more likely to be part of single-parent households. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Women were already underrepresented and more disadvantaged, then COVID disproportionately affected female-dominated sectors like retail, hospitality and childcare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We had made so many positive gains and were slowly but surely getting closer to workplace equality than we have been, and we cannot let that slide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A lot of the initiatives that were put in place during COVID were fantastic short-term support measures, but all the statistics are showing that women have been more disadvantaged as we come through the pandemic. To get back to pre-COVID levels, we need to be accountable for addressing the disadvantages that COVID amplified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jo Gaines:<\/b> What steps can businesses take to carry on the momentum that we had pre-COVID and get back to positive gains?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jo Horgan:<\/b> What gives me some hope is that humanity has shown how flexible it can be. It\u2019s shown how it can pivot to adjust to the circumstances that were in front of it during COVID.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We need to apply the same level of creativity to this great issue facing us: the gender equality gap. So how do we address it?<\/p>\n\n\n

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Participation is the most important lever for economic growth.<\/p>Jo Horgan<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n