In 2014, the tech giant Lenovo recognized a problem in its workforce.

Although women make up more than 30% of Lenovo’s roughly 77,000 employees, the number of women on its executive leadership team was trending downward. In 2014, that number hit a new low: only 14% of executive-level roles were held by women.

“It was a tremendous red flag for us,” explained Jennifer Broerman Spencer, director of global diversity and inclusion at Lenovo. “We knew that it wasn’t trending in the right direction, and we had to take an intervention.”

As a result, the firm decided to create a leadership program to increase the number of female leaders in its workforce, a program that has now been in place for a decade. Broerman Spencer says that it has been a big boon to the company’s inclusion and diversity efforts—and its overall success.

Lenovo isn’t the only organization identifying gaps when it comes to gender equality and opportunities for promotion—and working to make changes.

Women in leadership is a rising focus for many workplaces, with many industry insiders pointing out the benefits that female leaders bring.

Read more at: https://www.shrm.org/topics-tools/flagships/all-things-work/how-employers-can-increase-the-number-of-women-in-leadership-rol