Creating an inclusive and diverse work environment makes good business sense and is the right thing to do. Data clearly shows organisations that have more inclusive environments perform better and have stronger financial results. However, while trends are moving in the right direction, women’s access to leadership opportunities remains a global challenge. At the current pace of change, it will be beyond my life time and that of my children and their children before we see parity in the workplace. Confronting this challenge requires a sense of urgency and vigour and a broad mindset. There is no one silver bullet, but a mirage of factors that need to change in order to close the gap and permanently reverse the trends that have prevented too many talented women from attaining leadership positions.

It’s with that frame of mind that I recently participated in a panel discussion hosted by The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to commemorate International Women’s Day. Having served in numerous capacities at Deloitte UK and now at Deloitte Global, I have witnessed the benefits that our network accrued as more and more women became member firm partners and joined the leadership ranks. I am proud of the progress we have made, but I know we can do better. The Deloitte network has more than 225,000 professionals worldwide and 44 per cent are women. However, that percentage begins to drop as women rise to the manager level and continues to decline at the director and partner level, the two highest levels in our organisation. Sadly, like other large organisations, we lose more woman than men.

Read more at: https://www.deloitte.com/lk/en/about/people/social-responsibility/improving-womens-access-to-leadership-opportunities.html