"Women leaders in Asia face unique challenges which must be overcome in order to fully unleash the human potential of this underleveraged talent pool," said Arkless. "Growing the pipeline of women in leadership roles is critical as an engine of economic growth in a region where so many employers continue to be frustrated by the lack of qualified talent they need to meet fast-rising demand for products and services. This talent mismatch will be exacerbated in future by shifting demographic trends."
In order for women to break the "Glass Ceiling" and promote gender inclusiveness at the highest level, ManpowerGroup recommends that companies rethink prohibitive working models and people practices and embrace greater flexibility so that outstanding women performers are not forced to choose between professional success and personal fulfilment. The traditional office-based work week is impractical for many women who bear primary responsibility for childcare and other family commitments.
Retaining women in the workforce is vital to their advancement and policies should be put in place to allow women to develop professionally while balancing work and home duties so that more emphasis is placed on results and knowledge gained rather than time spent in the office, allowing high-performing women to achieve success at a pace that works for them. ManpowerGroup recommends Asian businesses take steps now to strengthen the foundation of women in their workforce as such moves will not bear fruit immediately, and qualified talent will grow more elusive in the meantime.
Arkless referenced ManpowerGroup's talent development initiatives that have proven effective in grooming women leaders in Asia. Cross-cultural "dipping" of managers and reverse expatriation have been successful, that is placing managers of emerging market operations in developed markets in order to help them learn best practices and skills from other parts of the world to take back to their local operations and adopt as appropriate.
In addition, ManpowerGroup's women executives have played a significant role in the company's success, including Francoise Gri, President of Southern Europe and head of France, the company's largest single market. Gri last week led ManpowerGroup's delegation to the World Economic Forum on Europe, has been named to Fortune magazine's list of the Global 50 Most Powerful Women in International Business for seven consecutive years and is passionate about changing the numbers at the top so more women reach positions of power.
"Asian companies need to realize that it is in their economic interests to get more women into the C-Suite and the boardroom," added Arkless. "With the supply of talent struggling to keep up with demand in the region, presenting greater opportunities to 50 percent of the potential talent pool is clearly imperative in order to win the changing world of work."
