All of the Big Four firms have achieved more than 30% female representation in senior leadership roles according to research by the Managing Partners’ Forum (MPF), which is calling for professional firms to aim for voluntary target of 40% over the next three years as they outperform large corporates on gender diversity
EY heads the inaugural annual MPF Women in Leadership table, with 34% of its senior leadership roles held by women. Next in the rankings is KPMG with 32%, followed by PwC (31.7%) and Deloitte (31.6%).
Three firms are between 25% and 30% (Grant Thornton, Smith & Williamson and BDO), with just three fewer than 25% (RSM, Mazars and Moore Stephens).
MPF’s statistics are based on data provided by the top ten accountancy firms. Leadership roles included in the statistics are senior and managing partners (or equivalent), those on the firm’s executive committee, those leading client-facing business units and functional leaders (such as the heads of HR and marketing).
MPF says that when compared with other industry sectors, the overall gender balance of 28.4% confirms that accountancy firms are pioneers at appointing women into leadership roles and nudging the aspirational target set by the 30% Club.
The membership association says leadership style and culture within professional firms are behind the high levels of women in leadership. MPF argues that women prefer the ‘challenge and support’ approach compared to the ‘command and control’ style common in many corporates.
Steve Varley, chairman and UK & Ireland managing partner at EY, said: ‘We have seen an improved representation of all diverse talent among our leadership team, testament to the focus we place on creating an inclusive environment where everyone can achieve their potential. Now more than ever, the UK needs to signal to the rest of the world that diversity and inclusion is a core business principle that is key to fueling growth.’
According to MPF’s analysis, women account for 10% of CEOs (Sacha Romanovitch at Grant Thornton), 22% of executive committee members, 24% of business unit leaders and 51% of functional heads. This compares with 8% (CEOs), 8% (executive committee) and 9% (functional heads) at UK organisations, according to a survey conducted by Grant Thornton International.
MPF’s report follows publication of this year’s Female FTSE Report, by academics at Cranfield School of Management, City University London and Queen Mary University London.
This shows that the overall percentage of women on FTSE boards has increased compared to March 2015 and now stands at 26% on FTSE 100 leadership teams and 20.4% on FTSE 250 boards. However, the report warns the rate of progress has slowed, endangering the aim of meeting a 33% board target by 2020.
So far, 44 companies in the FTSE 100 and 58 FTSE 250 companies have reached at least 27% women on their boards. The report suggests progress among executive ranks and in the executive pipeline remains very slow. Female executive directorships stand at 9.7% in the FTSE 100 and 5.6% in the FTSE 250.
Dr Ruth Sealy from City University London, who co-authored the report, said: ‘For change to be sustainable, we must focus on the pipeline and ensure that women can progress through senior management ranks. Only 19.4% of FTSE 100 executive committee members are women, and women hold only 10% of C-suite and operational roles on these committees.’
MPF’s Women in Leadership table is here.
