COVER STORY
With women so well represented in HR, both regionally and across the globe, why are so few moving up into senior leadership roles? HR Magazine explores why this is happening and what can be done to get the best out of both worlds when it comes to gender equality and effectiveness in the workplace. Diversity and inclusion—when discussed by HR, boards, business commentators and at HR Magazine events—more often than not shines the spotlight on the push for more representation of women on boards, equal treatment for those with disabilities and for sexual preference to have no bearing upon the view of and treatment of LGBT individuals in the workplace. Research from the US, Canada and the UK, however, has thrown up the suggestion that men are under-represented in senior and management positions in HR. So, before
18 | HR Magazine
looking to promote female representation outside of the function, should HR first be looking within itself? According to Michael Page’s Global HR Barometer 2013, in Asia 60% of senior HR positions are held by women. This is close to the global average of 59% but seems much more equal than in North America where the average is 66%, according to Michael Page, or 69% according to HRxAnalysts’ What HR Thinks and Feeds: The 2011 Psychographic Survey of HR Professionals. Julie Cook Ramirez, in her article The Feminization of HR quoted
Tim Sackett, Executive VP, HRU Technical Resources, as asserting that the presence of women in the HR profession has become so universal that now the term ‘women in HR’ is an oxymoron, or more accurately a pleonasm. Indeed, he claimed that the majority of HR executives in Fortune 500 companies with which he does business are female. While such data must be continually updated to be as accurate as possible, several head HR honchos in the West have been quick to offer up their theories behind the preference for female HR managers.