Why Organisations Should do More to Develop Female Leaders

Last month Capp delivered a female leadership development day to officers at The Met, 100 years after the first women were admitted to the police service.

Although The Met has a female Commissioner, Cressida Dick, and 23% of its 31,000 police officers are female, it wants to do more to encourage leadership potential.

The Met is not alone. This is one of three female leadership development programmes we have running at the moment.

At a time when there are so many other challenges facing organisations, why is there increasing emphasis placed on gender balance in the workplace and in positions of leadership?

It’s not just about being politically correct. It makes sense for many reasons: socially, economically and financially.

Countless studies have found a positive relationship between the proportion of female board members and business performance, including sales growth, profit margins and an increase in shareholder value. Further studies have found that more gender-balanced boards are more efficient monitors of a CEO and have less volatility in their financial results. Having senior female leaders provides great role models for other women across an organisation and a greater pool of mentors and sponsors to support them in progressing.

We believe in building the pipeline of talent and offer programmes for women irrespective of their position within an organisation.

Investing in female leadership programmes can unlock talent you didn’t know was there. By working with women we help to develop self-awareness which helps them to understand better their strengths and motivations and make them better leaders.

Whether it is a one-day workshop or a programme of activity delivered virtually on a monthly basis, we have feedback and results from clients which show that investing in gender balance is definitely good for business.

Stephanie Hopper, Head of Talent Solutions, Capp