From ESG to CEO

When I read a recent report saying that women are more likely than men to be appointed head of sustainability, frankly, I wasn’t that surprised¹.

Having worked in environmental, social and governance (ESG)-related roles for many years, I’ve observed first-hand how women are drawn to this area and excel at it.

Why is this the case, when, across corporate life, women still lag behind men in terms of rising through the ranks?

I think it’s because diversity is at the heart of ESG. It requires thinking about business value through a wider lens, looking beyond traditional notions of profit.

As a woman who has spent my career in fairly male-dominated areas in academia and business, I tend to bristle at many of the female stereotypes. That said, I do think women tend to view things in a more diverse way, often having to juggle multiple roles of provider, care-giver as a parent and/or as a child, and household manager.

ESG is about balancing conflicting goals, empathy, caring for others and the world – all unashamedly, one might even say clichéd, “feminine” characteristics that are swiftly gaining traction as companies everywhere strive to create a sustainable future. Perhaps “you think like a girl” will become the next “you throw like a boy” compliment.

As ESG becomes central to how we do business and assess value, it will also continue the push for diversity.

In the KPMG 2021 CEO Outlook survey of 1325 CEOs from around the world, over half (56 percent) admitted that their organization may struggle to cope with fast-rising public, investor and government expectations of inclusion, diversity, and equity.⁷

In my view, the diverse qualities that have seen women advance in ESG roles will become more and more important to generating long-term sustainable business value based upon financial and non-financial goals.

I believe an ESG-focused company can offer genuine work-life balance, with flexible hours, career breaks, childcare/elder-care assistance and extended leave, and equal pay, helping to attract and retain talent and bridge the gap between junior and senior management. I quite deliberately say “talent” rather than “female talent”. There’s a generational shift occurring – we all feel it. Younger women and men value and overtly seek what an ESG-focused company can offer, because ESG isn’t just diverse; it’s also inclusive.

Of course, women aren’t just rising in the ESG ranks. We are seeing improvements in female representation at the highest corporate levels.

Women now hold at least 30 percent of seats on a majority of S&P 500 boards², and one-third of directors in the FTSE 350 are now women³. We haven’t reached 50 percent yet, but it’s a vast improvement.

While this represents real progress, let’s not forget that, according to the Global Gender Gap Report 2021⁴, it will take another 100 years to achieve gender equality. 100 years! We simply need to do better.

On top of this, COVID-19 has pushed back hard-won advances, disproportionately impacting women, who were more likely to lose their jobs5, and continued to take on the majority of household chores, elder-care and child-care even when both parents were working from home⁵.

The progress made for women on boards should not distract us from the need to improve representation at junior and middle management levels. Across the developed world, women hold just 30 percent of junior management and 29 percent of senior management positions – with the figures even lower in emerging markets⁶.

For many women, the strain of balancing work and home life is a significant contributor, with some either taking a slower career track or opting out of the workforce entirely. This is a huge loss of talent and we must help companies find a way to retain these incredible women.