NEW YORK, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Broadridge
Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR), a global Fintech leader
and part of the S&P 500® Index, today released a survey that
found executives with profit & loss (P&L) roles are
critical to the success of diversity & inclusion (D&I)
initiatives, both in terms of improving corporate culture and
helping these efforts contribute to the business's bottom-line.
Nearly all survey respondents (95 percent) agreed that executives
managing P&Ls should be actively shaping diversity progress
within their organizations; however, nearly half (46 percent) say
that their firm is not following this guidance, as their human
resources (HR) function holds responsibility for all or nearly all
diversity initiatives.
"While the financial services industry has made strides in
understanding the cultural benefits of diverse workplaces, there is
still a significant disconnect in understanding the true potential
for the bottom line," said Frieda
Lewis, Chief Commercial Diversity Officer at Broadridge. "To
experience the full potential of diversity, firms should not view
it as solely an HR mandate. Firms need to engage and motivate their
business leaders to build diverse teams that can drive the bottom
line in new and innovative ways."
Diversity's Impact Benefits and Boosts Both Employees and
Investors
An overwhelming 91 percent of respondents say that diverse
workforces help organizations identify and access new opportunities
for their businesses. Half of respondents (51 percent) say that the
biggest benefit of diverse workforces is a better ability to
acquire, engage and retain top talent. An additional one fourth (22
percent) say that diversity has an even greater impact on improving
client service, suggesting that there is external demand from
clients for working with diverse teams. Other respondents indicated
that a diverse workforce can offer improved product innovation
(eight percent) and abilities to serve new markets (eight
percent).
As environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG)
strategies grow in popularity and prominence in the financial
industry, Broadridge also asked respondents if companies with
visible commitments to gender diversity are more attractive to
investors – both retail and institutional. Three-in-four
respondents (76 percent) say that D&I is important to retail
investors; and, 68 percent say that D&I also influences
institutional investors' decisions. Still, 19 percent feel that
diversity efforts are not impacting investors.
Firms are "Leaning In" on Gender Gap
Looking internally, respondents were asked to depict their
office's gender dynamic by selecting one of five works of modern
feminist literature, ordered on a numbered scale of one (most
progressive) to five (least progressive). A majority (57 percent)
chose, Sheryl Sandberg's Lean
In, compared to just nine percent who chose, We Should All
Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – suggesting that
women are still actively working to narrow the gender gap:
- Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg
(57 percent)
- Women's Lives, Men's Laws, Catharine MacKinnon (16 percent)
- Women are Never Front-Runners, Gloria Steinem (11
percent)
- We Should all be Feminists, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (9
percent)
- Brotopia, Emily Chang (3
percent)
"Gender diversity is not just a women's issue; rather, it is a
business imperative," said Julie
Taylor, Chief Human Resources Officer at Broadridge.
"Comparing the responses by gender, we found that men in the
financial services industry are feeling out of touch with the
experiences of their female colleagues. Women in our survey, on
average, said that their workplace is more unequal than our male
respondents did, and this isn't uncommon. To enhance everyone's
workplace environment, we need to ensure that men, women and all
gender identities are rolling up their sleeves and joining the
conversation."
Gaps in Perception of Women's Progress and Mentorship
Opportunities
Despite discord in current dynamics, all respondents agree that
women have made progress in financial services and hold more
executive leadership roles now than they did five years ago. The
survey identified gender gaps in responses as men perceive this
change to be more significant than women do – 65 percent of men say
women have made "a lot" or "a decent amount" of progress, versus
just 49 percent of women. The remaining 51 percent of women felt
that their progress has been "limited" or "not nearly enough," and
three in four respondents overall (73 percent) agree that their
organizations need more women in profit and loss roles.
"Mentorship programs are a crucial investment in your talent
pipeline and help businesses to identify up-and-coming leaders, but
one in five of our female respondents don't see senior executives
as active sponsors and mentors of women. Only 12 percent of men
feel the same," added Lewis. "As the industry continues to make
headway on important social issues, mentorship and sponsorship are
crucial elements to ensuring D&I initiatives are creating both
cultural and bottom-line impact."
Methodology
The survey of 100 independent financial services professionals
and advisors was conducted at a financial services conference in
late January 2019.
About Broadridge
Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR), a $4 billion global Fintech leader and a part of
the S&P 500® Index, is a leading provider of investor
communications and technology-driven solutions to banks,
broker-dealers, asset managers and corporate issuers globally.
Broadridge's investor communications, securities processing and
managed services solutions help clients reduce their capital
investments in operations infrastructure, allowing them to increase
their focus on core business activities. With over 50 years of
experience, Broadridge's infrastructure underpins proxy voting
services for over 50 percent of public companies and mutual funds
globally, and processes on average more than U.S. $5 trillion in fixed income and equity trades per
day. Broadridge employs over 10,000 full-time associates in 18
countries.
For more information about Broadridge, please
visit www.broadridge.com.
Contact Information
Media:
Cindy Engman
Prosek Partners
+1 646-818-9281
cengman@prosek.com
Gregg Rosenberg
Broadridge Corporate Communications
+1 212-918-6966
gregg.rosenberg@broadridge.com
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SOURCE Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc.