Women in business 2017

New perspectives on risk and reward

In 2017, leadership teams are grappling with new conditions of global risk. With few predicting the happenings of recent years, businesses are striving to prepare for the further possibility of inconceivable events.

But businesses should do more than just react to the challenges of our time. As they respond, they must also consider opportunities that promote long-term growth.

Despite evidence that links diversity and improved performance, the dial on gender diversity in leadership is shifting at a painfully slow rate. Grant Thornton’s IBR research reveals that the proportion of women in senior leadership roles has hit 25%. However, this is an increase of just one percent since 2016, and six percent in the 13 years since the research began.

The research also reveals that men and women perceive risk and opportunity in different ways, and that they act differently as a result. Brought together, these diverse perspectives facilitate effective risk strategies for the sustainable growth of dynamic businesses.

Companies need to be more productive, more innovative and in many ways more open if they are to thrive. Therefore in this report, we provide a range of recommendations to increase the number of women in senior leadership roles for the benefit of businesses as a whole, and risk strategies in particular.