Female Employees In Top Leadership Position – Discussion And Analysis

Short introduction about the company

Discuss about the Female Employees in Top Leadership Position.

According to Hoobler, Lemmon, and Wayne (2011), the lack of women in the top positions of leadership has been an issue of debate among specialists in the corporate governance industry. The women have suffered widespread discrimination in the place of work as compared to their male counterparts. A number of research studies have been carried out on the lack of female gender in the senior leadership and top management positions in multi-national business firms. The studies reveal several significant positive changes regarding the number of female employees in the workplace; the researchers have recorded a steady rise in the population of women in the management position. Despite this, the statistics of female employees who play the role of chief executive officers (CEOs) and organizational presidents has remained at the very low across the globe (Hoobler, Lemmon, & Wayne 2011). There is significant desegregation of employment based on individuals’ backgrounds; however, despite this, a phenomenon referred to as glass ceiling has prevented female employees from getting the top management. Females are segregated during the hiring processes and in remuneration. This forms of discrimination have been duplicated in top management positions in leading organization. Therefore, there is scarcity in the number of female employees all levels of organizational management (Richardson & West 2010).

The article talks about ASX Limited. ASX Limited is considered the world’s top financial market exchange that provides full suit services, for example, trading, clearing and settlements, and listings (ASX Limited, 2017). ASX Limited is the global leader in raising capital. It has a total of $1.5 trillion market capitalization, and hence, it is a home for global technological and finance companies. ASX Limited network and center for data are interconnected to top financial hubs. Its success as a company depends on the diverse nature of its users. It also meets the global regulatory requirements and its clearing house ensures a high level of security for it users, and this contributes to the stability of the financial markets in Australia. ASX Limited has more than 150 years of experience in the industry, and it has over 530 employees. The company prioritizes its clients who own up to 6.7 million shares (ASX Limited, 2017). It has an estimated 180 participants as well as 2200 listed issuers and companies.

There are only nine female chief executive officers in ASX 200: The author of the article argues that there is a large gap in the number of male and female CESs in the leading corporate organizations. The article states that there is less than one female CEO in twenty leading corporates (Ong 2017). The female CEOs compose only 4.5% of all the CEOs, and there is a 40% percent chance that an ASX CEO will be a man and not a woman.

A summary of the major points that the author makes in the selected article

The majority of ASX executives are Europeans: According to the article, there are only 3.9% of ASX CEOs who do not have a European background (Ong 2017).

Workplace diversity: the article mentions that there is a problem of workplace diversity in most of the leading organizations because they do not recruit female employees. During the hiring process, these organizations focus on the roles played by male employees (Ong 2017). The article states that the largest gap exists in the top management of the Australian companies; however, the gender gap reduces downward to the lower management. According to the article, it requires 12 years to achieve equality in gender roles at the workplace.

Male chief executive officers earn $1 million more than their female counterparts: The author of the article states that there is a huge gap in the remuneration scale used to award male CEOs and female CEOs. According to the article, the accumulated gap with regards in the earnings of the male and female CEOs amounts to one million dollars on an annual basis (Ong 2017).

It requires women three decades to attain equality in management with their male counterparts: This article touches on the gender inequality in the management at the workplace. Achieving gender equality in the workplace has been a sensitive issue in past decades, and according to the article, it requires more than 27 years for gender equality to be achieved at the workplace (Ong 2017).

Discussion of the major corporate issue and points raised by the author within the readings’ context of class readings

Executive remuneration practices in the leading corporate organizations are one of the major corporate governance issues that emerge in the article. According Penner and Harold (2010), the pay inequality based on gender refers to the huge gap that exists in the remunerations employees based on their gender. According to the article, there exists a huge gap in the remuneration scale used to award male CEOs and female CEOs.  According to the article, the total gap in the earnings of the men and women CEOs amounts to one million dollars on an annual basis (Ong 2017). There are several factors that contribute to the gender pay gap that is experienced in local and multinational companies in Australia as discussed below:

According to Penner and Harold (2010), there is a huge pay gap between men and women employees in Australia because men and women work in different industries. Industrial segregation leads to occupational segregation. Industries that are dominated by men attract higher pays while the industries that are female dominated attract low pay, and hence, a difference in the remuneration (Dezs? & Ross 2012). Just as highlighted in the chosen article, Western Australia relies on mining activities (Ong 2017). The mining industry, which attracts high remuneration, is a male dominated by men; therefore, there are more male than female employees in the region. As a result, there is a huge pay gap, for instance, the amount of compensation given to men in the West Australian mining industry increased by more than 287 times than that of the female workers.

Discussion of the major corporate issue and points raised by the author within the readings’ context of class readings

Another factor that leads to the difference in remuneration practices is the difference in education levels among the male and female gender. According to Huffman, Philip, and Jessica (2010), the majority of men have attained a higher education level than women. Therefore, men are able to secure highly rewarding job position than women and hence the difference in earnings. Men are also more aggressive at the workplace, and they play a more active role within the organizational setting. Therefore, they are considered to make more contributions to the organizational performance, and therefore, they are compensated with a higher salary than their female counterparts.

Board diversity is another important corporate governance issue discussed in this article. According to the article, there are few women employees in the positions of top leadership or management. As stated by Juhn, Gergely, and Carolina (2014), female employees are less represented in the top positions of leadership in top business companies. This has brought about significant undesired effects on multinational business firms. This unbecoming practice has caused female workers working in major business companies to develop the attitude that gradually climbing to these top management levels in such business firms is a tall order to attain, and it is because of this that many of the female employee have lacked the required motivation in the place of work.

There are numerous, economic, social, political and cultural factors that bar female employees from ascending to the topmost position of leadership in business companies, for instance, the widespread discrimination of female employees (Kmec & Sheryl 2014). In this regard, leading business firms have not enjoyed the numerous benefits which are introduced by female employees who play active roles in the managerial positions in such business firms. In line with these aspects, it is therefore, critical to take an in-depth look at these factors, to have a clear understanding of the underlying factors that lead to the limited number of female employees in the big business organizations (Okafor et al. 2011).

Another important corporate governance issue in this article is the discrimination of employment based on gender. The Australian Human Rights Commission Act of 1986 bars organizations from discriminating against potential employees based on their gender, racial, cultural or religious background (Islam & Mohammad 2014.). However, discrimination of employees based on their gender and racial background is rampant in the Australian top corporate organizations. According to the article, there are only 3.9% of ASX CEOs who do not have a European background (Ong 2017). This shows that the top organizations listed in the ASX Limited are biased in their hiring process as they are selective and favor individuals from Europe in their top leadership positions, a practice that amounts to racial discrimination (Wang & Elisabeth 2013). Gender discrimination during the hiring process is also rampant in the Australian leading organization. The author states that the leading Australian organization do not seek to hire female workers to perform women roles in the management.

The media is a very powerful communication tool across the globe, and therefore, critical communication regarding corporate governance are normally communicated over the media because of the following reasons.

These arguments are being made in the media because the media carries out the function of informing and educating the public. Presenting these arguments over the media ensures that the practitioners of human resource are informed and educated regarding these issues. Making these arguments over the media enables the individuals responsible for hiring employees to acquire important lessons regarding corporate governance. The media also has the ability to reach a wide and heterogeneous audience. Therefore, they information in the media enables the information to reach as many audience as possible to educate them on these important corporate governance issues. These arguments are shared over the media because the media creates is an excellent platform for issue advocacy campaigns. Therefore, making these arguments over the media in order to create awareness of these issues among the HR officials and employees. This helps in improving corporate governance by helping to fight against inequality in the workplace, discrimination in the hiring process, and reducing the pay gap witnessed in many countries across the globe.

Conclusion and my opinion regarding the major points that the author raises in the selected article

In summary, I am of the opinion that the female leaders in management positions as well as all the other female employees should be given equal remuneration to their male counterparts. This is because the women are also equally educated as men. The women also perform equal tasks to them in the same job category. In addition to this, the women are also exposed to the same risks that the men are exposed to at work, and hence, they deserve equal pay (Rowley 2013). I also believe that more women should be included in the top management level in the leading global organizations. This is because of the presence of many benefits which come a long with the practice of placing more female employees in the top positions of leadership, for instance, business firms that adhere to the rules and regulation regarding the equality of gender in the topmost positions of leadership positions have experienced increased output and productivity (Terjesen, Sealy, & Singh 2009). The increase in performance is recorded in such scenarios because a business firm’s performance is not completely reliant on the product line of the company also on the image that the company paints to its external and internal stakeholders.

I am of the opinion that all organizations should ensure gender diversity in the workplace. Diversity in leadership brings about to increased productivity among workers within an organization. The aim of this particular topic is aim at bringing in-depth understanding of the causal factors as well as the challenges that cause the absence of omen workers at the high managerial positions in the multi-national business companies. On this basis, it is the goal of this study to bring about a multiplication in the number of women employees in leadership in order to raise the performance of business firms across the globe (Hallward-Driemeier, Tazeen, & Anca 2013). I am also of the opinion that women are more creative that their male counterparts. Therefore, more women should be recruited in all levels of management, and particularly in the top management level in order to improve productivity.

HR officials who are responsible for the hiring of employees should avoid the discrimination of employees based on their gender or racial background as discussed in the article. I believe that the inclusion of more women in these positions will ensure the implementation of critical thinking that is critical in problem solving within organizational setting (Zhang & Bartol 2010). Women employees are also excellent team members, and therefore, the population of female employees in the top position of management. Their presence in the management team of any other line of management in the organization will enhance teamwork which is vital for organizational success (Cook & Christy 2013). In the current century where globalization has taken over, all organization should recruit individuals from across the globe. The inclusion of individuals from different cultural backgrounds has positive impacts on organizational performance.

ASX Limitted, 2017, ‘Corporate overview’, [Online] 2017. Available at: <https://www.asx.com.au/about/corporate-overview.htm>

Cook, A. & Christy, G. 2013, ‘Women and Top Leadership Positions: Towards an Institutional Analysis’, Gender, Work & Organization, vol. 21, 1, pp.91-103.

Dezs?, C. L. & Ross, D. G. 2012, ‘Does Female Representation in Top Management Improve Firm Performance? A Panel Data Investigation’, Strategic management journal vol. 3, 9, pp. 1072-1089.

Hallward-Driemeier, M., Tazeen, H., & Anca, B. R. 2013, ‘Women’s Legal Rights over 50 Years: What Is the Impact of Reform?’, Working Paper No. 6617, World Bank, USA.

Hoobler, J. M., Lemmon, G., & Wayne, S. J., 2011, ‘Women’s underrepresentation in upper management: New insights on a persistent problem’, Organizational Dynamics, vol. 40,            pp. 151—156.

Huffman, M. L., Philip, N. C., & Jessica, P. 2010, ‘Engendering Change: Organizational Dynamics and Workplace Gender Desegregation 1975-2005’, Administrative Science Quarterly, vol. 55, pp. 255–277.

Islam, A. & Mohammad, A. 2014, ‘Are There More Female Managers in the Retail Sector? Evidence from Survey Data in Developing Countries’, Journal of Applied Economics,        vol. 17, 2, pp. 213-228.

Juhn, C., Gergely, U., & Carolina, V. 2014, ‘Men, Women, and Machines: How Trade Impacts Gender Inequality’, Journal of Development Economics, vol. 106, 179-193.

Kmec, J. A. & Sheryl, S. 2014, ‘The “State” of Equal Employment Opportunity Law and Managerial Gender Diversity,” Social Problems, vol. 61, 4, pp. 530–558.

Okafor, E. E. et al., 2011, ‘Barriers to women leadership and managerial aspirations in Lagos, Nigeria: An empirical analysis’, African Journal of Business Management Vol. 5, 16, pp.   6717-6726.

Ong, T. 2017, March 8. Women failing to reach chief executive, those who do paid $1m less than men. [Online] 2017. Available at: <https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-08/workforce-      women-day-gender-equality/>

Penner, A. M., & Harold J. T. 2010, ‘Women In Power and Gender Wage Inequality: The Case of Small Businesses’, in Christine L. Williams, Kirsten Dellinger (ed.) Gender and Sexuality in the Workplace, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, pp. 83 – 105.

Richardson, J. & West, M.A. 2010, Engaged work teams in Albrecht, S.L. (Ed.), in Handbook of Employee Engagement: Perspectives, Issues, Research and Practice, Edward Elgar Publishers, Cheltenham, pp. 323-340.

Rowley, C. 2013, ‘What Might Influence Female Manager Careers Success?,’ Working Paper, Cass Business School, City University London.

Terjesen, S., Sealy, R., & Singh, V. 2009, ‘Women Directors on Corporate Boards: A Review and Research Agenda’, Corporate Governance: An International Review vol. 17, 3, pp.   320-337.

Wang, M. & Elisabeth K., 2013, ‘The Gender Quota and Female Leadership: Effects of the Norwegian Gender Quota on Board Chairs and CEOs’, Journal of Business Ethics, vol.            117, 3, pp.449-466.

Zhang, X., & Bartol, K. M. 2010, ‘Linking Empowering Leadership and Employee Creativity: The Influence of Psychological Empowerment, Intrinsic Motivation, and Creative Process Management’, Academy of Management Journal