Women employees hardier than counterparts - Accenture

15 Mar 2010

JOHANNESBURG: According to research undertaken by Accenture, resilience has been identified by corporate leaders globally as the most critical factor in helping businesses survive in tough economic times and women have been found to be more resilient than men.

Accenture reports that 71% of more than 500 corporate leaders surveyed in 20 countries around the world believe that resilience, defined by Accenture as the ability to overcome challenges and turn them into opportunities, is a key capability in determining who to retain.

The research report on "Women leaders and resilience: Perspectives from the C-suite," released as part of Accenture's sixth global celebration of International Women's Day, found that while respondents are divided about whether men or women are more resilient - 53% report women are very to extremely resilient, 51% reported men as very to extremely resilient - 60% are providing women with career-enhancing assignments, and 40% are preparing women for senior management roles.

48% of all respondents reported making no changes in the past year to leadership programmes for women, and 48% did not alter coaching and mentoring specific to women.

South African context

The findings within a South African context are slanted more heavily to women being seen as the most resilient sex - 56% report women are very to extremely resilient and only 44% reported men as very to extremely resilient.

Key findings in SA market:

80% more companies are preparing more women for senior management roles than in the last five years this is a 33% increase on 2005 figures
40% more companies are preparing more women for senior management roles compared to last year
100% of companies surveyed are now providing career enhancing assignments to prepare women for leadership roles with 75% providing internal mentors to ensure this takes place

Commenting on the local results, Louise Temkin, senior executive: research for Accenture SA says, "We were delighted by the findings of the research which demonstrate that South African companies are committed to making a difference for women in the workplace."

The survey also asked respondents what actions their companies have taken to support women's career development and almost five in 10 said they provide internal mentors or work-life balance programmes. South Africa lags behind the global trend of providing work-life balance programmes for women, with only 38% of the company's surveyed providing access to these programmes.

Respondents associate resilience and adaptability most frequently with seniority. They said senior managers are most resilient, followed by middle managers and, last, by employees below manager.

"By providing high-performing women with a variety of experiences, including training, mentoring and 'stretch' roles, to increase their resilience and confidence to prepare them to succeed in senior leadership, leading organisations are ensuring a sustainable and motivated workforce for the future," concludes Temkin.