Breaking down the barriers for women’s leadership in Asia

There is a Chinese saying that ‘Women hold up half the sky'. Unfortunately, across leadership positions in Asia Pacific today, women are too often the exception. 

According to Grant Thornton’s Women in Business 2020 report, the proportion of women in senior management roles is just 35% in ASEAN and 27% in APAC as a whole. It’s a similar story globally, though the APAC-wide figure is worse than the figure for any other region.  

This is a problem not just because empowering women’s leadership is the right thing to do, but because it’s fundamental to a strong economy, business performance, and innovation. McKinsey estimates that advancing women’s equality in Asia-Pacific could add $4.5 trillion to collective regional GDP by 2025—12% better than ‘business as usual’. That would be quite a tailwind for the recovery from COVID-19. 

Building inclusive workplaces: Google APAC’s lessons

At Google Cloud’s Executive Women’s Forum this week, the discussion was about how to break down the barriers that far too often stand in women’s way—dismantling systemic bias and prejudice which inhibits progress, while building workplaces that embrace and elevate diverse perspectives.

We have been working hard on this at Google, as we seek to ensure that our workforce is representative of the countries and communities we’re part of, and I shared a few of the lessons we’ve learned in my opening remarks at the Forum. 

• Inclusion is often in the eye of the beholder. When we run employee surveys measuring sentiment against statements like, “‘I feel as though my contribution is fairly valued” the responses vary widely by gender, ethnicity, location, level and so on. Not surprisingly, white men generally rate the highest. That’s beginning to change as initiatives we’ve put in place make an impact—but the point is, it’s always worth checking your assumptions. 
• Rewiring systems takes time but pays dividends. When it comes to hiring, for example, we now recognise that it’s OK to take longer with a search if it means choosing from a talent pipeline that reflects the whole of society. Once you enforce that discipline, other good habits start: you find people actively developing relationships in their markets to help build a future diverse bench.
• Rooting out bias takes constant vigilance. We now assess every round of promotions and performance assessments post-fact, to make sure no bias has its worked way into the system. We look at this by function and role, identify areas for attention early, and provide coaching and assistance to the managers involved. 
• Tone and message matters. A colleague observed to me that by simply, explicitly and publicly stating we needed to do better on our gender diversity targets, I had given her agency to cut through a lot of red tape that had previously been in her way. Words alone aren’t enough, of course, but what leaders say and how it is received has a profound influence on creating the environment for change. 
• Look outward as well as inward. In addition to our internal programs and priorities, we work to support women’s leadership and entrepreneurship through initiatives like Women Will, DigiPivot, Google for Startups and developer programs such as Bangkit. And our leaders around the region, from Stephanie Davis to Jackie Wang, Bernadette Nacario and Tram Nguyen, are fantastic role models and mentors for young women in tech and beyond. 

Role models, allies, and why men can’t sit on the sidelines

The speakers at the Executive Women’s Forum — many senior business leaders, others inspiring entrepreneurs — had all played their part in changing outdated narratives about women in business. The majority were women, but there was also a panel where I and other Google leaders spoke about men’s responsibility to be better allies. 

In 2018, Harvard Business Review pointed out that 96% of organizations see progress when men are deliberately engaged in gender inclusion programs—compared to only 30% of organizations when men aren’t engaged. 

Why? Here’s Elizabeth Broderick, Australia’s former Sex Discrimination Commissioner: 

“Too many organisations look to women alone to change the organisational practices that maintain the status quo. Such an approach fails to recognise the site of most organisational power. The fact is that in most businesses men control both the human and financial resources. Placing the onus on women to fix the problem of women's under-representation means that failures are laid at the door of women, rather than identified as systemic deficiencies.”

In Asia Pacific, where men continue to occupy most leadership positions, it’s vital that we as leaders and allies work to fix that imbalance—and lay the foundations for more gender-equitable leadership throughout the region. 

This week’s Forum was both a celebration of women carving a path in leadership for themselves and others, and a call to action for those of us with the capacity to ensure that momentum continues. I recommend any or all of the sessions.