House of Rose Professional Ltd (HORP) has announced its mission to quintuple female CEOs in the World’s Top 500 Companies by 2029. Its Break the ceiling touch the sky Mission 2029 programme is aimed at quintupling the number of female CEOs at the top of the world’s 500 largest companies by 2029 and doubling the number of male CEOs who proactively integrate diversity and inclusion (D&I) as core to their business by 2029.
Research shows that gender diverse companies are financially more successful, and more attractive as employers as well as to customers. Gender diverse teams have also proven to perform better than non-gender diverse teams and gender diversity helps compliance, develop a positive reputation and improve leadership decision-making, according to HORP. Yet, only around 2.8% (14) of Fortune Global 500 CEOs are female.
SHATTERING THE GLASS CEILING
So HORP is on a mission to change that statistic by quintupling the number of female CEOs at the top of the world’s 500 largest companies by 2029. According to HORP, it is well placed to achieve the mission to shatter the glass ceiling for women through its recruitment services and corporate alliances. It has already “enabled and inspired over 10,000 women leaders to reach the top”, through books such as Break the ceiling touch the sky: success secrets of the world’s most inspirational women (2014), authored by its Chairman and CEO Anthony A Rose, claims the organisation.
“Having 70 Female CEOs amongst the Top 500 CEOs globally by 2029 (compared to the 14 today) and more male (champions for diversity) CEOs will help develop better diversity, leadership, business and a better world,” stated Rose. “This a critical time for organisations to invest in more gender balanced leadership and decision making that better reflects the needs, aspirations and desires of the world’s consumers and communities.”
MISSION 2029
“While the oft-repeated sound bite is that there is no pipeline of senior female leaders, in reality organisations would be better served to work with Companies that have deep insights into female leadership talent and can provide more strategic, long term partnership to diversify talent pipelines,” he added. “Mission 2029 will transform how companies can recruit and grow high performance female leaders and male champions for diversity. We invite organisations intent on shaping a better world to register for Mission 2029 and to leverage Dream Job International to build their talent pipelines with diverse, outstanding talent.”
Rose elaborated that his 2029 mission is supported by key stakeholders across the private, government and social sectors worldwide. “We have invested six years in identifying the greatest business building leaders – both female and male internationally, who are also the most passionate ambassadors for gender diversity and real enablers for women to succeed. We have determined first-hand the leaders who are most sincere about the agenda versus others who are not. This first-hand knowledge and deep insight forms the basis of our confidence to make Mission 2029 a reality,” added Rose.
TRANSFORMATIONAL IMPACT
Commenting on the initiative, James Michael Lafferty, CEO of Fine Hygienic Holding, stated: “Diversity equals better business. More women at the top is a proven business builder so the time for analysis and reflection is over! At Fine Hygienic Holding we have proven just that by getting to 30% of women on our executive team and seeing the corresponding jump in business result – 82% increase in profit in 2019. Diversity is having a transformational impact on our relationships with customers and our business.”
“We are delighted to continue our pioneering partnership with Break the ceiling touch the sky in the Middle East and I am personally delighted to be supporting Mission 2029 as a member of the Global Advisory Council,” added Lafferty.
Diversity and inclusion is also critical to Bureau Veritas, confirms Natalia Shuman, Executive Vice President and CEO, Bureau Veritas North America. “Diversity and inclusion are critical to our business success. Bureau Veritas is committed to gender equality and recognises the important contributions that diversity creates and how it positively impacts our business and generates innovation,” she stated. “We are delighted to partner with Break the Ceiling Touch the Sky in the USA and Mission 2029.”
FEMALE FUTURE
Alex von Behr, President of vBA, and former Global Chief Customer Officer of Unilever Plc, agrees: “In my years as a General Manager and Global Function head, what made the difference to the advancement of gender diversity was our strategy of deliberately focusing on creating opportunities for female talent while also creating a corporate culture shift and support for them to take advantage of the opportunities provided. I am delighted to be one of the key partners for Mission 2029.”
According to Julie Hamilton, Chief Commercial Officer of Diageo Plc, “The future is female. Research is indicating that women drive 70-80% of all consumer purchasing, through a combination of their buying power and influence. Given this reality, it is imperative we have more gender balanced leadership at the very top of organisations.”
TRUE EQUALITY
“At Diageo we believe that the fastest way to greater diversity at the top is to actively support greater opportunity for women to learn, grow and lead,” added Hamilton.
Break the ceiling touch the sky Mission 2029 is by no means a destination “but simply a milestone on the way to true equality”, concluded Rose.
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