On International Women’s Day, Business Roundtable announced that it has partnered with the Women Business Collaborative (WBC) to reaffirm its commitment to – and accelerate – gender equity and diversity.
“CEO members of Business Roundtable, who employ 20 million workers, are proud to join with the Women Business Collaborative; in reaffirming our commitment to gender equity and diversity during Women’s History Month and beyond,” stated Business Roundtable Chairman Doug McMillon; also President and CEO of Walmart. “Gender equity and diversity isn’t just a goal that companies should strive to achieve; it is our responsibility to create opportunities for people of all backgrounds across America.”
TIME TO ACCELERATE GENDER EQUITY
Business Roundtable aims to support the mission of the WBC; an alliance of organisations working together to achieve equal position, pay and power for all women in business. To propel women forward, WBC has united more than 44 leading women’s business organisations to attain immediate and long-term results around nine initiatives. These include more women as CEOs, in the C-Suite and on Boards; a demand for gender pay parity; increasing capital for women entrepreneurs; driving more women as controllers of capital allocation; parity for women in underrepresented business sectors such as technology; and leveraging learning and development to drive pipeline promotions.
“With the greatest respect for Business Roundtable CEOs, WBC is thrilled to partner on this important reaffirmation,” stated Edie Fraser, CEO of WBC. “The timing is now to accelerate gender equity and diversity results.”
SETTING UP WOMEN FOR SUCCESS
Additionally, the Business Roundtable has called upon US public companies to consider diversity when recruiting and selecting board members; conduct periodic pay equity reviews and regular pay equity analyses; and implement processes to review and close gender equity gaps. Member CEOs have committed to measuring progress; and support voluntary public disclosure of key diversity metrics on at least an annual basis; including board diversity, senior executive diversity, workforce diversity and supplier diversity.
“Business Roundtable CEOs are committed to making philanthropic investments, updating employment practices and innovating within their businesses,” commented Business Roundtable Corporate Governance Committee Chair Alex Gorsky, and Chairman of the Board and CEO of Johnson & Johnson. “We are also identifying and actively supporting key policy changes that would advance gender equity and reduce disparities. We look forward to continuing our engagement with policymakers at the federal, state and local levels to advocate for these important changes.”
Adding to his comments, Business Roundtable Education and Workforce Committee Chair Mary Barra, and Chairman and CEO of General Motors Company, stated: “Gender equity and workforce diversity are key components of any company’s success. We are committed to institutionalising programmes and benchmarks that help us reach these goals and ensure female leaders of the future are set up for success.”
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