A Whole New Spin on Investment Diversity

When you hear the words "investment diversity," do you think of how much you have in bonds or stocks?  Maybe even large cap or small cap, growth or income.   This recent article put a whole new spin on diversity.  It points to research that suggests that companies with prominent female leadership generate strong financial results.  And, these aren't just luck returns either.

Recently, Catalyst honored McDonald's, Kaiser Permanente and Time Warner for their exceptional initiatives from organizations that support and advance women in business.  The standards are rigorous and look at a number of criteria beyond just the percentage of women executives or board members.  They also look at broader business criteria including business rationale, employee engagement and innovation.

Each of these company's took specific steps to increase the diversity of its women executives' ranks.  And, each had results that either outperformed relative benchmarks or showed marked improvement as the diversity also improved. 

 

You can argue that the link between diversity and performance are weak.  But consider this...

• Companies with diverse leadership are more likely to consider a variety of ideas.
• Women executives have different skill sets than their male counterparts - often resulting in better teamwork and achievement among the staff.
• Diversity usually results in a stronger organizational structure overall - one that can better weather the volatile economic climate.

Whether busy women executives can take all of the credit for the companies' improved performance or not, you can certainly take it into consideration when you think about where you want to work - and where you want to invest that hard-earned money from being a busy woman executive in your own company.