Bloomberg announced that 484 companies are included in the 2023 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index (GEI). The GEI serves as a touchstone for companies seeking to track their progress in gender inclusion and how the implementation of diversity policies shape company performance.
Over 600 companies participated in the Gender Reporting Framework and disclosed their gender-related data, resulting in an 11% increase year-over-year.
“The overarching drive towards equality is evident with the continual increase of global participation from companies,” said Peter T. Grauer, Chairman of Bloomberg. “The Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index remains an important resource for companies to identify any gaps and provides actionable steps to further reshape the future of work.”
GEI participants are scored against five key pillars: leadership and talent pipeline, equal pay and gender pay parity, inclusive culture, anti-sexual harassment policies, and external brand. In addition to the pillars, exploratory questions were included in the Framework, allowing for other areas of the “S” to be explored. These questions, surveyed but not scored, covered other areas such as race and sexual orientation, gender identity and ethnicity.
“This year, GEI members’ disclosure for exploratory questions averaged at 92%, demonstrating collective interest in extending beyond gender inclusion metrics,” said Patricia Torres, Global Head of Bloomberg Sustainable Finance Solutions at Bloomberg. “The GEI continues to identify areas of impact for companies, helping to facilitate meaningful change that, ultimately, will contribute to more innovation, creativity, and higher performance.”
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The accompanying 2023 GEI Insights Report helps to illuminate the data cultivated, and provides a general analysis on the current state of social reporting in the corporate space. Key areas include: Intersectionality, flexible work and employee engagement.
Representation Matters
For GEI members, companies led by women have higher representation of women at all levels. GEI Member companies with greater than 30% women representation on the board have, on average, 27% of women executives within the corporation, as compared to 20% of women executives in firms with less than 30% of women on the board.
“Gender diversity is not an option but indispensable, which is a matter of equality,” said Kim Sung-tae, CEO at Industrial Bank of Korea. “Gender diversity will be the driving force for sustainable development beyond the value of equality.”
Holding Leadership Accountable
Another theme amongst member companies is the integration of diversity policies in executive evaluations. This year, 64% of GEI members have implemented diversity and inclusion goals for managers in performance reviews, an 8-point increase from last year. Additionally, 86% of members offer unconscious bias training, with 74% of those companies tracking manager completion.
“We cannot underscore the importance of leadership enough when looking to improve gender equality in the workplace,” added Torres. “Change can only be driven when diversity and inclusion are part of executive performance metrics.”