Readers of my blog will have read about how neuroscience has identified the gender-based differences in mental programming. Scholars from Harvard, Cambridge, Oxford to name but a few are recognising the deep-level impact on a behavioural basis caused by these differences.

Why are these messages not hitting home in the Business community? In my view, when in Rome, you have to speak Italian (to paraphrase the old adage), so when making the business case of gender diversity, we have to talk facts, metrics and, then, focus (or take a left-brain approach to the subject…).

The facts:

Anthropological as well as societal differences have serious implications on the perceived roles of men and women:

• As the lynch-pins of society (and a strong dose of Oxytocin, the “bonding” hormone) women have a strong code of altruism and “caring” leads the mind and the heart
• Flexibility is key: women’s brain super-highway linking the left and right brain (the Corpus Collussum) is richer by 20million neurons. Where do we think the multi-tasking capabilities of answering the phone, hovering the floor with baby in tow come from?

In a broad-brush summary some of the implications are that in business the feminine value-system is very strongly linked in terms of long-term sustainable development, strategy implementation, Corporate Social Responsibility and ethics.

Metrics:
When considering that women and men, with our average mental preferences for left and right brain, when combined, we complement each other perfectly. So, in a Whole Brain context, the combination of the 2 averages leads to the optimal – which increases any team’s effectiveness by 66%. This is according to research by Charles D. Rigger.

Add the fact of that, according to Catalyst the group of companies with the highest representation of women on their top management teams experienced:

• Improved Return on Equity (ROE), which at 35.1% higher
• Total Return to Shareholders (TRS) which at 34% higher, than the groups of companies with the lowest women’s representation (The Bottom Line, Connecting Corporate Performance and Gender Diversity, Catalyst, 2004)  

Focus
Linking the facts and metrics above, leads us to consider that the company performance and effectiveness can only benefit from increased female representation at all levels in the business.

What we need to do is to focus on how we can best utilise the facts and metrics to create a strategically diversity-empowered positioning for our company and a powerful, genuine employer brand to support it. How do we do that?

• We need to take the discussion and actions around Diversity into the Leadership of our organisation – not sideline it to a separate department and create women’s networks that are but a “knitting circle”.
• We have to invest in the understanding of where the organisation sits in internal and external stakeholders’ perspectives on Diversity and our business’ innovation capabilities
• Need to incorporate policies and practices that make Diversity of Thinking (non-gender-based) as core to the business. Why? More diversity of thinking = greater innovation.
• We have to create and nurture a culture that embraces differences – appreciating where feminine values and behaviours are just as beneficial (see facts section above) as what would be “masculine” value-systems.
• We need to understand what dictates the male-female spheres, and what is important to us, and that these can co-exist, and even create powerful fusion to lead to on-going, systemic innovation.

The greatest proof is in that, for those progressive organisations such as Deloitte that have gone through a serious cultural transformation to redress the brain-drain of women leaving their business, the benefits are visible and are palpable to both genders, creating working culture that is inclusive, flexible and, most importantly, high-performing

I commend these initiatives, and firmly believe that they are of benefit. However, one of the biggest issues in managing a diversity of suppliers is ignored. The business imperative of cash-flow. We know that “cash is king” but somehow this is not considered when large corporations work with small businesses.

We know the eternal story: an invoice lands on the financial controller’s desk and is likely to stay there until after the end of the quarter – for the benefit of the business’ cash flow.

What about the small supplier however? They are dependent on that money entering their business to pay overheads and staff. Even sole traders with no overheads, depend on that money to pay their mortgage.

I would like to ask some of the accounts payable teams in the FTSE 100 companies the following:

• What would it feel like if your company sent you a letter to tell you that you will not be paid that month? Even worst, that you need to wait because somehow your details were logged on the system incorrectly and so you had to wait until that was reviewed and… Well you would just have to hold on the line, wouldn’t you?
• How would you then pay for the mortgage and the purchases you made expecting that you would be paid on time?
• You believe that all parties have good faith, and that the contracts will be honoured, don’t you? But do they? Are they?

As the founder of a small business, I have my fair share of managing these challenges. And the irony? They are all about perception….

If only, as I have argued previously, large organisations would take the time and stand in the shoes (or stilettos) of the other party – in this case their suppliers and understand the pressures they are feeling and how they could best support those. I believe that we need to look deeper into the supplier/purchaser relationship, beyond the typical metrics of:

• Ownership – number of cultures in the business/whether female-owned
• Number of employees, etc

The key to managing suppliers appropriately, should include measurements that look at the key requirements from the supplier’s side, on:

• Clarity of brief or tender requirements
• Transparency of purchasing process, and, critically
• Speed of payment/remuneration

If we are serious about fuelling entrepreneurship and diversity for the benefit for the global economy, then we need to consider and implement these metrics. So, if you are a large corporate working on supplier diversity please take note. The companies that will outdo their competition are the ones that take these initiatives seriously and make them work for them.

I know I am working on a plan to make this happen. More of this in due course.