The secret to global business success? More women at work.

For a business to succeed, it must make the most of its human resources. If a company only used 48% of its resources, it would be overwhelmed and shut out of the market. And yet, that’s what the global business environment is doing: wasting up to 52% of its workforce by not hiring enough women.

When companies ask themselves what makes a business successful, the answer may well be more women in the workplace. Here are some examples of how companies can benefit from hiring, retaining and promoting women.

Global recruitment challenges – Women are part of the solution

In its 2018 Global Recruiting Trends Report, LinkedIn identified diversity as a key recruiting trend.

A few years ago, diversity was just another box that big business and organizations checked to be politically correct. Today the tide has changed; companies are focusing on hiring more women because it's a great way to improve company culture, business performance, and better understand and represent customers.

How companies are leveraging the power of women in the workplace

Pandora adds purpose to employee meetings by supporting events that better align with Pandora values, such as female leadership. The company also has resource groups for women and fosters an environment where they are encouraged to speak up and make change.

Lever is another outstanding example of a female-friendly workforce. Lever's gender balance is impressive: women make up 50% of its workforce, 53% of executives, 43% of engineers and 40% of the board.

Challenges – We are still not there

Successful companies must expand their talent pool, and women must still be tapped to their full potential. For more than 30 years, women have obtained more bachelor's degrees than men.

If there are more educated women, it means that women have a better chance of being hired for entry-level jobs. It should be, but it isn't.

The 2018 Women in the Workplace study conducted by McKinsey revealed the following:

-Women are less likely to be hired for entry-level jobs.

-Women are less likely to be promoted or hired into leadership positions.

Evidence of the value of women in the workplace

When a company hires and promotes more women, it does more than change the lives of those women; this has a positive impact on the bottom line of the company. Here are some benefits of hiring more women:

An increase in innovation revenues

Rocio Lorenzo is a management consultant and diversity researcher. She found that hiring women should be a business priority for companies and organizations. In 2017, she conducted a study which found that women executive organizations are more innovative. Her report showed that innovation revenue increased as the share of female executives increased above 20%. Alibaba, Apple and other innovative companies are moving towards this goal. Women make up 47% of Alibaba employees and 33% hold leadership positions. Apple is nowhere near Alibaba's numbers: 32% of Apple employees are women, and at the leadership level only 29% are women.

Increased productivity

According to Hive's State of The Workplace report, women work 10% harder than men in offices today.

Higher team IQ

Teams that included at least one woman had a collectively higher IQ than teams that only had men, according to the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology.

An increase in return on invested capital

More women in senior management means increased return on investment. The Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology analyzed Fortune 500 companies and found that companies with at least three female directors experienced an increase in invested capital of more than 66%, a return on sales of up to 42%. % and a yield of 53% increase.

A better place to work

Having more women in the workplace actually makes an organization a better place to work. Employees feel greater psychological safety, team members feel more confident and open to experimentation, and team effectiveness increases.

A rise in wages

When more women join the labor force, wages riselie by 10%, including men's salaries.

Forward and upward

Companies still have a long way to go in terms of hiring and promoting women. The #metoo movement has exposed the massive scale of sexual harassment and assault that many women face, including in the workplace.

The business world is slow to change. The 2018 Google walkouts shed light on how the company needs to change how it handles complaints of sexual harassment and other workplace issues such as unequal pay. In 2019, Google employees are still protesting in the streets.

Other companies are moving faster. In 2018, Microsoft announced that it would only work with vendors that give their employees paid parental leave.

When more companies start looking at how they can integrate more women into their workforces and supply chains, the world will see stronger organizations and a healthier business environment. Change is slow but necessary.