Organisations in Mainland China embracing Diversity & Inclusion as more women hold line manager roles

The number of women in line management roles in Greater China is higher than in other key Asian markets, according to research carried out by recruitment experts Hays.

A survey carried out in March and April this year, which formed the basis for the research, revealed 44 per cent of respondents in Mainland China report to a female line manager - an improvement from 2016’s result of 32 per cent.

The research found Mainland China had the one of the highest proportion of respondents reporting to a female line manager, falling shortly behind Malaysia (46 per cent) and Singapore (45 per cent) but higher than Hong Kong (31 per cent) and Japan (28 per cent).

“There is huge emphasis at the moment onto supporting women’s careers and driving female success and in recent years, there has been a notable increase in the number of diversity initiatives within both private and public sector organisations,” says Simon Lance, Managing Director of Hays Greater China.

“Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) are critical to coping with Mainland China’s expected ‘ageing workforce’ in the next decade as well as having managers and leaders that better reflect an organisation’s customers. Changing societal norms also mean more women than ever want to build substantial careers so Mainland China is well placed in the region by alleviating the risk of a brain drain due to the importance many organisations hold D&I in,” he says.

“It should be noted that D&I is about a range of diversity - not just gender. Industries across Mainland China need people who can look at problems in new ways so recruiting and retaining people of all ages, backgrounds and life experiences is key.”

The research found 73 per cent of respondents in Mainland China, as compared to 69 per cent across Asia, believe employees of equal capability have equal access to career opportunities regardless of age, disability, ethnicity, gender, family commitments, marital status, race, religion or sexuality.

“Human resources teams have been doing most of the heavy lifting when it comes to diversity but it’s becoming clear that senior leadership teams in Mainland China have been championing D&I and are well versed in the bottom line benefits and consequences involved,” adds Simon. “We hope those championing D&I in their organisations will make use of our 2018 results to move D&I even higher up the business agenda.”

Learn more about the 2018 Hays Asia Diversity & Inclusion report, please click here.