5 Bottom Line Reasons to Put Women in Charge

April 25th is Equal Pay Day, and you may be wondering if a woman gets paid the same as a man will it yeild the same economic result.

Why not share the real economic reasons to boost the sense of urgency behind hiring and promoting women by calculating your opportunity costs missed when they aren't?

Here are five bottom line facts that women are good for business:

1) Profitability- Hiring and promoting women can make you more money. How much more? Companies with women in key executive leadership positions are 30-40% more profitable than those without, according to a study by Catalyst.
2) Competitive Edge- Women are the largest consumers online and off. Could female employees knowing how and why female customers spend help your organization compete? According to the Business Women’s Network, women are now the largest purchasers of not only consumer goods, but travel and other services.
3) Growth – When women are in charge, growth can double. Want to see what a woman’s leadership can do to skyrocket sales? Women’s privately owned firms grow at twice the rate of male owned, says the Center for Women’s Business Research. And according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women in B2B sales earn about 140% of what men do in those positions. (So much for that wage gap!)
4) Global expansion- Women are outstanding candidates for international business. Want to go after new markets and higher margins? Women are more willing to travel and work overseas, according to a Catalyst survey of 452 expatriates.
5) Attraction and Retention- Women owned businesses retain talent and have lower turnover. Does your business, like most, typically spend twice as much recruiting someone as retaining them? Hiring women mitigates these costs. Also, contrary to popular belief, working mothers are loyal hires, as revealed by a study by Deloitte and Touche that over 87% of women who did move on did not leave because of issues with children.

So why should we hire and promote a woman? Because increased profits, costs cut, and avoided expenses are better for business, just like women are, bottom line.

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Rachel Bondi is Founder and CEO of www.EarningPower.org, the premier association for men who want to empower working women, voted Stevie Award’s 2005 Top Five Association of the Year and recently honored as a Top 10 Woman of Power in Orange County, California.