How Women in Technology Lead to Success in Digital Transformation

According to Grant Thornton’s Women in Business report 2020, the share of women in senior management roles (globally) rose to 29% and has held steady for the past two years.  While there’s still much to do to increase the rate of women in senior management roles, the report notes that the tipping point for greater diversity at the senior management level is 30%.  So, the progress is encouraging.

Women in Leadership at Tech Companies

Now, let’s look more closely at women within the technology space. According to Catalyst, less than a third of women around the world, are employed in tech related fields. The Women on Boards 2019 report noted that 17.9% of women are on the board of directors at tech companies. Globally, women account for only 16% of senior leadership in the information technology industry, while 3% are CEOs and 20% are CFOs according to Credit Suisse.

Diversity Helps Companies Thrive

More women in leadership, women in technology, and women in leadership at technology companies adds real value to a company and its customers because of the mix of many different perspectives, talents, and just how everyone approaches things a bit differently. This is a philosophy that has helped Escher thrive over the years, as we leverage a workforce that is diverse in many different cultures, backgrounds, and gender to support over 35 postal operators around the world. Our own leadership is made up of 29% women, right on par with the cross-industry average, and twice the industry average for tech companies. Still, more can be done by all of us. And this doesn’t just happen by chance. Escher supports a number of programs to encourage women in leadership and tech roles, like the highly successful Agile Leadership for Woman program.

Case Study: Women Led Team & Digital Transformation Success

One fantastic example of women in technology leadership is from one of our very own clients. This was not only one of the largest digital transformation projects that Escher has undertaken, but the teams involved were almost entirely led by women, and it was a complete success.
Together with all of its subsidiaries, this large Post has over 60,000 employees and handles over 44 million parcel pick ups each year through its extensive retail network and transportation fleet. The digital transformation project focused on the complete modernization of the Post’s retail network and included several organizations with the majority led by very talented and dedicated women. Also, many other women were involved including change management leadership, and product owners.

Recipe for Success

So what was the recipe that made this digital transformation project a success.? We believe the success of the project can be attributed to these six factors:

• The team members were part of a unified, yet culturally and gender diverse project team.
• The teams had common goals and did not view each other as the “client” or the “consultant”, but rather as coworkers.
• Transparency was key for success with open and honest communication.
• Team members trusted each other and respected each other’s opinions and views.
• The team was empowered to make decisions and liaise with their stakeholders.
• The project was the first implementation for Escher where both the client and Escher followed the agile methodology, and where women took key leadership roles.

How Women in Technology Lead to Success in Digital Transformation

We need to look at where we’ve been and how far we’ve come along in recent years in terms of having more women in leadership positions,  more women in technology roles, and more women leaders at technology companies. The results are encouraging but of course, more work needs to be done. Diversity in the broadest sense is good for business, as we all learn from each other, challenge the status quo, challenge each other, and push the boundaries of innovation and what’s possible.