‘This is not a matter of life or death, it’s more important than that’ - former Ogilvy chief exec Cheryl Giovannoni on the lack of women in design leadership
With only 3 per cent of creative directors in the UK female, the lack of women in design leadership roles is “more important” than life or death, according to recently departed Ogilvy chief executive Cheryl Giovannoni.
Referencing the famous football quote at the launch of new industry body Kerning The Gap, which aims to see more women in design leadership roles, Giovannoni said that the moment of real change is “right now” as a new report finds that the gender pay gap has begun to increase.
“Is this a matter a life of death? I believe it’s more important than that, to quote that famous football terminology. It is so critical that we fix this issue for all sorts of very good business reasons… we are basically ignoring half the population of this planet by not making sure that women progress.”
“The pay gap has increased, it hasn’t narrowed, we are always focussed on pay and all the conversations people are having [around] that [and the] pay gap has currently actually widened.”
Giovannoni cited a Harvard study that found that there was little correlation between a group’s collective intelligence and the IQs of its individual members, but if a group includes more women, its collective intelligence rises. “This is irrefutable evidence that gender mix produces superb results,” she said.
To increase the balance Giovannoni argued that recruitment lists should reflect diversity and companies should be insistent on interviewing at least an equal number of men and women. “There is a whole debate around whether quotas are important…sometimes to make progress having quotas is no bad thing,” she added.