Let's start with the phrase: 'who makes the work, shapes the work'. Since we started RISE, our goal has been to increase the number of women in creative leadership. Here's the big news: the numbers have accelerated from 12% to 27% in 2022, so they have over doubled in six years, moving at a rate of 2-3% a year. At this rate, we may reach 50:50 by 2030. 

When we look at this intersectionality, however, the numbers remain at rock bottom. We are counting Black, Asian, and Multi-Ethnic women, LGBTQ+ people, disabled women, women of faith and women over 50 on our fingers. This is a huge missed opportunity, creating blind spots in the work - and for brands. As part of our ‘Inclusive Communication Audits’ we see this lack of representation in the room directly reflected in the work.

Women are being hired into creative leadership roles at a rate we haven’t seen before, however, in contrast, the number of women in the C-suite has gone backwards since 2019’s high of 34%. So what barriers do we still have to remove in order to move faster? One word: equity. This needs to move into structures as we see non-majority groups don’t have access to the same opportunities. 

For example, 52% of women have worked on a new business pitch, when compared with 64% of men. While over half (54%) of Black Asian Multi-Ethnic women say they believe work isn’t fairly allocated in their department and they are not paid fairly - and they’re right, according to data from Major Players’ Salary Survey.

Inappropriate behaviour, including microaggressions also play a massive role in our workplaces. To note, whatever is going on in society at large, tends to be reflected in the data. As we know, the UK is seeing a large anti-trans movement and our data reflects this bias; 21% of LGBTQ+ people are seeing inappropriate behaviour compared to their peers at a rate of 11%. Our companies are a microcosm of society - you can rest assured that what's happening in the news is impacting those in your business.

So let’s look to the future and what we need to do as 'inclusive leaders'. How do we accelerate faster? First, let’s look at the top skills required for businesses from the World Economic Forum for 2025.
 

1.     Analytical thinking and innovation 

2.     Active learning and learning strategies 

3.     Complex problem solving - diverse teams are better at decision making 

4.     Critical thinking and analysis 

5.     Creativity, ideas and originality 

Diverse teams are key to delivering all this, and to drive that we need to be the best leaders we can be to manage those teams.

Before we do, let's address the ‘D’ word. Diversity as a word seems to have become a byword for ‘other’. It’s not. This word embraces all humanity. The simple fact is that word again: equity. We need more non-majority cultures to succeed in the workplace.

To look at how we drive inclusive cultures to find the five key things for leaders to focus on, we cut our data of over 5000 respondents. Before we dig into this, let’s think about the last couple of years, as we’ve all led our own way through uncertainty and difficulty. As we’ve had to ask ourselves: who are we? What do our lives mean? What do we stand for? Who do we stand against? Considering 33% of our staff are considering shifting roles, this has to be urgent. Using our multi-step regression model, we have found these are the five key drivers of happiness in a business. These are:
 

1. I feel I can fulfil my potential 
2. I am valued in my role 
3. The company I work with looks after the health and wellbeing of its employees
4. I feel the work I do is meaningful
5. I have a great relationship with my line manager

So as leaders, ask yourself: would my teams say this? How are you delivering on these five statements for your team?

Even if leadership is not in your job title, it's everyone's day job. How can we help everyone around us feel aligned with these five statements? Happy people don't leave businesses - and this is true for everyone. Diverse teams have the power to move us forward out of this uncertain time, with the pandemic all around us, an economic downturn on the way and war in Europe. If we keep on driving healthy cultures, we'll be able to embrace the top skills we need to shape the future. When we do this, we all RISE.

Image credit @ Bronac McNeill photography