LEADINGWOMEN

WOMEN AND MEN AGREE:
GENDER DIVERSITY IS
GOOD FOR BUSINESSBUT FEW WOMENARE AT THE TOP
The 2017 Hays Asia Gender Diversity Report

CONTENTS
Introduction

3

Career Ambition

5

Equal Opportunity

6

Flexible Working

8

Diversity and Inclusion

9Country Overview

11Interview with a leading woman 1

23

Interview with a leading woman 2

24

Conclusion

25

Recommendations

26

Methodology
This report has been compiled using data gathered between March and April 2017 from
respondents in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia. Women comprise 55
per cent of our survey group, men 45 per cent, five per cent were aged 25
or under, 56 per cent 26 to 40, 34 per cent 41 to 54 and five per cent 55 plus.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to our Asia Gender
Diversity Report 2017. We havegathered insights from men andwomen across the region to gettheir opinion and views on
Gender Diversity in today’s
world of work.

The benefits of gender diversity are much better
understood today than in years past but we are still
struggling to increase the number of women in line
management and senior management roles.
Men hold the top role in 80 per cent of theorganisations our respondents work in – slightly up
on 79 per cent last year. And in 63 per cent of cases,
our respondents report to male line managers – aslight improvement on last year’s 67 per cent.
We know gender diversity brings a greater range ofideas and possible solutions to the table to help
companies gain a competitive edge in a fastchanging world. We also know that as Japangrapples with the implications of an aging
population and workforce, other countries in theregion suffer from a lack of cross-generationalcoaching and learning as the numbers of young
workers outweigh their experienced and older
counterparts. Would a logical solution to this issue
be to include women in the talent pool at all levels?
Our research suggests more attention needs to be
paid to what happens from the ground up including
helping all employees understand the businessbenefits of gender diversity as well as creating
pathways to success that discourage gender bias.
Flexible work policies that focus on outcomes rather
than hours in the office should also be part of themix and available to both women and men.
Male respondents rated the provision of flexibility
working arrangements almost as highly as women.
Curiously, half our male respondents can accessflexible work options in their current job compared
to only 40 per cent of female respondents.
We are seeing increasing numbers of women in China
and Japan opting not to get married and havefamilies. On the flip side, our ongoing research at
Hays consistently shows younger men placing greater
importance on work-life balance and their access toparental leave. And our aging population could see
employees of either gender take on elder care
responsibilities – although research shows women
provide the bulk of this care now.
Hopefully our insights will bolster the work currently
being carried out by many organisations to promote
gender diversity while encouraging others to startthat journey.

Thank you
We want to thank all those who completed our diversity survey and also our profiled interviewees. Diversity is ofongoing importance to employer organisations in our region and sharing your insights and experience helps keep thissubject top of mind.
Disclaimer: The 2017 Hays Asia Gender Diversity report is representative of a value added service to our clients and candidates. Whilst every care is taken in
the collection and compilation of data, the guide is interpretive and indicative, not conclusive. Therefore information should be used as a guideline only andshould not be reproduced in total or by section without written permission from Hays.

CAREER AMBITION
How satisﬁed are you with the level of seniority you have in yourcurrent organisation (%)?

Do you believe you have the opportunity in your current role tosufficiently promote yourself & communicate your ambitions (%)?

FemaleFemaleVery satisﬁed

Male

5

Satisﬁed

34
33

Somewhat

Neutral34
36

Neutral22

Dissatisﬁed

Very Dissatisﬁed

19
16

Very much

7

42
41
15
21
20
16

Not much

15
5

Not at all

9

Only a third of female and male respondents are satisﬁed with
their current level of seniority.
More women than men are dissatisﬁed with their careeradvancement (22 per cent versus 15 per cent), but a greater
percentage of men are “very dissatisﬁed”(9 per cent compared with 5 per cent of women).
Of those who are dissatisﬁed, the leading reason was that
their current employer provides only limited opportunities toprogress (55 per cent of men and 42 per cent of women). Only
two per cent of women and six per cent of men blame their own
underperformance in their current role for their lack of progression.

Male

4
6

Most respondents (42 per cent of women and 41 per cent of men)feel their employer only “somewhat” provides them with theopportunity to sufficiently promote themselves and communicate
their ambitions.
A further 20 per cent of women (versus 16 per cent of men)say their current workplace offers little opportunity to promote
themselves and their career goals.

How conﬁdent are you that your line manager knows what your career ambitions are (%)?

Very conﬁdent

Male

12
11
33

Conﬁdent
Somewhat conﬁdent
Not at all conﬁdent

37
27
28
28
24

More men than women are conﬁdent that their line manager
knows what their career ambitions are but only slightly, 37 percent versus 33 per cent. A signiﬁcant 28 per cent of womenand 24 per cent of men are not at all conﬁdent their manager
understands their ambitions.
This result contradicts the notion that men are far better at speaking
up and expressing what they want than women and points to theneed for organisations to make it easier and acceptable for teammembers to voice their aspirations.
Our results also show most respondents blame their lack of career
progress on their employer.
Employers need to be transparent about how employees canaccess opportunities to progress. Organisations also need toencourage employees to take responsibility for driving theircareer rather than just looking to the organisation to do it, as was
the tradition in Asia in decades past. Line managers in particularneed to be empowered to encourage their direct reports to speak
up about long-term career goals.

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Follow Hays on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/company/hays2017 Hays Gender Diversity - Asia | 5

CAREER AMBITION

FemaleEQUAL OPPORTUNITY
Do you think you and your equally capable colleagues are paid/
rewarded in an equal manner regardless of gender (%)?

Do you think women encounter barriers outside of their control inregards to getting paid in an equal manner with men (%)?

FemaleFemale

Male

20

Equal

34
33
35

Somewhat equal

UnsureNot equal

26

Very much

21
10
48

Somewhat

37
19

Neutral

16
21

33
9
11

Not much15

Not at all

When it comes to pay, 21 per cent of women and 15 per centof men do not believe men and women of equal merit are
renumerated in the same way. The highest proportion of women(33 per cent) and men (35) per cent believe women and men are
rewarded only “somewhat” equally.

Male

3
9

Not surprisingly, 21 per cent of female respondents think women“very much” encounter barriers to equal pay outside their control,
versus only 10 per cent of male respondents.
Most respondents (48 per cent of women and 37 per cent of men)believe women encounter some barriers to equal pay outside
their control.

Do you think you and your equally capable colleagues have the same career opportunities open to you regardless of gender (%)?

Female

Male

19

Equal

32
40
37

Somewhat equal

20
18

Unsure21
13

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY

Not equal

6 | 2017 Hays Gender Diversity - Asia

When it comes to men and women of the same capability having
equal access to opportunity, most female respondents (40 percent) say this is only “somewhat” true while 21 per cent sayaccess is not equal. Nearly a third of male respondents (32 percent) believe access is provided equally to men and women,
although 37 per cent believe this is only somewhat true.
The research points to two important issues:• Companies need to review if the way they identify and promote
high-potential employees is skewed towards male success.
• Organisations should also review if their recruitment andpromotion processes for more senior roles are equitable in termsof gender. This includes making every effort possible to include
women on shortlists for manager and senior manager roles.
It is in the interests of all organisations to be able to recruit andpromote from the largest pool of talent and that means ensuring
female talent is visible.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY
Do you think women encounter barriers in their career
progression (%)?

Female

Male

51
46
11

Neutral

20
6
12
2
7

More than half of female respondents (51 per cent) and 46 percent of men concede women face some barriers to career successdue to their gender.
A further 30 per cent of female respondents believe women“very much” encounter barriers to career progression, but only
15 per cent of men share this view. Another 12 per cent of men
responded, “not much” and seven per cent “not at all”. Not
surprisingly, only two per cent of female respondents disagree
that women encounter particular career barriers due to gender.

Male

17
20

Very much

15

Somewhat

Not at all

Female30

Very much

Not much

Do you think your organisation has equal opportunity or gender
diversity issues that need to be addressed (%)?

35
33

Somewhat

Unsure

16
12
25
25

Not really

Not at all

7
10

Surprisingly, more men than women (20 per cent versus
17 per cent) believe their organisation “very much” has issues toaddress. However, the highest proportion of female respondents(35 per cent) and male respondents (33 per cent) answered“somewhat” while a quarter of both men and women answered“not really”.

2017 Hays Gender Diversity - Asia | 7

FLEXIBLE WORKING
Do you believe shared parental leave and more shared responsibility associated with child rearing, would help break down
unconscious biases and improve gender diversity (%)?

How important is it to you that agile / ﬂexible working options
be available to you in your organisation (%)?

FemaleFemaleMale

45

Very much

38
42

36
32
31

Important17

Fairly important

9

Undecided

22

15

Not really67

Not at all

2
2

8
8

NeutralBoth women and men are supportive of more shared family
responsibilities as a way of helping to address equality in theworkplace.
Most female respondents (45 per cent) said such an initiative
would “very much” boost efforts to address unconscious bias
in the workplace and improve gender diversity while just over athird of men agree.

Is a ﬂexible working option available to you in your current
organisation (%)?

Male & Female

45

Yes

12

No

FLEXIBLE WORKING

41

Very important

34

Somewhat

UnsureMale

43

The rising popularity of ﬂexible working practices is reﬂected bynearly half of male and female respondents indicating that someform of the arrangement is available within their organisation.
Employers across Asia are now coming to the realisation thatoffering ﬂexible working arrangements is part and parcel of today’s
modern workplace. Differing types of ﬂexible working practices
generally include telecommuting or ﬂex-place options, part time
employment, ﬂexible leave, job sharing, career breaks and phased
retirement. The introduction of ﬂexible working practices enables
employers to drive attraction and retention of talented employees,
as well as maintaining and improving staff engagement whereconcerned. Beneﬁts to the bottom line can also be achieved
through less staff turnover and time wasted at work.

8 | 2017 Hays Gender Diversity - Asia

Not important2
2

Not at all important

0
1

While more women than men value working ﬂexibly
arrangements, the numbers were signiﬁcant for both genders.
Approximately 73 per cent of women say working ﬂexibly is very
important or important with men not far behind at 67 per cent.

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
In what areas do you believe gender diversity programmes
would have the greatest positive impact (%)?

In what areas do you believe gender diversity programmes
would have the greatest positive impact (%)?

China

Hong Kong
Male & Female

Male & Female

35

Business activity

23

Proﬁtability

Proﬁtability

27

Productivity

Innovation

41

Staff morale

45

Company culture

37

Company reputation

17
12

Staff morale

17

Company culture

17
21

Company reputation

Retention of talent

44

Retention of talent

Recruitment of besttalent41

Recruitment of besttalent35

Organisation leadership

14

Productivity

37

Innovation

17

Business activity

Organisation leadership

17
14
19

In what areas do you believe gender diversity programmes
would have the greatest positive impact (%)?

Japan
Male & Female

Business activity

13

Proﬁtability

11

Innovation

15
18
23

Staff morale

26

Company culture
Company reputation

22

Retention of talent

22

Recruitment of besttalentOrganisation leadership

38

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

Productivity

172017 Hays Gender Diversity - Asia | 9

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
In what areas do you believe gender diversity programmes
would have the greatest positive impact (%)?

Malaysia

In what areas do you believe gender diversity programmes
would have the greatest positive impact (%)?

Singapore
Male & Female

Male & Female

Business activity

19

Business activity

16

Proﬁtability

19

Proﬁtability

17
20

Productivity

26

Productivity

Innovation

27

Innovation

23

Staff morale

24

30

Staff morale

34

Company culture

32

Company culture

Company reputation

26

Company reputation

28

Retention of talent

25

Retention of talent

30

Recruitment of besttalent25

Recruitment of besttalent31

Organisation leadership

Organisation leadership

27
30

We wanted to know what gender diversity programs would beneﬁt an organisation and have a positive impact for both female andmale employees.
The majority of respondents in China, Malaysia and Singapore nominated a company’s culture as the most useful beneﬁt to them. In
Hong Kong, the top answer was a company’s reputation whilst in Japan, it was the recruitment of best talent.

Do you believe greater gender diversity in the workplace would
improve an organisation’s success (%)?

FemaleMale

47

Signiﬁcantly

37
35
33

Somewhat

12

Unsure19

Not much

4
6

Not at all

2
5

Tellingly, our respondents believe there is legitimacy in the factthat if organisations respect and value the diversity by both
women and men, it widens their pool of talent that can foster anenvironment of innovative thinking and allowing for the creationof relationships with a wider group of clients.

10 | 2017 Hays Gender Diversity - Asia

COUNTRY OVERVIEW

Explore the main ﬁndings from each of the
ﬁve Asian countries we operate in and hearfrom ﬁve leading Hays employees whoshare their opinion on three key questions
from a personal and working perspective.

CHINA HIGHLIGHTS
within 10 years.

answered, access to mentoring schemes
and active sponsorship. Both female andmale respondents believe the greatest
business impact of gender diversity iscompany reputation.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY
In China, men are the most senior personin the organisation for 77 per cent ofsurvey respondents and in 54 per cent ofcases their line manager is also male.

A total of 62 per cent of respondents workfor organisations that o er parental leave forfathers that is the highest in the region. A
further 11 per cent say men receive the same
leave entitlements as women. Another 11 percent say no leave is o ered to fathers while
16 per cent are unsure of what is o ered.

Nearly a quarter of women say genderbarriers to promotion “very much” exist in
today’s workforce and 55 per cent see
gender barriers as “somewhat” of an issue.
Approximately 37 per cent of men agree
there is “somewhat” of an issue.

CAREER AMBITION
Approximately 22 per cent of female
respondents are dissatisﬁed with theircurrent level of seniority compared to only
15 per cent of male respondents. Of those,a high 61 per cent of women blame theirlack of career progression on a lack ofopportunities from their current employer
compared to half of men giving thatanswer. Nearly a quarter of women say
there is little opportunity for them topromote themselves or communicate theirambition in their current role compared toonly 12 per cent of men.
More females in China than anywhere elsein the region (35 per cent) hope to reachdirector level within seven years.

Only 13 per cent of women and 17 per centof men believe accessing ﬂexible work
options is very much a career-limiting move.

A signiﬁcant 30 per cent of female
respondents do not believe they are
rewarded equally to their male colleagues
despite having the same ability and afurther 44 per cent say the system isonly “somewhat” equal showing they
have doubts.
A total of 24 per cent said barriers toequal pay outside a woman’s control verymuch exist in China compared to only
seven per cent of men, while 52 per centof women see some barriers compared to44 per cent of men.

FLEXIBILITY AND DIVERSITY
AND INCLUSION
The majority of female respondents say
implementation of ﬂexible working policies
for working parents would be the diversity
and inclusion initiative that would beneﬁt
them most. It was found that most men

It was also found that more males in China
than anywhere else in the region (49 percent) have designs on reaching the C-suite

Q&A WITH LEADING CHINA EMPLOYEE
Jessica has over 15 years of professional recruitment and management experience mainlyin the China market. She joined Hays in 2013 and is currently Business Director for Hays
Beijing. Prior to joining Hays, she worked for a leading search ﬁrm specialising in IT,
banking and corporate functional roles across China for 12 years.
1) With nearly half of China respondents believing that opting to work ﬂexibly is a
career-limiting move, do you personally believe this is the case and have you seen an
increase in the amount of organisations o ering ﬂexible working options in China given
its rise in popularity?
The global rise in the trend of ﬂexible working conditions, is also starting to permeate in
China. More so within MNCs, we are seeing this becoming a pervasive factor of acceptable‘working culture’. However, for local China organisations, it is the opposite where therecemight be a ‘team cohesiveness’ expectation for being seen and heard within theenvironment.
For GenY and GenZ as they enter into the workforce or starting their corporate careers,
there is no longer the cultural obligation to conform to the norms of the past. They expect
career development and advancement whilst having the ﬂexibility to manage theirschedules and time o .
Flexible working options is relatively popular in MNC IT and bank sectors amongst allindustries. One high proﬁle IT MNC has initiated a program called “Connected Workplace”,
where the company allows employees the freedom to choose where and how they work.
Mobility is seen as the standard rather than the exception. This has translated into a
mobile workforce which has resulted in tremendous growth in their business locally.

CHINA HIGHLIGHTS

Jessica Wang
Business Director
Hays Beijing

Do you think opting to work ﬂexible is a career-limiting move (%)?

FemaleVery much

Male

China

17
13

12 | 2017 Hays Gender Diversity - Asia

Somewhat

31
20

Neutral20
24

Not much

18
25

Not at all

14182) When you commenced your professional working career, did you set yourself goals of reaching a level of seniority by a certain
timeframe and does any of the ﬁndings below surprise you in terms of the career ambitions that females and males in China have setthemselves?
I have always strived to do the best in everything I do, whether it is at work or outside of it. I have also been extremely lucky to have worked fortwo companies which gave me the room to grow whilst working for leaders who provided valuable consul and mentorship which includes Hays.
It does not surprise me to see how ambitious people are here in China. I do not see a separation in ambition between males or females.
In some ways, females are even more aggressive in wanting to develop their careers to establish their own identity, but also a way tovalidate their own worthiness. Overall, there is deﬁnitely a strong desire to get ahead and climb up the corporate ladder as quickly as
possible. Someone like myself who has been very stable and developed over time is rare these days.
Please select the seniority level you would like to achieve in 3 years, 7 years and 10 years’ time (%)?

China

FemaleExecutive

37
23

Manager

29
38

Director

23
21

C-suite

8
13

Owner

3 9
9

I do not wish to moveMale

3 years

7 years

10 years

5

8

38
9

26
50

35
45

23

23

14

49

20

18

3 5 8
3

3) From each of the resources listed below, what would you say has beneﬁted you in your career to date and why?
I mentioned in the previous question that I have been lucky to have had strong mentors in my career. So, I believe wholeheartedly in this.
It does not necessarily mean having a formal mentoring relationship. However, a high level of trust and understanding creates a uniquedynamic where there is open dialogue and conversation, whether it is brainstorming new ideas or coming up with a solution or working
through a problem.
I try and foster the same type of environment within my own team. The old adage of “my door is always open” rings true and one inwhich that I am committed to.

If D&I programmes do or did exist in your organisation, which of these resources would be useful to you in realising your career
ambitions (%)?

China
Female

Male

36
34

Access to mentoring schemes
and active sponsorhip

41

Implementation of ﬂexible working
policies for working parents
Implementation of ﬂexible working
policies for all
Creating a culture that supports
diversity and inclusion
Investment in training &development of people managers

30
34
18
35
27
35
31
2017 Hays Gender Diversity - Asia | 13

HONG KONG HIGHLIGHTS
Our survey found 15 per cent of male
respondents and nine per cent of female
respondents expect to reach the C-Suite inthree years with another 22 per cent of
women planning to reach that level inseven years and 17 per cent in ten years.

respondents, they indicated that theinvestment in training & development ofpeople managers is the No.1 key resource
they consider, vital to realising theircareer goals.
According to our respondents, 47 per centof their organisations offer parental leave
to men and in 12 per cent of cases, both
men and women are entitled to the sameamount of leave. A hefty 29 per cent are
unsure of what leave is offered while 12
per cent say no leave is offered to fathers.

Another 30 per cent of women plan toreach director level within ten years versus
35 per cent of male respondents. Half ofmale respondents plan to reach manager
level in seven years.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY

Only 15 per cent of women and 23 percent of men view accessing ﬂexible work
arrangements as a career-limiting move.
Both genders believe there would be somedetrimental impact (44 per cent of womenand 27 per cent of men).

Hong Kong has the highest proportion ofmen in the region leading companies at
89 per cent.

CAREER AMBITION
A massive 86 per cent of women say
they’ve been held back by limited
opportunities to progress with theircurrent employer versus 68 per cent of
men citing that reason.
Only 35 per cent of female respondents
say their current employer offers theopportunity for them to promote
themselves and communicate theirambition. A further 26 per cent say suchopportunities only “somewhat” exist where
they work. Men did not fare much betterwith 40 per cent reporting opportunities
are limited where they work and only 20
per cent working in places where they canpromote themselves and their career goals.
Women and men are equally satisﬁed with
their current level of seniority (43 per cent).

A total of 20 per cent of women say
gender barriers are “very much” an issue
in today’s workforce and another 50 per
cent see some issues. Most men (46 percent) agree there are some issues while
29 per cent hold no view.
Just over 19 per cent of women do not think
men and women of the same ability arepaid equally and 35 per cent are uncertain
with another 27 per cent saying equal
treatment is only “somewhat” a reality.

FLEXIBILITY AND DIVERSITY
AND INCLUSION
Women in Hong Kong believe that theimplementation of ﬂexible working policies
for working parents would help them torealise their career ambitions. For our male

Q&A WITH LEADING HONG KONG EMPLOYEE
Kuan-Yu joined Hays in Hong Kong as an Associate Consultant in 2014 and is now theTeam Manager for Accountancy and Finance, managing a team of six consultants. KuanYu decided to join Hays right after graduation from university because she wanted alucrative, people-facing job, and relocated to Hong Kong as it was deemed to be the bestplace to further her career in Asia.
1) With the vast majority of both female and male Hong Kong respondents believingthat opting to work ﬂexibly is a career-limiting move, do you personally believe this is
the case and have you seen an increase in the amount of organisations offering ﬂexible
working options in Hong Kong given its rise in popularity?
I’d say for an industry like recruitment, which is highly competitive and very fast-paced, I
do believe the option of working ﬂexibly would be a career-limiting move for myself. If you
factor in that in Hong Kong where it is a skill shortage market complemented byincreasingly high expectations from employers, I believe it’s quite important for me to beat the office, work my standard hours (or more), and use these hours to actively meetcandidates and/or clients. In general for Hong Kong, I haven’t seen an increase in banking
and ﬁnancial services organisations offering ﬂexible working hours, however across allindustries including the commercial space, there is indeed a spike in companies offering
ﬂexible hours for mothers, or the option to work from home a couple of days a week.

HONG KONG HIGHLIGHTS

Kuan-Yu Shen
Senior Manager
Hays Hong Kong

Do you think opting to work ﬂexible is a career-limiting move (%)?

FemaleHong Kong

Very much

Male

23
15

14 | 2017 Hays Gender Diversity - Asia

27
44

Somewhat

NeutralNot much

31

11
17

17

Not at all

872) When you commenced your professional working career, did you set yourself goals of reaching a level of seniority by a certain timeframeand does any of the ﬁndings below surprise you in terms of the career ambitions that Hong Kong females and males have set themselves?
I deﬁnitely did, which is why I chose recruitment as my career fresh out of college. I set myself the goal of reaching a ﬁrst level
managerial position within three years, and then director level within six years. The below ﬁndings therefore don’t surprise me at all,because it is deﬁnitely evident that a rising number of Hong Kong females are as ambitious if not more ambitious than their malecounterparts. I believe there are a couple of reasons driving this, one of which could be a natural response to societal gender norms
which are becoming more and more balanced, but I personally believe there are just more females who genuinely want to make adifference in the companies they work for.

Please select the seniority level you would like to achieve in 3 years, 7 years and 10 years’ time (%)?

Hong Kong

FemaleMale

Executive

22
25

9

Manager30
35

Director

26
15

C-suite

9
15

Owner

4 8
14
5 20

I do not wish to move9
17
5 5 15

3 years

7 years

10 years

4

22
50
22

20
30

20

35

22

17
5 5

25
35

3) From each of the resources listed below, what would you say has beneﬁted you in your career to date and why?
I would say investment in training and development of people managers would be the biggest one to me and so far in my career,because this is something my manager and managing director really prioritise at Hays Hong Kong. There is in place, a personal
development plan with my Managing Director and I really appreciate this because it gives me a chance to have a very honest
conversation with him and to myself, in terms of what my strengths and weaknesses are as a people manager and most importantly
what I could improve on. These also aren’t just conversations we are having, but they are conversations plus actual leadership /developmental tools that many large organisations have in place to further and progress the careers of their workforce.

If D&I programmes do or did exist in your organisation, which of these resources would be useful to you in realising your career
ambitions (%)?

Hong Kong
FemaleAccess to mentoring schemes
and active sponsorhip

Male

20
21
30

Implementation of ﬂexible working
policies for working parents
Implementation of ﬂexible
working policies for all
Creating a culture that supports
diversity and inclusion
Investment in training &development of people managers

21
27
17
23
17
23
25
2017 Hays Gender Diversity - Asia | 15

JAPAN HIGHLIGHTS
communicate their ambition and 29 per centsay little opportunity exists. For men, 33 percent answered “somewhat” while 32 per centwere neutral in judging the opportunities
offered by their current employer.

CAREER AMBITION

The highest proportion of female
respondents (48 per cent) in the region
aspire to become a manager within three
years while 30 per cent plan to reachdirector level in seven years and 23 per cent
the C-suite in 10 years. Among male
respondents, 31 per cent plan to reachdirector level in the next three years and 30
per cent within seven years with 28 per centaspiring to make the C-suite in seven years
and a further 33 per cent within a decade.

In Japan, 29 per cent of women are
dissatisﬁed with their current level ofseniority versus 21 per cent of men. Only
18 per cent of women are satisﬁed versus
23 per cent of men.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY

A total of 27 per cent of women blame theirlack of progression on the limited
opportunities offered by their current
employer – the lowest proportion of women
citing that reason across Asia. Most women(35 per cent) say they made the wrong
career move by joining their current
organisation (an equal proportion of men
cite that reason). In comparison, 29 per centof men say their current employer offers
only limited opportunities to progress.

Not surprisingly, Japan has the highest
proportion of respondents in the region
who say men and women are unequal (26per cent) when it comes to accessing
opportunities to progress.

More than a third (38 per cent) of women say
their current role “somewhat” offers sufficient
opportunity for self-promotion and to

Men hold the most senior role in 80 per
cent of respondent organisations as well
as 76 per cent of line manager roles.

When asked if men and women of equal
ability are paid the same, only 12 per cent of
women thought this true compared to 29
per cent of men. Curiously more men (26per cent) than women (25 per cent) don’t
believe people of the same ability are paid
equally regardless of gender.

FLEXIBILITY AND DIVERSITY
AND INCLUSION
Women in Japan rank implementation of
ﬂexible working policies for working parents
as the most useful diversity and inclusion
initiative for their careers. Male respondents
also nominated implementation of ﬂexible
working policies for working parents alongwith implementation of ﬂexible working
policies for all staff.
Only 25 per cent of respondents say theirorganisation offers parental leave to men
and 19 per cent that men and women are
offered the same amount of parental leave.
A large 42 per cent of respondents don’tknow if leave is offered to fathers while 14
per cent say no leave is offered to men.

Surprisingly, 21 per cent of male
respondents say gender barriers are “verymuch” an issue in today’s workplacecompared with only 18 per cent of women.
Most women (42 per cent) and 34 percent of men see some issue while 11 percent of women and 20 per cent of men
don’t see much of an issue.

A total of 20 per cent of women and 24
per cent of men fear accessing ﬂexible
work options could be a career-limiting
move. Both genders believe there would
be some detrimental impact (29 per centof women and 28 per cent of men).

Q&A WITH LEADING JAPAN EMPLOYEE
Saehena joined as an Associate Consultant in 2013 and landed her ﬁrst people
management role in 2016 as Team Manager. Whilst Saehena personally recruits forbilingual HR candidates specialising in the industrial sector, she currently manages the
Hays Human Resources and Office Professionals Teams in the Japan head office.
1) With nearly half of respondents in Japan believing that opting to work ﬂexibly is a
career-limiting move, do you personally believe this is the case and have you seen an
increase in the amount of organisations offering ﬂexible working options in Japan given
its rise in popularity?
We are seeing a higher number of directors and senior executives who are beneﬁting
from ﬂexible working options in comparison to their previous generation.
In this candidate-short market, my clients are becoming increasingly creative in terms ofthe types of ﬂexible working options offered in that they don’t have to be a formalcompany-wide policy but exceptions tailored to the situations of the individuals
concerned.
Offering this type of ﬂexibility could work as a huge selling point in securing top talentagainst competitors. Candidates in Japan often receive 2-3 job offers at a time andemployers who can provide both career development opportunities and a family-friendly
lifestyle are most likely to be the No.1 choice for candidates.

JAPAN HIGHLIGHTS

Saehena HongHR Team Manager
Hays Japan

Do you think opting to work ﬂexible is a career-limiting move (%)?

FemaleVery much

Male

Japan

24
20

16 | 2017 Hays Gender Diversity - Asia

Somewhat

Neutral28
29

Not much28
28

Not at all

15
16

5
7

2) When you commenced your professional working career, did you set yourself goals of reaching a level of seniority by a certain timeframeand does any of the ﬁndings below surprise you in terms of the career ambitions that Japan females and males have set themselves?
I aimed to become a Manager within the ﬁrst 3 years as this seemed clear and achievable in Hays Japan.
Having graduated from one of Japan’s leading universities, I found that a lot of my female classmates cared more about where they
could work, rather than how far they could progress. There is deﬁnitely more pressure on male workers to reach a certain level ofseniority in their careers than their female counterparts.
As two-thirds of the female workforce aim to reach manager and director levels at some point in their careers, Japan’s labour market isclearly full of untapped potential. The question then is how to tap into this potential so that more young female university graduates canrealistically create a path-way in reaching C-level.
Please select the seniority level you would like to achieve in 3 years, 7 years and 10 years’ time (%)?

Japan

Male

FemaleExecutive

16
7

11

Manager48
34

Director

13
31

C-suite

3 6
9

23
28

Owner

6
7

8
19

I do not wish to move19
19

3 years

7 years

10 years

9

5 10
11

28
5

17
25

30

17

30

33

24

19
13

16

3) From each of the resources listed below, what would you say has beneﬁted you in your career to date and why?
Working in an environment where the creation of a culture that supports diversity and inclusion has been a huge beneﬁt to my career.
This resource has helped to create a range of role models and mentors in the business where there is no one uniform way of becoming
successful. If everyone in a leadership role had exactly the same proﬁle in gender, age and nationality, I would have quickly given up
knowing I am not one of them. However, seeing so many different backgrounds and proﬁles in leadership roles, I learned to develop myown path to the level I’m at now by delivering results.
The investment in training & development of people managers has also been a huge help as this helped me to become ambitious at an
early stage of my career. Knowing ﬁrmly as to what level of investment and training I would receive on my road to becoming a manager,
it was easier for me to make a number of personal decisions that would assist me in achieving this accomplishment.
If D&I programmes do or did exist in your organisation, which of these resources would be useful to you in realising your career
ambitions (%)?

Japan
FemaleAccess to mentoring schemes
and active sponsorships

Male

7
20
27

Creating a culture that supports
diversity and inclusion

18
31

Implementation of ﬂexible working
policies for working parents

26

Implementation of ﬂexible working
policies for all

23
26

Investment in training &development of people managers

14252017 Hays Gender Diversity - Asia | 17

MALAYSIA HIGHLIGHTS
more men (22 per cent) than women (16per cent) say conditions are not equal while
nearly a third of both men and women say
rewards are only “somewhat” equal.

the majority of women (54 per cent) andmen (40 per cent) say opportunities only
“somewhat” exist.
31 per cent of female respondents aim toreach director level within seven years,
while 29 per cent want to hit that goal inthree years and an equal proportion withina decade. A total of 21 per cent of women
want to reach the C-suite within sevenyears and 22 per cent within ten years.
The highest proportion of male
respondents (49 per cent) in the region
want to own their own business within adecade (compared with 19 per cent of
women) while 39 per cent plan to havereached the C-suite within seven years.

CAREER AMBITION
Across all Asian countries, Malaysia has thehighest proportion of female respondents
satisﬁed with their current level of seniority(49 per cent) – 10 percentage points higher
than male respondents. A further 10 per
cent of female respondents are “verysatisﬁed” compared with six per cent ofmale respondents.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITYOf those dissatisﬁed, an equal number ofwomen and men (50 per cent) blame limited
opportunities to progress where they work.
The second most cited reason for bothgenders was that they made a wrong career
move in joining their current organisation – 37
per cent of women and 20 per cent of men.

Only 12 per cent of female respondents
believe ‘’very much’’ there are genderbarriers in today’s workforce, while 44 percent “somewhat” believe gender barriers
exist and 15 per cent “not much”. The
highest proportion of male respondents,
45 per cent say barriers “somewhat’’ exist
while a third had no view.

A quarter of both female and male
respondents say their current role delivers
the opportunity to promote themselvesand communicate their ambition. However,FLEXIBILITY AND DIVERSITY
AND INCLUSION
Women in Malaysia believe that theimplementation of ﬂexible working
policies for working parents would help
them to realise their career ambitions. For
our male respondents, they indicated thatthe investment in training & developmentof people managers is the No. 1 key
resource they consider, vital to realising
their career goals. Both male and female
respondents believe company reputationis the leading beneﬁt that gender diversity
offers to an organisation although men
also nominate “innovation”.

Malaysia has the highest percentage offemale leaders in the region at 24 per centbut men are still found at the top in 73 percent of cases. Men comprise nearly 57 percent of the line managers where our
respondents work.

Half of our respondents work inorganisations offering parental leave tomen and only seven per cent for
employers that offer equal amounts ofparental leave to fathers and mothers. A
large 31 per cent say no leave is offered tofathers and 12 per cent are unsure.
Respondents from Malaysia were the least
concerned in the region about the negative
impact ﬂexible working arrangements could
have to one’s career. Only 11 per cent of
women and 12 per cent of men saw it as“very much” career-limiting.

When it comes to equal pay, 35 per cent of
women and 33 per cent of men say peopleof equal merit are paid equitably. However,Q&A WITH LEADING MALAYSIA EMPLOYEENatasha has been with Hays Malaysia now for nearly ﬁve years. Natasha started originallyas an Associate Consultant, with the sole objective of building and strengthening the Hays
Banking function in Malaysia. In total, Natasha has been promoted four times and now
manages the following functions with a team headcount of 16; Accountancy & Finance,
Banking & Financial Services, Finance Technology and Insurance.
1) With Malaysian respondents less inclined than the rest of Asia in believing ﬂexible
working is a career-limiting move, what are the advantages of ﬂexible working practices
and have you seen an increase in the amount of organisations offering ﬂexible working
options in Malaysia given its rise in popularity?
Flexible working options not only creates a better work-life balance environment for
employees, it also creates a feeling of being trusted by the employer enough to operate
remotely but still getting the work done.
When the basis of trust is mutually strong between both employers and employees, itcreates a positive motivation for one to work harder and it creates more accountability on
getting the work done.

MALAYSIA HIGHLIGHTS

Natasha Ishak
Manager
Hays Malaysia

Do you think opting to work ﬂexible is a career-limiting move (%)?

FemaleMalaysia

Very much

Male

12

22

11

21

18 | 2017 Hays Gender Diversity - Asia

Somewhat

24
28

NeutralNot much

16

26

15

25

Not at all2) When you commenced your professional working career, did you set yourself goals of reaching a level of seniority by a certain
timeframe and does any of the ﬁndings below surprise you in terms of the career ambitions that Malaysian females and males have
set themselves?
Yes. I did set myself a personal goal to reach a certain career level by a certain age that has contributed to where I have got to today. In
terms of the ﬁndings uncovered, it does not really surprise me as it is an Asian culture and convention that drives males to be more
ambitious in their career undertakings in comparison to women. However, that movement is beginning to shift now and we are starting
to see more women wanting to go further in their career, a lot faster.

Please select the seniority level you would like to achieve in 3 years, 7 years and 10 years’ time (%)?

Malaysia

FemaleMale

Executive

15
6

Manager25
18

Director

29
41

C-suite

9
18

Owner

19
8
3 12
49

I do not wish to move

3 years

7 years

10 years

4

24
8

29

31
14

9

22

21

18

39

26

16

21
14

22

27

3) From each of the resources listed below, what would you say has beneﬁted you in your career to date and why?
For me personally, ‘culture that supports diversity and inclusion’ as well as ‘investment in training and development’ has deﬁnitely helped
me in my career growth. It is important for an organisation to recognise that diversity can be very beneﬁcial to their business as
different characters and backgrounds bring about different mind sets and thought processes.

If D&I programmes do or did exist in your organisation, which of these resources would be useful to you in realising your career
ambitions (%)?

Malaysia
FemaleAccess to mentoring schemes
and active sponsorhip

Male

13
16
36

Implementation of ﬂexible working
policies for all

20

Creating a culture that supports
diversity and inclusion

22

Implementation of ﬂexible working
policies for working parents
Investment in training &development of people managers

28

43
24
33
27
2017 Hays Gender Diversity - Asia | 19

SINGAPORE HIGHLIGHTS
themselves and communicate theirambition. Another 23 per cent of womenand 14 per cent of men say the opportunity“very much” exists. However, 16 per cent of
women and 20 per cent of men say “notmuch” opportunity exists.

CAREER AMBITION
When it comes to feelings about theircurrent level of seniority, 10 per cent offemale respondents were very satisﬁed and32 per cent satisﬁed. Another 25 per centwere dissatisﬁed. Only 8 per cent of male
respondents are very satisﬁed, 38 per centsatisﬁed. And 15 per cent dissatisﬁed. A
bigger proportion of men than women (11per cent) are very dissatisﬁed.
Of those who are dissatisﬁed, most
respondents cite a lack of opportunity toprogress in their current organisation as
the reason – 58 per cent of women and 76
per cent of men.
Most respondents (51 per cent of womenand 38 per cent of men) believe theircurrent role only “somewhat” provides theopportunity for them to promote

Most female respondents and an equal
proportion of male respondents (34 percent) expect to reach director level role
within three years. The majority of men (39per cent) expect to make director levelwithin seven years and 30 per cent theC-suite within that time compared with 17
per cent of female respondents. Another34 per cent of men expect to reach theC-suite within 10 years compared with 24
per cent of female respondents setting that
goal.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY
Singapore had the second-highest
proportion of men in the top job (82 percent) and men occupy 65 per cent of linemanager roles.
Yet, Singapore also has the highest
proportion of respondents who believe
men and women can access opportunity
equally (27 per cent). However, 55 per centof female respondents believe genderbarriers ‘’somewhat’’ exist compared with
34 per cent of male respondents. The
number of men and women believing ‘’verymuch’’ in gender barriers was equal at
15 per cent.

When it comes to pay, 31 per cent of
women do not believe people those ofequal ability are paid equitably regardless ofgender and 23 per cent of men hold thatview. Another 30 per cent of women andmen believe conditions are somewhat equal
while 21 per cent of women and 36 per centof men say people of the same ability arepaid equally regardless of gender.

FLEXIBILITY AND DIVERSITY
AND INCLUSION
Implementation of ﬂexible working policies
for working parents and investment in
training & development of people managers
are both as important as each other for
women to realise their career ambitions.
For men, they nominated investment in
training & development of people managers
as their number one resource.
A total of 58 per cent of respondents work
for an organisation offering parental leave
to fathers and 11 per cent for employers thatoffer the same amount of parental leave toboth men and women. Another 20 per centare unsure of what leave is offered while 11
per cent say no leave is offered to fathers.
Women and men share similar views about
the impact that working ﬂexibly could haveon their career. A minority believe theintroduction of ﬂexible work practices isvery much a career limiting move (21 percent of women and 20 per cent of men).

Q&A WITH LEADING SINGAPORE EMPLOYEE
Katy joined Hays Singapore in May 2016 as the Asia Operations Director for Hays Talent
Solutions. Katy is responsible for ensuring Hays teams based on site and in Centres of
Excellence, delivering excellent customer service and value-add solutions to regional andlocal clients.
1) With over half of respondents in Singapore believing that opting to work ﬂexibly is a
career-limiting move, do you personally believe this is the case and have you seen an
increase in the amount of organisations offering ﬂexible working options in Singapore
given its rise in popularity?

SINGAPORE HIGHLIGHTS

Katy Cheney
HTS Operations Director
Hays Singapore

No, I don’t believe that ﬂexible working is necessarily a career-limiting move. Flexible
working allows employees to continue to contribute to an organisation and further
develop their skills when traditional full time employment is not an option for them. In
some circumstances, it may take longer to gain the relevant skills and experience toprogress but this isn’t always the case; especially as the employee may be gaining
valuable new skills when undertaking the activities that led to their request for ﬂexible
working e.g. parenting, part-time studies or voluntary work.
Organisations in Singapore are beginning to see the beneﬁts of offering ﬂexible working
options, however this still isn’t the norm and it certainly isn’t as prevalent as in othercountries. I hope that the Singapore government’s recent focus to develop the country’s
HR skills will result in the HR function taking a more proactive approach to convincing thebusiness of the value of introducing ﬂexible working policies to both employees and thebusiness itself.

Do you think opting to work ﬂexible is a career-limiting move (%)?

FemaleSingapore

Very much

Male

20

44

21

36

20 | 2017 Hays Gender Diversity - Asia

Somewhat

NeutralNot much

13
17

10
13

Not at all

13132) When you commenced your professional working career, did you set yourself goals of reaching a level of seniority by a certain timeframeand does any of the ﬁndings below surprise you in terms of the career ambitions that Singaporean females and males have set themselves?
When I was at school in the 80’s, the key message to us was to no longer expect a ‘job for life’ with stepwise career progression; and to
focus on developing a ‘portfolio career’. As a consequence of this, I have always approached each new opportunity (jobs and projects)
with a view as to what new skills or experiences I can gain from them. This approach has meant that I have taken several sideway moves
which I believe have helped me to become a more rounded and valuable employee. In the long term, the broadening of my skill set has
also enabled my progress into more senior positions. I am surprised by some of the results displayed below. Whilst I expected there
would still be a difference in the aspirations of males and females, I am disappointed that the disparity is still so great, particularly at the
Director and C-suite level and also that so many females versus males have no desire to progress beyond their current level.
Please select the seniority level you would like to achieve in 3 years, 7 years and 10 years’ time (%)?

Singapore

FemaleExecutive

12
10

Manager

22
32

Director

34
34

C-suite

8
14

Owner

5 15
4 6 21

I do not wish to move

Male

6

3 years

10 years

4

8
14

13

31
39

3
16
25

24

17

34

30

23
6 10

7 years

33

28163) From each of the resources listed below, what would you say has beneﬁted you in your career to date and why?
I have deﬁnitely beneﬁted from working for organisations that have had a strong culture supporting D&I. Hays and some of my previous
employers have very capable and supportive female leaders who are role models. Some of them have also acted as informal mentors
helping me to advance my career. I have also worked on a number of multi-regional projects which have involved dealing withstakeholders in very different time-zones. The support of my manager in allowing me to ﬂex my hours and work from home when I
needed to, enabled me to manage client requirements at both ends of the day and still ﬁt in my personal needs. This trust goes a long
way towards building loyalty and commitment as well as a positive business outcome.
Hays has a strong focus on investing in the training and development of its staff, in particular its people managers. I’ve received somevery beneﬁcial training that is helping me to improve my management skills and in turn, is enabling me to provide my team with thecoaching and support they need to develop and progress.
If D&I programmes do or did exist in your organisation, which of these resources would be useful to you in realising your career
ambitions (%)?

Singapore
FemaleAccess to mentoring schemes
and active sponsorhip

Male

22
14
31

Implementation of ﬂexible working
policies for all

20

Creating a culture that supports
diversity and inclusion

20

Implementation of ﬂexible working
policies for working parents
Investment in training &development of people managers

34

37
21
37
25
2017 Hays Gender Diversity - Asia | 21

INTERVIEW WITH A LEADING WOMAN 1

Tell us about your progression into yourleadership role?
I have progressed through the ranks of
Hewlett-Packard where I became
Managing Director of HP Singapore which
is a significant Hewlett-Packard entity forthe company globally. The progression
through the years has largely been a resultof a rich and wide range of experiences insales management, business unit
management, channel management, P&L
accountabilities and my ability to lead andover achieve results for the corporates.
Did you always aspire to reach aleadership role in your career?
I’m not a deliberate person and I don’t go
out there to position myself to be one. I
find that it’s important to work hard andprove yourself, only then will opportunities
come your way. There is no breakthroughor greatness achieved without hard work. In
that, I belong to the old school of thought.
Mentors have been instrumental in helping
me at various stages of my career to makethe right career decisions as well as
supporting me to build my leadershipcapability over the years.
What role should employers play inproviding a clear path to the top for
women - what they need to do / achieve
to progress from the executive ranks to
the C-suite if they choose?
I would like to answer this in two parts.
Employers should promote a diverse andinclusive culture that enables talented
people from diverse backgrounds tosucceed and progress.
For example at Vodafone, our diversity &inclusion strategy outlines our ambition to
be a company that empowers all diverse
employees to be at their best. Improving
diversity and enhancing inclusion acrossthe business has been an ongoing priority

for the board and there is a genuine will
and commitment to creating a diverse andinclusive culture across Vodafone. Board
level commitment to diversity is key inproviding a path to the top for women.
Some of the things that Vodafone does toprovide a career path to the top for
women include:• Providing family friendly and flexible
work practices to enable employees tobalance the demands of work and home.
• Actively seeking to identify top female
talent and provide development
opportunities to support their career
growth.
• Focus on eliminating unconscious bias
through training at all levels of theorganisation to ensure that there are no
unconscious barriers to diverse talents
progressing.
• As a Global Impact Champion for
HeForShe, our CEO has set the tone thatmale colleagues should actively support
gender diversity.
To go back to the original question,
women have already demonstrated theirexpertise, drive, commitment andleadership capability. In order to progress
to C-suite, it is important to havedeveloped a strong and capable team tosupport your vision. One area women tend
to struggle with more than men is
promoting their achievements and actively
working to raise their profile in thebusiness. This is key to progressing to theC-suite – the leadership of the businessneeds to know who you are, what you’re
about as a leader, your track record of
exceeding expectations and the true valueof what you bring to the table.
What advice do you have for female
professionals who are in, or are looking towork in, a management or leadership role?
Learn to establish your professional
network to enrich yourself and build yourprofessional profile. Early in my techcareer, I was in Singapore Computer
Society for the IT professional andSingapore Infocomm Technology
Federation (SiTF) where I eventuallybecame the first female SiTF Chairman.
I believe leaders must develop genuineinterest in people. It’s my job to maintain awork environment that keeps our people
happy and productive at work. Thisphilosophy of staying close to employees,
provides me a solid grounding from which
viable strategies are crafted.
As women leaders, we are more selfaware, more collaborative and empathetic
in the way we manage our relationships.

In your opinion is there a difference
between how men and women plan toprogress in their careers?
Women compared to men tend tounderestimate their abilities. I believe you
have to be comfortable in your own skin,and that will in turn exude self-confidence
and power.
Are you surprised that across Asia, 20%of male respondents said theirorganisation has equal opportunity or
gender diversity issues that ‘very much’need to be addressed, compared to 17%
of female respondents?
I have never felt that a glass ceiling existed in
my career. Singapore is a meritocratic society,where women are given equal opportunities
at higher education and at work.
Singapore women are very blessed. Becauseof the small size of country, most of us havethe support of extended family anddomestic helpers which allowed us to be atpeace at work knowing our children are welltaken care of.
However, there are some aspects by which
Singapore lags behind our neighbouring
countries. A case in point being the underrepresentation of female directors on publiclisted boards. This is quite surprisingconsidering the high number of highly
educated senior women leaders.
Have you encountered any gender specificchallenges or obstacles in your career?
I can’t think of a big hurdle per se in mycareer. I guess in my child bearing years andwhen the kids were young, I made theconcerted effort to move from an Asia
Pacific to ASEAN/Singapore role in HewlettPackard. This is so I would travel less andhad more time with my 4 young children.
Hewlett-Packard is very supportive in
helping working mothers that enabled me tocontinue working and not disrupt my careerwhilst balancing my role as a mother.
How can employers ensure that any
employee – female or male – who chooses
to work flexibly isn’t limited in their future
career growth and development?
In some organisations, staff who work flexi
hours are wrongly seen as being lesscommitted, less available and less ready forseniority. In this new internet age ofborderless global world, where the office is
no longer, the place where work starts andends, the ‘command and control’ rigid styleof management is less effective. Hence there
is definitely a need for corporate leaders to
be coached on the new way of working sothat flexi workers are not disadvantaged inany way in their career progression.
Communication with the advent oftechnology could be a tool for constantcollaboration and interaction.
2017 Hays Gender Diversity - Asia | 23

INTERVIEW WITH A LEADING WOMAN 1

Tan Yen Yen is the President for Vodafone Global Enterprise,
Asia Pacific. She was Regional Vice President and Managing
Director of Asia Pacific (South) for SAS Institute. Prior to joining
SAS, Yen Yen was Senior Vice President of Applications for Oracle
Asia Pacific and Vice President and Managing Director for
Hewlett-Packard Singapore.

INTERVIEW WITH A LEADING WOMAN 2

INTERVIEW WITH A LEADING WOMAN 2

Priscilla Hua joined Merck in 2013 and currently holds a dual role as
Regional Recruitment head of APAC and the Country HR Head for
China. Merck is a leading science and technology organisation in
healthcare, life sciences and performance materials operating in 66
countries with over 50,000 employees.

Tell us about your progression into yourleadership role?
I spent two years as the S
Managerin B&Q before I took the role as HR
and Employee
Director for S
Relationships, and then HR lead for the
Corporate Functions in 2008. In 2010, I
joined Wal-Mart Global Sourcing as China
HR Director, leading the HR team in
Shanghai and Shenzhen.
In 2013, I joined Merck as Country HR Headfor China and HRBP lead for China Life
Sciences. I was the regional HRBP for theLife Sciences Lab Products team from 2014
to 2015. My role has expanded recently as I
now oversee the Talent and Acquisition oftalent for APAC.
Did you always aspire to reach aleadership role in your career?
When I ﬁrst started in HR, I had no idea
how far I would be able to go. I took it
upon myself to set a clear career path I
could take that would enable me to reachmy current position. Central to my success
was seizing every opportunity I could toadvance my career. My aspiration to
become a leader developed graduallyduring my early years in HR where I
undertook a number of di erent roles andjobs. It was during this time that I realised
how rewarding it is to lead a team toachieve goals set for teams and thecompany and to also bear witness to thegrowth and development of the people I
worked with.
What role should employers play inproviding a clear path to the top for
women - what they need to do / achieve
to progress from the executive ranks to
the C-suite if they choose?
Fair treatment for male and female
employees is a must. At Merck, Diversity &Inclusion are powerful words and are also

24 | 2017 Hays Gender Diversity - Asiatranslated into powerful actions. It reallystems from something that is deeply
rooted in our values and culture, namely
respect for each individual, which is at theheart of who we are.
A big part of our future success depends
on our ability to attract and retain diverse
talent and foster a strong inclusive
environment. We all play a role in that andmust each take ownership in building thenext generation of Merck.
From an employee perspective, employees
own their own development, and need totake responsibility to achieve their careergoals or to become the person they want
to be. It is important to keep learning, andto keep believing in yourself.
What advice do you have for female
professionals who are in, or are looking towork in, a management or leadership role?
First of all, be curious. The world ischanging, new topics are being deﬁned,
and new megatrends are emerging.
Curiosity will keep you agile to learn new
ideas and technology, adapt to new wayof doing things, and to acquire morediversiﬁed exposure and experience.
Secondly, be creative, always have an
open mind and step out of the comfort
zone to think about how you can improve.
Creativity helps people to think di erently
and better deal with uncertainty. What ismore important is you should not be
afraid of doing the wrong thing if you
want to be creative.
In your opinion is there a di erence
between how men and women plan toprogress in their careers?
Gender should not drive career planning. It
is more important for people to consider
the di erent life stages, for example. Bothmales and females should strive to keepbalance between work and life, particularly
in life stages when they get married orhave children.
Are you surprised that across Asia, 20%of male respondents said theirorganisation has equal opportunity or
gender diversity issues that ‘very much’need to be addressed, compared to 17%
of female respondents?
No, what I believe is that equal
opportunity or gender diversity issues doexist in Asia, however, it di ers fromcountry to country. In some countries thesituation is better, for instance because
women are more independent andpowerful, while some other countries
might still need to ﬁght for women rights.

How can employers ensure that any
employee – female or male – whochooses to work ﬂexibly isn’t limited intheir future career growth anddevelopment?
I personally think there should be amechanism in place, such as policies orrules to provide guidance for people tofollow. Moreover, people need to besupported to build up the mindset thatworkplace diversity & inclusion actually
makes the organisation stronger and morecreative so that we can all achieve thesame goal.
When women go on parental leave, doyou believe they should indicate to theiremployer if they still want to beconsidered for promotion?
Women should in all cases, have the rightto be fairly selected for promotion
regardless of going on parental leave.
However, it can be helpful to know as it
could well be that many managers are
guilty of making assumptions that awoman with small children won’t want totake on a bigger role.

CONCLUSION
Our research shows employers need tobuild career pathways that start from theground up to provide women with equal
access to success.
We have again seen a chronic shortage offemale role models in our 2017 researchstarting at line management level andmore women than men dissatisfied with
their current level of success.
The leading cause of dissatisfaction forboth genders is limited opportunities toprogress and few or no opportunities toshowcase their skills and communicate
their ambition. The fact such a significant
proportion of men and women both feel
this way provides the space for employers
to create something employees will
embrace regardless of gender.
The high proportion of male line managers
seen in this year’s research also points to theneed for people management training thathelps all managers feel comfortable and able
to encourage female self-promotion, which
is not a cultural norm in Asia.
Another way to support this is to help
everyone from the C-suite down
understand the bottom line benefits
gender diversity brings to any businessbut to their organisation in particular.
The old adage, ‘what gets measured, getsdone’ points to the need for employers to
set clear metrics for the gender diversity
initiatives they deploy and report on theseas they would with any business initiatives.
Metrics are a powerful way to tell a story
in business terms. Only a small minority of
our respondents fail to see the positive
business impacts gender diversity offer.

As reported, a clear majority of both
female and male respondents describe
flexible working practices as important tothem. We anticipate this will only grow as
younger employees reach the life stage
where they want to start families whilemore senior employees face the pressuresof providing elder care.
Developing processes that maintainproductivity levels and line manager
visibility while enabling employees to takecareer breaks, work varied hours or workfrom home is challenging.
However, our research shows the rewards
are there for those organisations thatinvest the time and energy to innovate
their work practices.
Gender diversity has stalled the world overdespite legislative incentives and somemodest improvements in female
representation at board level including in
our region.
Our research suggests it’s time to relook
at how gender diversity goals can bethreaded throughout the organisation inline with the career and life stages of
employees regardless of gender.
We also need to promote a better
understanding of what gender diversity
delivers to all employees as well as theorganisation.

Our respondents believe the key benefits
are improvements to company culture andreputation as well as a greater ability to
attract and retain the best talent.

CONCLUSION

The 2017 research also points to anotherarea where companies could gain anadvantage for their employer brand andongoing staff morale and that is flexible
working policies.

2017 Hays Gender Diversity - Asia | 25

RECOMMENDATIONSPLACE LINE MANAGERS
ON THE FRONT LINE
Our research shows the majority of line managers are men. At thesame time, only a third of women are confident their line manager
knows their career ambitions and 28 per cent are not at all
confident. Training should be provided to all line managers,
regardless of gender, on how to encourage female direct reports
to set and share ambitious career goals and to understand thesteps involved in reaching those goals. Managers should also give
support to recognise and address any cultural bias they may holdabout women who put themselves forward for added
responsibilities or promotion.

SET BUSINESS METRICS
FOR GENDER DIVERSITY
Gender diversity initiatives should be measured in the same way
as any other business initiative. Targets and success metrics should
be developed and then reported on. These should include a returnon the financial investment made by the company. All this should
be championed and communicated to employees across theorganisation by the CEO and C-suite. Managers at all levels should
also have gender diversity metrics included in their key
performance indicators and be asked to report on these.

SHOWCASE FLEXIBLEWORK POLICIESRECOMMENDATIONS

Share positive stories about workplace flexibility including higher
levels of return to work after career absences. Profiling male
employees taking parental leave and senior leaders accessing
flexible work options could also help to promote a positive
message. Managers and employees who have collaborated on
creating ways of working flexibility that are respectful to bothparties should also be showcased. Our research shows that bothgenders highly value an organisation that offers flexible work
options and only a minority of respondents believe accessing
flexible work is a career-limiting move.

MENTORSHIP MATTERS
The value of mentorship cannot be underestimated. Mentees
value hugely, the supporting mechanism that mentors provide increating a positive experience of growth and development for anindividual’s career as it also empowers and gives themconfidence. Research has proven that valuable mentoring is built
upon mutual learning, active engagement, and the determination
to develop and grow the leadership capabilities of mentees.
Organisations should therefore look to have in place, mentorshipor associated programs that are designed to accelerate thecareers of high-performing individuals that can also be used as a
powerful retention tool.

TRAINING BUILDS AN
INCLUSIVE CULTURE
Gender diversity in the workplace can be described as the equal
treatment and acceptance of both males and females in an
organisation. Organisations themselves, require a workforce that
can think and approach problems differently, can challenge thestatus quo, and come from different backgrounds. This will help
both men and women to build a rewarding career and achieve
their full potential.
In enabling employees to reach their full potential, training anddevelopment initiatives that educate, inform and support
employees on Gender Diversity topics should be in place toensure an inclusive environment is created at all levels andfunctions within an organisation.

ABOUT HAYS IN ASIA
Our passion lies in helping people develop theirprofessional careers, in whatever sector they workin; this principle is what makes Hays the world’s
leading expert in powering the world of work.
Hays is the world’s leading professional and skilled
recruitment company operating across 33 countries.
We continue to strengthen our position in Asia operating
across 6 countries from 13 offices. Our headcount continues
to grow as we aim to help substantially more companies
achieve their goals and support more people to ﬁnd theright jobs to transform their lives.

4,400+
People placed inpermanent jobs each year

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We are accredited with the world-leading ISO 9001:2008
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Our extensive candidate database allows our consultants
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We are proud to be the number one most followed
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Staff in Asia

13
Offices across the region

10
Years of experience

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