Dive Brief:
- Women have been appointed to nearly half (48%) of the open chief marketing officer (CMO) slots in the first half of 2019 — an all-time record, according to a new report, Marketing Moves: Q1 – Q2 2019, by Russell Reynolds Associates.
- The firm also found that more than 80% of publicly reported CMO appointments were filled externally. This implies that next generation CMOs will need to change employers to advance, the Russell Reynolds report said; "This is likely because today's VP-level marketers are often so specialized ... that many of these mid-level marketing leaders lack a deep understanding of the full spectrum of marketing that is demanded of a CMO today."
- For internal appointments, the average length of employment at a company before a promotion was 7.2 years, a decrease from 9.7 years in the previous 12 months, according to the report.
Dive Insight:
The Russell Reynolds report reveals a level of gender parity that remains rare in other positions.
In fact, a March IBM Institute for Business Value study showed that women hold only 18% of senior leadership positions, and that at the current pace of change, women won't reach leadership parity with men until 2073. But parity could come sooner if organizations make it a priority and initiate drastic changes, the institute concluded.
According to a report from the Women Tech Council, such efforts should include executive engagement and formal diversity and inclusion programs, including a culture of inclusion.
Employers can't afford to neglect these efforts, Jim Barnett, CEO, Glint, previously told HR Dive. It's important from a business perspective, he said, explaining that diverse teams perform better than less diverse teams. "Diversity without inclusion leads to a low sense of belonging," hurting results attrition rates, he said. "So you've got to get the whole equation right on your culture. You've got to create an inclusive culture where people feel like they belong at your company."
