Shared responsibility, stronger business: The case for gender partnership

As traditional DEI efforts face scrutiny, many organizations are finding it difficult to sustain progress on inclusion. Pulling back can hurt employee trust, weaken workplace culture, and make it harder to attract and keep talent. Leaders need a practical path forward that supports inclusion, business performance, and manager effectiveness. Catalyst developed gender partnership to meet this need. Gender partnership is the mechanism; gender equity is the outcome. It brings people of all genders together to share the responsibility of removing stereotypes and barriers so everyone can contribute, grow, and succeed.

A survey of nearly 5,000 employees across five countries¹ points to a clear relationship between gender partnership and business outcomes. When managers demonstrate Catalyst’s 5 Bs of Gender Partnership — Begin with you, Break down what’s not working, Build up what’s in it for men, Bridge gender gaps, and Bring humanity to work — employees are much more likely to see their organization as a place people want to work, as a strong competitor, and as prepared for the future.

Beyond that, the impact extends to employee experiences. Managers who model gender partnership make it more likely that employees will act as gender partners themselves. Those employees report stronger inclusion and coworker connection, higher engagement and productivity, greater confidence in advancement opportunities, and a stronger empathy culture.

The opportunity is significant: only 54% of leaders demonstrate the 5 Bs overall, and just 29% of employees practice everyday gender partnership behaviors. Increasing these numbers is a practical way organizations can strengthen culture and performance at the same time.