Corporate leaders prize resilience in subordinates: Accenture

Corporate leaders around the world believe that resilience - the ability to overcome challenges and turn them into opportunities - is key to keeping your job.

These leaders view women as slightly more resilient than men, and they are providing their female professionals with a variety of programs aimed at developing resilience, according to new research from Accenture (NYSE: ACN).

The research, Women Leaders and Resilience: Perspectives from the C-Suite, released today as part of Accenture's sixth global celebration of International Women's Day, found that more than two-thirds (71 per cent) of corporate leaders report that resilience is very to extremely important in determining who to retain.

While respondents are divided about whether men or women are more resilient (53 per cent report women are very to extremely resilient; 51 per cent report men as very to extremely resilient), 60 per cent are providing women with career enhancing assignments, and 40 percent are preparing women for senior management roles.

The survey of more than 500 senior executives - including CEOs, COOs, CFOs and CHROs - of mid- to large-size companies in 20 countries in Europe, Asia, North America and Latin America also found that, despite the economic downturn, many corporate professional development programmes specific to women remain intact.

Just under one half  (48 per cent) of all respondents reported making no changes in the past year to leadership programs for women, and 48 per cent did not alter coaching and mentoring programs specific to women.