A snapshot of the global corporate workplace in 2016 reveals a disturbing truth.

Women the world over are still not occupying a broad representation of executive seats or raking in the highest salaries in exchange for their business acumen, leadership abilities or professional track records. In fact the latest McKinsey Report entitled Women in the Workplace, estimates that the pace of progress over the past three years has been so sluggish that it will take another 100 years for gender parity to be achieved in the upper reaches of US corporations. In South Africa currently 13% of women hold executive roles in the basic resources sector, compared to 87% of men. The financial services sector maps this disparity with 85% of men dominating the board level decision making. According to Judith Haupt, Partner at CONTRACT-SA, this reality is deeply embedded and can only be overhauled with transformational intent. Says Judith: “On the organisations’ side, it is about putting mechanisms in place to counter this – such as diverse interviewing panels, different rounds within the selection process and being flexible and courageous in terms of offering conditions that allow for a less traditional approach to work which has been dominated by the 9 to 5, office-based format.” On an individual level, self-belief and determination will enable women to become agents of change.

“For women, it will be very important to become more aware of how they stop themselves before even trying. Many do not even consider a job as they might feel not qualified enough, whereas men tend see themselves as ‘a good fit’ for a role even if fulfilling less criteria than stipulated in the advert. Women also tend to ask for lower salaries than men, and negotiate less hard”, explains Judith. So why in 2016 is the rallying cry for action on gender equity in the corporate workplace so important? The answer lies in economics. Research consistently shows that companies with the highest percentage of women on boards outperform those with lower representation. Measurable outcomes such as higher returns in sales, greater yields on invested capital, and higher returns on equity are aligned to female representation. Given the weak Rand and low performing South African economy, every effort needs to be made to redress gender disparities in the workplace. For the country to have a competitive workforce and build a robust economy, the full value of its talent has to be engaged.  In South Africa, diversity is a business imperative in terms of BBBEE. Globally, quotas and legislation on board diversity have seen the percentage of European women represented rise. In the UK, representation has risen from 4% in 2009 to current levels of 12.6%, largely in response to the threat of EU-level regulation. Importantly, how well organizations make use of female talent is a function of how well they attract, develop, and retain them.

Judith explains: “We think the first and very main obstacle is the role of unconscious bias by those doing the hiring. For example, several studies have shown that recruiters react differently to identical CVs when the name is male vs female. Likewise, in interviews, the same answers are interpreted differently depending on the gender of the interviewee.” “And of course, there is the ‘maternal wall’ where women with children can be seen as less committed or focused. Particularly with working mothers we still see a lack of flexibility in thinking about the restructuring of roles and offering flexible work times.” The issues are complex and varied, and chipping away at the barriers that exist both at the individual and macro levels requires informed and critical choices. Judith believes that leadership workshops for women, such as IntuGreat offered by CONTRACT SA, co-facilitate individual transformation. The emphasis is on self-determination, informing behavioural change so that women move to capitalise on, rather than curb, their ultimate potential. Says Judith, “One of the biggest ‘aha' moments women have is realising they are not alone, they are not to blame and they are not crazy.

We have women look at their lives and investigate their internal and external messages and actively work with these in an experiential way.” It is the internal barriers that are hardest to crack. Judith cites Facebook’s COO Sheryl Sandberg’s term of the ‘likeability penalty’ by way of example. This refers to the fact that success and likeability are correlated for men when women are successful, they are usually liked less. Internalising this, women tend to hold back. “Encouraging women to speak up more in meetings, and sharing more of the ‘office housework’ with men (women tend to take on more work such as organising events, taking notes, etc.) can all assist in creating opportunities for women to add value and be seen as equally important to company performance”.