Is the tide turning for women in the workplace

There is a noticeable increase in women taking leadership roles in certain sectors, specifically state-owned enterprises (SOE) and public service, and including the freight and logistics sector. But is the evolution happening fast enough? And could this be another challenge to South Africa’s economic growth? That’s a “no” to the first question and “yes” to the second, if the 2015 South African Women in Leadership Census report, released recently by the Businesswomen’s Association of South Africa (BWASA), is anything to go by. The report showed that only 2.4% of women had been appointed as CEOs and only 21.6% held directorships, noting that women were still excluded from the key decisionmaking positions within organisations. “This is very concerning. In a highly interconnected and rapidly changing world, organisations and countries must adapt strategies and innovate in order to remain relevant and competitive,” said BWASA president, Farzanah Mall. According to her, if the country is unable to retain and develop its top female talent, it would not be able to continue to compete in a global business landscape. “We need bold solutions and workplaces where the best talent can flourish,” commented Mall. Jill Morris, director of specialist freight recruitment agency, Lee Botti & Associates, told FTW that women were increasingly taking leadership roles within the freight and shipping industry, although she added that it was still a largely male-dominated business. “Previously women in the freight industry mostly held jobs in the administrative, accounts and support sectors. This has expanded into sales, customer service and operational management roles,” she said. Morris pointed out that women were proving to be just as successful in sales roles where they had “excellent customer service skills”, complemented by their organisational and administrative skills. Mall said that SOEs had demonstrated the highest gender parity at directorship level, noting that this could be attributed to government’s commitment to the development and empowerment of women. “Gender transformation strategies are applied far more effectively in the public sector,” she said. But despite this progress, the overall picture is still very bleak. “Only 8.79% of Johannesburg Stock Exchangelisted companies have 25% or more female directorships.” Another interesting aspect of the report is that South Africa is a top performer amongst its Brics – Brazil, Russia, India and China – partners. The nearest competitor is China which has only 11.1% of women in directorship positions. Yet the Census report shows that there is a growing acceptance of quota systems, with 45% of business leaders supporting the idea of quotas compared to the 37% last year. Margaret Bango, chairperson of Women in Logistics and Transport South Africa (WilatSA), a forum within within the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport International, agreed that government had created a more enabling environment for women to take leadership and/or entrepreneurial roles. She added that the challenges to this remained a lack of skills, compounded by a lack of exposure to skills development opportunities. INSERT & CAPTION Women are increasingly taking leadership roles within the freight and shipping industry. – Jill Morris