Is the tide turning for women int he 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