6 minute read
WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP
Leadership Changes in the Landscape ofWork in 2022
The past year into 2022 2022 has proved to be a great year for women in business across the country. As the iShaH magazine we did research and came up with a report that has shown great progress towards gender parity in leadership roles across businesses and institutions in Zimbabwe.
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Our 2021 Women in the Business report identified the window of opportunity that post-pandemic working practices could create for women to move into senior roles. In the wake of the pandemic, as economies slowly recover and businesses refine altered ways of working, that trend looks set to continue.
In our 2022 research, we see businesses taking deliberate, necessary action to create more inclusive working practices. They are prioritising employee engagement and opening the door to allow female talent access to senior positions in greater numbers than ever before. “It is essential for companies to become more equal,” says Victoria Chidarikire the chairperson of ZW-Led Micro Enterprises . “It is a requirement for being attractive to both customers and employees.
Gender equality is something we as leaders must prioritize every day, in every decision we make.” These proactive policies have resulted in an overall increase in the proportion of women in senior management around the country, rising from top leadership positions.
Nationally Our 2022 research of the national state of play for Women Leaders offers an opportunity to see the big picture and challenge the status quo as we look across gender diversity benchmarks in different impact industries across the country. COVID-19 continues to have a disproportionate impact on women, for example, whether through job losses, caring responsibilities or discrimination in the workplace. It is our collective responsibility as women to take diversity in all of its forms much more seriously and urgently to ensure industries everywhere in the country realize the benefits of diverse leadership.
Now, despite all of this, change is being made for women in leadership. Especially in today’s political and socioeconomic climates, technology, organizations,We spoke to some of the women different business sectors, and this is what they had to say..
Rutendo Magorimbo, the Managing Director Old Mutual Life Assurance Company Appointed 1 June 2021
The way we train future leaders will change
“Currently, women are trained to reach leadership positions the way men reach leadership positions— through competition for power. However, as more employees and organizations are shifting toward more purpose-driven, peoplecentered business models (due to COVID), I believe the construct of leadership will change. Instead of fighting for power, leaders will advocate for purpose – which is where women excel. Instead of the future leaders being trained to emulate men, they will be trained to emulate women.”, — Patience Musa – Digital Marketing, Public Relations & Communications Manager BancABC
“The shared experience we have all lived through over the last couple of years has encouraged us all to think about what we really want in our lives and in our careers. Women especially are emboldened more now than ever to be the change they wish to see in their own lives and for the world we live in.I believe in the year ahead, we will see more women make the moves from their current roles and careers they’ve built to take on entrepreneurship and build the companies, products, cultures, teams, and workplaces they want to see in the world and be a part of Frankly, I can’t wait to see more women make this jump.” — Lungi Dlodlo, CEO and Founder, VIP Hosting Zimbabwe
Women leaders will continue to invest in one another’s success“While we certainly have a long way to go, I’m excited by the increasing number of women CEOs leading IPOs and large funding rounds. As this moves from an anomaly to an expectation, we will see more investor support for women leaders at all levels in 2022—giving a chance for more voices and styles to build the next generation of companies.” — Mellisa Mwale Chiyangwa, CEO, Messe Luxe Apartments
In previous years, the percentage of well-known “influencers” in many industries seemed to have fewer women. That has changed over the past year and will continue to increase throughout 2022. Building in public or telling your story is a great way for women to lead by humanizing the journey they took in their careers.
“There is abundant evidence that women want formal mentorship, are willing to mentor other women, and benefit greatly from having a mentor at work. In addition, we know over the past year, companies are increasingly struggling to retain talent and prevent burnout – this problem is even more pronounced with women in the workforce who have disproportionately had to shoulder the burden of the pandemic. In 2022, I believe mentorship for women will (and should) be a big focus for organizations.
Companies see that their women employees need mentorship and starting a formal program will lead to more engaged and productive employees. As a leader at Zim Women Led Micro Enterprises Mentorship program, I’ve seen first-hand the benefits mentorship can have within dozens of leading organizations.” — Victoria Chidarikire Founder at Darik Solutions Zw.
Clara Mlambo Board Chairman of ZimTrade receiving an award as the runner up for the Women Director of the Year Awards at the 2022 Awards Ceremony.
In conclusion it is evident that companies will adopt more flexible policies that support women in and outside of work.Companies have a real opportunity to show up for their employees and meet them where they are.
In 2022 and beyond, our hope is that more companies will adopt similar strategies and policies focused on flexibility so that women can continue to feel empowered and supported in the workplace, companies nationwide need to prioritize diversity and representation across roles, particularly at senior levels.
We have realised that equal teams offer more perspectives, something highlighted during the pandemic,when companies’ agendas have looked different. Many invisible structures and traditionalnetworks are being torn down, which contributes to a moreequal climate. This means that more women are more likely totake on more responsibility and step up to senior positions.”
Along with an overall rise in the percentage of senior roles heldby women, we have seen all of the worlds regions performpositively.The global increase is largely driven by improvements in Africa,Africa continues to represent a success story forfemale leaders, reaching 40% of overall senior roles, well abovethe worldwide average. This is an increase from 39% in 2021,and a significant step up from 30% in 2018.
Ultimately, we would hope to see an even spread of femaletalent across all senior positions. Then the concept of gender specific skillsets and attributes will be abandoned, andindividuals allowed to excel where their talents lie.
