Tips on how to practice feminine leaders in your organization — and the advantages of it

The female presence in the highest positions of organizations still remains timid, but it brings advantages and can be developed in any company.

We know that the theme gender inequality it is an important social challenge in several parts of the world and in Brazil.

Although, according to the most recent data from the UN, women correspond to approximately half of the world’s population, there is still great inequality, one of which is the low presence of women in leadership positions in organizations.

THE female presence in the highest positions of organizations still remains shy. In Brazil, the representation of women in managerial positions fell in 2019, compared to 2018. In the Gender Statistics survey: social indicators of women in Brazil, released by the IBGE in 2019, 62.6% of managerial positions were held by men and 37.4% by women.

In the previous edition, they occupied 39.1% of these positions. Even though women are more educated and spend more time studying than men, they receive only 77.7% of the income when compared to men.

How is the participation of women in leadership

When we look at the participation of women in board positions, according to a recent survey carried out in 51 countries by Deloitte, 19.7% of vacancies are occupied by women — a growth of only 2.8 percentage points when compared to 2018. Occupying the 39th position of the ranking of countries, in this same survey, Brazil is represented by only 10.4% of the vacancies.

With almost twice as much responsibility, women add their work activities to taking care of the home and family, factors that end up discouraging companies from providing leadership and decision-making positions.

Women often need to bend over backwards to reconcile the personal and professional agenda, forcing themselves to make complex decisions, such as those related to motherhood, without losing sight of the impacts of these choices on their careers. To what extent is it fair to turn the relationship career-maternity?

Dealing with agendas like this brings discomfort, highlights conflicts that are still little explored and that are far from being treated with due importance. When we talk about small and medium-sized companies, the gaps are even greater, after all, there is a lack of information and knowledge of the parties on how to deal with the issue and there is a lack of people willing to lead this debate.

Why is the topic in evidence?

In these last decades, women’s empowerment and gender parity have gained presence in debates in the various world forums of leadership and diversity. Treating gender diversity is on the agenda in the business world, especially in corporate social responsibility as an important pillar of ESG.

A set of studies and scientific research point to benefits with gender balance in top management, demonstrating that diversity is more effective for governance and generates social impact represented by better financial results within organizations.

Furthermore, achieving gender equality and empowering women and girls is one of the 17 SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals), a global pact that aims to address and overcome the main development challenges faced by people in Brazil and around the world, promoting sustainable global growth by 2030.

Women leaders are able to put different thoughts and perspectives on problem solving, creating fronts that help in the decision-making process on the challenges faced by the business, after all, they are great influencers and buyers of consumer products and add income to the livelihood of your families.

Women manage to accelerate the issue of diversity in companies at different levels and levels, creating collaborative initiatives, integration between multidisciplinary professionals in the promotion of inclusion and equity.

Another positive impact is in building and reinforcing the brand, consolidating a positive, ethical and inclusive image towards stakeholders, opening doors for negotiations with larger organizations that currently direct their choices to partner companies that are well on their way to the topic.

Where are the advantages of having women in leadership?

Lastly, the competitiveness of the company increases, raising the results of profitability, productivity, innovation, talents, customer satisfaction, impact on society and on building the company’s reputation, pointed out in the 2019 Report “Women in Business and Management: The business case for change” made by the ILO who surveyed 13,000 companies in 70 countries.

The most efficient female leaders point out some very interesting characteristics. They focus on delivering results, are multitasking without losing quality, continually invest in their self-development, act with resilience and have a greater capacity to stimulate innovation, being assertive in the engagement, motivation and training of their team.

Finally, once the motivations and benefits in the development of female leaders have been presented, I present 10 important steps to create this space for debates in your company so that you can explore opportunities on the subject.

• Form a group of leaders to take care of this issue. It is important to be a diverse group with consistent opinions and a broad vision;
• Raise perceptions on the subject with your main stakeholders: customers, suppliers, employees, competitors and with companies from other sectors that present similar challenges;
• Make a list of potential conflicts that the topic may bring;
• Explore conflicts by creating likely solutions that address inclusion, equity and the promotion of gender diversity;
• Evaluate the positive and negative impacts that these solutions can bring to the business;
• For each solution, establish a goal and desired results;
• Prioritize solutions that can ensure the delivery of impacts to your company, promoting the development of culture and benefits to society;
• Implement the solutions, measure the results and be willing to learn from the mistakes and successes;
• Be willing to review plans and make decisions that were not on the agenda before;
• Take advantage and review your company’s purpose, values ​​and principles. A new business journey begins and if necessary, do not hesitate to seek specialist partners who can help mediate debates, provide knowledge and develop paths for a new transformation in your business and for all parties involved.

Source: Exam