What story will people tell about your organization over the next ten years? Will they celebrate an enthusiastic innovator that thrived by adapting workforce skills and ways of working to the demands of the new economy? Or will they blame poor financial or operational results, unhappy employees, and community disruption on a short-sighted or delayed talent strategy?
Today, more and more CEOs are focusing on talent diversity and inclusion to help drive innovation in their organisations and create competitive advantage. And with expectations of talent, customers and stakeholders continuing to grow, gender parity in the workplace has clearly become both a social cause and a business imperative. Yet, in most countries in the world women have long been – and remain – underrepresented at every level in the corporate talent pipeline. In an effort to close this gap, one approach that leaders are taking is to turn their energies towards making their businesses more attractive to female talent.
So, the next question that arises is how do we build high-performance teams. One important factor is the trust and empowerment factor for the team to be able to achieve results.
Gender-responsive talent management assumes attracting, developing and retaining a required talented workforce in a way that promotes gender equality. It is the trust and empowerment factor which makes women work far harder and they contribute their best in a team. Hence leaders need to create a sense of belonging so that women feel they belong to the team and contribute towards its success.
“A gender responsive talent management strategy should be the core ingredient in the design and execution of business strategy and embedded in the activities of the organization day in, day out, says Rudé Alley, Managing Director at Surgo.
Surgo South Africa is deliberate, on its talent management strategy which stems from the company’s mission and vision for their business. At the very heart of the ‘War for Talent’ lies the core notion of a gender responsive talent management strategy.
“Attracting, developing and retaining female talent starts at the top because if leadership cares, everyone cares. The commitment of top management will filter down the organization only if it goes beyond words to actions”, adds Rudé.
More women are working today than ever before; it is more important than ever that businesses carefully consider recruitment strategies and employee benefits which will attract women to join their workforce.
Gender parity is on everyone’s agenda today. Not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because it’s the smart thing to do.
Companies that fail to attract able women, risk penalizing themselves by failing to attract the best talent possible. The absence of women from senior leadership positions can have long-ranging implications in today’s dynamic work environment, including high female attrition rates and diminished female leadership pipelines.
