With progress still lagging in bolstering gender parity in business leadership, despite this having remained on the agenda for several years, there is a need for more strategic and deliberate interventions, with accountability, from both organisations and women in their individual capacity.

This was highlighted by speakers during Creamer Media and Electra Mining Africa’s ‘Women in Business’ webinar, held on August 25.

Facilitating the webinar, member organisation Women in Mining South Africa board director Raksha Naidoo pointed out that, while organisations had policies in place to advance women in leadership, many did not follow through on this.

The panel of speakers also included lubricants supplier Shell Lubricants pricing and product lifecycle management manager Ezile Matha, Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (Seifsa) industrial relations executive Vuyiswa Miya-Mokwana and industrial equipment supplier Invincible Valves MD Pamela du Plessis.

Matha agreed with Naidoo, noting that while organisations had pipelines and intention, there was a gap in implementation.

She warned that without measurable results, the “pipeline remains a pipeline”, and talented women were lost along the way as there was no evidence of a clear strategy and implementation plan.

Miya-Mokwana, therefore, called for companies and leaders to be held accountable, to engender proper gender transformation.

She stressed that, while many purported to espouse transformation, it was not reflected in the demographics of their organisations. Changing this required financial repercussions across the value chain, she averred.

She also emphasised the need for a holistic approach to ensure women were retained in these positions, and also had a sustainable career growth trajectory.

Miya-Mokwana also highlighted the need to pair diversity with inclusion, to ensure women were included in important decision-making processes, and were not appointed merely as a tick-boxing exercise.

She highlighted sponsorship as a tangible example of how such endeavours could be undertaken in the workplace, with Shell currently pursuing this through a new structured programme.

Miya-Mokwana pointed out that while mentorship engendered confidence, its role was limited. Sponsors, however, were able to “speak your name in rooms of influence” and, therefore, had scope to assist people in building themselves up to take up more senior roles, she posited.

Miya-Mokwana explained that Seifsa recently held a Women’s Day event with women leaders sharing their experiences, and from this, it was discerned that more needed to be done as an industry.

In response, Seifsa in May launched the Women of Steel – Women’s Leadership Mentoring Programme, in partnership with the Danish Industries Gender Inclusion Initiative.

This six-month pilot programme aims to accelerate the advancement of women into leadership positions across the sector through structured mentorship, leadership development and professional support.

It brings together ten mentors, including two male mentors, and ten mentees.

In its initial stages, the programme started with this small cohort, with particular consideration given to which participants were chosen, to ensure a successful trial, Miya-Mokwana said, indicating that there was now the aim to scale this up.

She highlighted that this programme aimed to ensure that participants took accountability for their own development, and to allow them to identify opportunities and how to navigate these roles, as well as to enable support from various levels of the organisation.

Moreover, it provided an important channel for feedback from other stakeholders, allowing participants to identify gaps in professional and developmental areas, and also facilitated support to mitigate this, Miya-Mokwana informed. She stressed the importance of this, given that women did not work in isolation, but as part of a team.

The programme also provides workshops to assist participants with their emotional intelligence to strengthen their confidence, and also encompasses leadership strategies and effective communication skills.

Du Plessis mentioned the importance of culture change, with people needing to realise the significance of their contributions and the importance of their roles.